Almost all Swindon residents complied with new requirement to bring ID to vote

Turnout at last night’s local election in Swindon was higher than in previous years with the Council talking part in a pilot new scheme that required residents to produce ID in order to vote.

In Swindon residents were asked to bring their poll cards or another form of ID to vote and initial figures have shown that almost all residents complied with the new requirement.

Stephen Taylor, Swindon Borough Council’s Returning Officer, said: “The Government-funded trial of the use of voter ID in Swindon ran extremely smoothly overall and we estimate at this stage that turnout is up on comparable previous years by around six per cent to 40 per cent.

“Our initial figures show that of the 62,166 people who voted, only 60 were asked to return to the polling station having not brought their poll card or alternative form of ID. Thirty-five of these were either attested or later returned with the appropriate ID leaving just 0.04 per cent of eligible electors who did not either return with alternative ID or seek a replacement poll card.

“A huge amount of work went on behind the scenes here in Swindon to raise awareness of the voter ID trial and we carried out extensive engagement with local groups following a detailed equality impact assessment, which was scrutinised by the Cabinet Office, the Electoral Commission, the Association of Electoral Administrators and the Council itself.

“The Cabinet Office and Electoral Commission will now carry out a thorough evaluation and lessons-learned exercise.”

Full results from last night’s election, which saw the Conservative Party maintain its control of the Council, with a reduced majority, are available here.