Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of discrepancies between voter identification documents and electoral register entries caused by (a) failure to update identification documents of a change of surname following marriage (b) other named-related reasons on trends in the level of voter participation; and what steps her Department is taking to communicate the need for identification documents to match the electoral register for future elections.
As set out in the Elections Act 2022, where there is a discrepancy between the name shown on an elector’s identification document and how their name is recorded on the electoral register, that elector may still use that document if they are able to explain the discrepancy to the satisfaction of the presiding officer, and may provide further evidence (e.g. a marriage certificate) when doing so This information is set out on poll cards and is displayed in polling stations. No assessment has been made on the potential impacts that such discrepancies might have on levels of voter participation.