Voter Registration: Proof of Identity

Julie Elliott (Sunderland Central) (Lab)
10. What assessment he has made of the potential merits of allowing alternative forms of proof of identity for voter registration.

The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office (Chris Skidmore)
Where an applicant’s identity cannot be verified in the first instance, an exceptions process allows for a number of alternative forms of identification to be used to support that application. Finally, an attestation can support an applicant if they are able to provide any of the documentation required.

Julie Elliott
Last year, it was reported that only 25% of people knew their national insurance number, which is one of the key identifiers. What assessment has the Minister made of the impact that that will have on voter registration?

Chris Skidmore
When it comes to the voter registration process, I am delighted that the Electoral Commission reported last week that we now have a record 47.3 million people on the register. Our democracy is more engaged than ever before. We have had 24 million applications online using the national insurance number, but, as I have said, there are alternatives for those who do not have national insurance numbers, including the attestation process, which works very effectively.