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Written question asked by Stella Creasy (Labour) on Monday, 2 March 2026, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 5 March 2026 (named day). It was answered by Samantha Dixon (Labour) on Thursday, 5 March 2026 on behalf of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.


Elections: Proof of Identity

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of the use of zip cards as a form of voter ID for people aged 16 and 17.

Answer

The Government has considered a range of documents for use at the polling station, including Oyster ZIP cards. We recognise that the current Voter ID rules are overly restrictive – however we must take into account that expanding the list of documents accepted at the polling station could make the policy more challenging to administer for polling station staff and could lead to confusion among electors as to what is and is not accepted.

We believe that our proposed change to allow the use of bank cards will significantly expand the proportion of legitimate electors easily able to meet the VID requirements and have no plans to make any further additions to the list of accepted documents.


Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
116737
Session
2024-26
Subjects
Elections Proof of identity Young people
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk