Anyone without the correct form of photo ID to take part in next week’s local and mayoral elections in England has only a few hours left to apply for a special certificate.
Some 1,641 council seats are up for grabs on May 1 across 23 local authorities.
Elections are also taking place for four regional mayors and two local mayors, while voters in the constituency of Runcorn & Helsby will choose a new MP.
There are only certain kinds of photo identification that will be accepted at polling stations and voters without the correct ID will be turned away.
A passport, driving licence photocard or blue badge are all valid, as is an older person’s bus pass.
Do you have accepted ID? Check now. You need it to vote in person in England.
— Electoral Commission (@ElectoralCommUK) April 18, 2025
Don’t have accepted ID? ➡️ Apply for free voter ID by 5pm Wednesday 23 April for the local elections in England on 1 May.
Check the list of accepted ID and how to apply: https://t.co/8XLW3k96g0
People who do not have any of the right forms of ID need to apply for a voter authority certificate by 5pm on Wednesday.
This can be done online at gov.uk/apply-for-photo-id-voter-authority-certificate.
Photo ID rules were brought in as part of the Elections Act 2022 and were first enforced in England in 2023 and across Britain at the 2024 general election.
Voters in Northern Ireland have been required to show ID at elections since 2003.
An average of 219 applications for a voter authority certificate (VAC) were made each day in the week to April 21, the highest number so far this year, but up only slightly from 215 the previous week and 211 a fortnight earlier.
Just 9% of VAC applications in the most recent week came from people under 25, while 4% came from those aged 75 and over, according to analysis of Government figures by the PA news agency.
Applications from 55 to 64-year-olds accounted for 28% of the total, followed by 45 to 54-year-olds (22%), 35 to 44-year-olds (19%), 25 to 34-year-olds (10%) and 65 to 74-year-olds (8%).
Jackie Killeen, director of electoral administration and regulation at the Electoral Commission, said: “Voters will be required to show photo ID at polling stations next week.
“Our research shows that the vast majority of voters already have an accepted form of ID, but for those that do not, the free ID is an important option.
“Time is running out to apply for the free ID, so we are calling on anyone that needs it to make sure they have submitted their application by 5pm on Wednesday so that they can cast their vote on May 1.
“Applications can be made online or by completing a paper form, which can be obtained from your local council.
“Voters will need to provide a photo, their full name, date of birth, the address at which they are registered to vote and their national insurance number.”
No scheduled elections are taking place on May 1 in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.
It is nonetheless the first big test at the ballot box for political parties since Labour won the general election in July 2024.
Of the 23 local authorities in England holding elections on May 1, 14 are county councils: Cambridgeshire, Derbyshire, Devon, Gloucestershire, Hertfordshire, Kent, Lancashire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire.
The others are the unitary authorities of Buckinghamshire, Cornwall, Durham, North Northamptonshire, Northumberland, Shropshire, West Northamptonshire and Wiltshire, plus Doncaster Metropolitan Council.
Every seat on all 23 authorities is up for grabs, but boundary changes mean some areas will be electing fewer councillors than before.
Four combined-authority mayors are being elected on May 1, for Cambridgeshire & Peterborough, Greater Lincolnshire, Hull & East Yorkshire and the West of England, along with two single-authority mayors in Doncaster and North Tyneside.
The by-election in Runcorn & Helsby was triggered by the resignation of the previous MP, Mike Amesbury, after he was given a suspended prison sentence for punching a man in a street in Frodsham, Cheshire in October 2024.
Mr Amesbury won the seat for Labour at the 2024 general election but was suspended by the party after footage emerged of the punch, and spent the last few months sitting as an independent MP.
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