Local Elections: Remember to bring photo ID to your polling station

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You now need photo ID to vote at a polling station

The Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead is giving a final reminder to voters that they’ll need to show accepted photo ID in order to vote at their polling station in the Local Elections.  

On Thursday 4 May, all-out elections will take place for the borough council, with 126 candidates putting themselves forward across all 41 seats and 19 wards. The total borough electorate is 109,987. Candidate details and election information is available at www.rbwm.gov.uk/elections-2023 

In addition, all 14 parish councils will have all-out elections, though there will only be contested parish elections within four parishes. There will also be a Local Referendum in the Datchet parish about the proposed Datchet Neighbourhood Plan.

Due to a national legal change, for the first time you will need to bring along and show accepted photo ID in order to vote at a polling station. You will be able to use expired ID if you are still recognisable from the photo. 

A wide range of photo ID will be accepted including a UK, European Economic Area (EEA) or Commonwealth passport; a UK or EEA driver’s licence; and some concessionary travel passes, such as an older person’s bus pass or an Oyster 60+ card. The Resident Advantage Card is not an accepted form of ID for voting.

You will not need to produce photo ID in order to vote by post or proxy, although your proxy will need to show their photo ID at the polling station. The deadlines for registering to vote and applying for a Voter Authority Certificate, or to vote by proxy or post, have now passed. 

Visit www.electoralcommission.org.uk/voterID for more information about Voter ID requirements and to check the full list of accepted forms of ID.

Stephen Evans, chief executive and returning officer at the Royal Borough, said: “Voter ID is a new national legal requirement and locally we’ve been supporting the Electoral Commission’s national awareness campaign over several months, working hard to ensure as many people as possible understand what types of photo ID they can use and remember to bring it on the day.

“Nationally, it’s estimated that most people own an accepted form of photo ID – but simply having it at home isn’t enough if you’d like to vote at a polling station on Thursday 4 May. Crucially, you must remember to bring along your photo ID and show that to polling station staff before they can give you ballot papers. 

“For any voters who unfortunately forget on the day, you needn’t worry as polling stations will be open from 7am until 10pm, so there’s plenty of opportunity to go home and return later with an accepted form of photo ID so you can vote.”

You can check your polling station location on your polling card (if you have one) or on our webpage. You can also check which borough ward you live within using our Neighbourhood Map.

The count of votes cast for the borough council election will take place overnight, with results declared in the early hours of Friday 5 May. The count for contested parishes and the Datchet Neighbourhood Plan Local Referendum will take place on Friday afternoon. Results will be posted on the council’s Twitter feed and website.