Election Act 2022 Voter ID
Case reference FOI2023/00505
Published 18 April 2023
Request
I am writing to request that under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) you provide details of any awareness campaigns in place in relation to the new requirements under the Election Act 2022 to present photo ID at polling stations.
In your response, please provide as much of the following detail as possible without exceeding your cost limit.
a) What is the total budget that is to be spent on awareness campaigns,
ii) what is the spend up to the 28th February 2023?
b) How much of the total budget is local authority funded and how much is funded by central government?
c) How many days have council staff spent on the awareness campaign?
d) What assessment did you make of the number/% of residents who were unaware of the requirement to present photo ID at polling stations before your campaign started?
e) What target have you set for the number/% of residents who are aware of the need for Photo ID,
ii) how are you measuring it and
iii) what is your latest estimate of the number/% of residents who are aware of the need for photo voter ID?
f) Which, if any, groups have been identified as the most difficult to communicate the new requirements under the Election Act 2022 to?
g) How much extra time has been set aside for training polling station staff who will be present at the local election polling stations on the 4th May 2023 on the new requirements under the Election Act 2022 to present a photo ID at polling stations?
h) What additional planning have you undertaken with the local police force to ensure that polling stations staff are kept safe in the event that voters raise concerns regarding having to show photo ID?
i) What guidance have you received from central government regarding the safety of polling station staff on polling day?
j) How many questions or complaints from residents have you received regarding the new requirements for Voter ID under the Election Act 2022?
Response
I am writing to request that under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) you provide details of any awareness campaigns in place in relation to the new requirements under the Election Act 2022 to present photo ID at polling stations.
In your response, please provide as much of the following detail as possible without exceeding your cost limit.
a) What is the total budget that is to be spent on awareness campaigns,
There is no budget. A grant of £34,939 has been received from Central Government to cover general accessibility devices, visual impairment accessibility devices, elector engagement, administrative costs for processing Voter Authority Certification applications and team training. As yet we do not have a figure for spend as elector engagement is unknown until after the election.
ii) what is the spend up to the 28th February 2023?
The central government grant is £34,939. Herefordshire Council will contribute to elector engagement costs beyond this.
b) How much of the total budget is local authority funded and how much is funded by central government?
Information not held.
c) How many days have council staff spent on the awareness campaign?
No assessment was made, we took the figure the Electoral Commission provided of between 2%-6% who may not have photo ID.
d) What assessment did you make of the number/% of residents who were unaware of the requirement to present photo ID at polling stations before your campaign started?
No assessment was made, we took the figure the Electoral Commission provided of between 2%-6% who may not have photo ID.
e) What target have you set for the number/% of residents who are aware of the need for Photo ID,
No target has been set.
ii) how are you measuring it and
We are not measuring it.
iii) what is your latest estimate of the number/% of residents who are aware of the need for photo voter ID?
We are using the Electoral Commission figures.
f) Which, if any, groups have been identified as the most difficult to communicate the new requirements under the Election Act 2022 to?
We have looked at all the groups the Electoral Commission have identified.
g) How much extra time has been set aside for training polling station staff who will be present at the local election polling stations on the 4th May 2023 on the new requirements under the Election Act 2022 to present a photo ID at polling stations?
We have not increased or decreased the training time, we have set it the same as we have done for all previous elections, we have just changed the content to cover the new Voter id requirements.
h) What additional planning have you undertaken with the local police force to ensure that polling stations staff are kept safe in the event that voters raise concerns regarding having to show photo ID?
We have communicated with our local police force with a list of the polling stations and the new Voter ID requirements.
i) What guidance have you received from central government regarding the safety of polling station staff on polling day?
We use any Electoral Commission or Association of Electoral Administrators guidance that has been provided.
j) How many questions or complaints from residents have you received regarding the new requirements for Voter ID under the Election Act 2022?
There have been zero complaints and a figure for the number of questions received has not been recorded.
Documents
This is Herefordshire Council's response to a freedom of information (FOI) or environmental information regulations (EIR) request.
You can browse our other responses or make a new FOI request.