What is Voter Identification (Voter ID)?
If you’re planning to vote in the 2023 Local Elections, you’ll need to bring your photo ID (Voter ID) with you to the polling station.
In April 2022, the Government passed the Elections Act 2022 which requires all voters in Great Britain to show photo ID at polling stations in Parliamentary, Local and Police and Crime Commissioner Elections and all Referendums in England.
The first set of polls that this applies to in North East Derbyshire is the District and Parish Elections on Thursday 4 May 2023. From October 2023 it will also apply to UK Parliamentary General Elections.
Most forms of photo ID can be used as your voter ID. Identity documents must include your photo, such as a UK, European Economic Area (EEA) or Commonwealth passport, a UK or EEA drivers’ licence (including a provisional driving licence), an older person’s bus pass, blue badge and identity cards bearing the Proof of Age Standards Scheme hologram - a PASS card. The full list of accepted ID can be found on the Electoral Commission Website.
Proxy voters who are voting on another person’s behalf will also have to show a voter ID.
The Electoral Commission has also published a handy guide with everything you need to know about Photo ID for the May 2023 local elections: Voter ID English Resource Booklet (.pdf | 1.3mb).
This guide has also been translated to help those whose first language is not English, and the people who support them, to meet the new voter ID requirement: Voter ID Resource Booklet Translations (.docx | 121kb)
Do I have the correct form of ID?
Most voters will already have an accepted form of photo ID that they can use.
ID documents must include your photo, such as a UK, European Economic Area (EEA) or Commonwealth passport, a UK or EEA drivers’ licence (including a provisional driving licence), an older person’s bus pass, blue badge and identity cards bearing the Proof of Age Standards Scheme hologram - a PASS card. Expired photo ID will be accepted so long as the photo remains a likeness to be able to identify the elector.
The full list of accepted ID can be found on the Electoral Commission Website.
If you don’t have any of the forms of ID which are on the Government list, you can apply for a Voter Authority Certificate or contact Electoral Services on 01246 217068 / 01246 217069 or by email at
More information on the new requirements to show photo ID to vote can be found on the Electoral Commission website.
What is a Voter Authority Certificate?
The Voter Authority Certificate document contains the elector’s name and photograph which can be obtained free of charge from their local Electoral Registration Officer (ERO), following verification of an applicant’s identity, similar to the Register to Vote service.
The Voter Authority Certificate cannot be used as proof of identity for any other purpose than for voting.
The deadline for applications for a Voter Authority Certificate is Tuesday 25 April 2023 at 5pm in order to vote in the District and Parish Elections to be held on Thursday 4 May 2023