The implementation of voter ID
At the Local Democracy Research Centre, we conduct detailed research on the important issues concerning local government and local democracy.
This is why the LDRC, funded by the JRSST Charitable Trust, will be researching the implementation of voter ID. By surveying and interviewing electoral administrators, we will build a picture of how this new policy, one of the greatest changes to in-person voting in years, has been managed by local elections teams.
If you are interested in participating in this research, or would like to find out more, please contact our lead researcher Greg Stride at greg.stride@lgiu.org.
Research plan
This research will have two main phases:
- A survey of electoral administrators started in the middle of May.
- A series of interviews with electoral administrators from the end of May to June.
Funded by:
Participate in the research
We will be emailing a survey to every English local authority holding elections in May 2023. If you are an electoral administrator and you have not received this survey by the middle of May, please let us know and we will email you directly.
As part of the survey, you will be asked whether you would like to meet for a short interview to discuss your personal experiences implementing voter ID. These interviews will take place from the end of May through June.
If you are not an electoral administrator, but would still like to participate, there will be lots of other opportunities to get involved, including at discussion events. Please email greg.stride@lgiu.org for more information.
Further reading:
Running elections: the state of electoral integrity before the 2023 local elections
Dr Greg Stride outlines the findings of his recent PhD into the health of England’s electoral system. Read this article.
The changing job of running elections
Peter Stanyon, Chief Executive of the Association of Electoral Administrators writes about the additional challenges posed by Voter ID for the 2023 local elections. Read this article.
State of the Locals
Catch up on the LGIU’s recent State of the Locals expert panel discussion on voter ID and attitudes to local government, featuring exclusive Ipsos polling on voter awareness of the proposals. Read more.