Voter ID should be scrapped, Scottish Government tells UK

Voters in Scotland were first required to show ID at the general election in July - there is no such requirement for Scottish Parliament or local council elections in Scotland, but voter ID - introduced by the last government - is needed at all elections south of the border.

Voter ID was found to have discouraged some voters from taking part in the general election

Scottish Minister for Parliamentary Business Jamie Hepburn has written to Rushanara Ali, the junior UK minister responsible for elections, voicing his concern about the impact of voter ID.

Mr Hepburn noted that the Electoral Commission had found that 4 per cent of people who did not vote at the general election stated their decision was related to the voter ID requirement. 

"This confirms the view expressed by the Scottish Government, and others at the time of the changes, that it did indeed discourage some people from voting.

“The Commission also noted that of the people who tried to vote at a polling station, 0.08 per cent were not able to because of the ID requirement.

“Although these numbers are small, anyone losing a vote is of concern, and furthermore no one knows how many did not vote due to not having relevant ID, or not knowing if they did. Tellingly, turnout on 4th July was 59.8 per cent, down from 67.3 per cent in 2019."

He pointed out the Scottish Government had not adopted voter ID. "We remain strongly opposed to it and concerned about its impact on democracy by creating an unnecessary barrier to voting and disenfranchising some of our citizens."

But he said there were fears that voters may wrongly have the impression that voter ID is required for the 2026 Holyrood elections and be discouraged from taking part.

Mr Hepburn concluded: "Of course, the best way of mitigating that particular concern and more fundamentally of removing those barriers to participation in the democratic process is for the Voter ID requirements to be scrapped. I hope this is something you might consider proposing as a policy change to your colleagues in the UK Government."