MPs approve plans for voter ID checks

MPs have backed proposals to introduce mandatory voter ID for elections, a major change to the electoral process in the UK.

Voters will be required to show photo ID at polling stations under measures in the Elections Bill.

Labour says the plan could reduce turnout at elections and discriminate against marginalised groups.

But the government said the measure was supported by election observers and was necessary to prevent voter fraud.

Voters would be able to show ID cards including driver’s licences, passports and photographic travel passes.

The government’s Elections Bill cleared the House of Commons on Monday and will now undergo further scrutiny in the House of Lords.

Labour bids to remove the voter ID section of the bill, and introduce a new clause to lower the voting age to 16 in the UK, were defeated.

And there were complaints that a warning from a cross-party committee of MPs to pause the bill to allow more time for consultations on voter ID checks was not heeded.

The requirement would apply to UK general elections, English local elections, and police and crime commissioner elections in England and Wales.

Photo ID would not be required to vote at Scottish and Welsh parliament elections, and has been mandatory in Northern Ireland since 2003.