Dorset Elections 2024

Forthcoming Local Elections 2024

General Election – no later than January 2025

How to Vote

Make sure you are registered to vote.

You can find out how to register and how to check that you have registered here Elections and voting (bcpcouncil.gov.uk)

The UK Government has introduced a requirement for voters to show photo ID when voting at a polling station. This will affect all voters across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole who want to vote in person or by proxy.

To find out what forms of photo ID are acceptable, check the advice on the Electoral Commission website - Accepted forms of photo ID | Electoral Commission

If you don’t have anything suitable, you can apply for a Voter Authority Certificate here - Applying for a Voter Authority Certificate | Electoral Commission. Note – you will have to supply a photo that meets certain requirements in terms of style, quality and size.

The Voter ID requirement does not apply to Postal Votes yet and so it may be easier for you to apply for a Postal Vote - Voting by post (bcpcouncil.gov.uk)

Find information for your local area here - Liberal Democrats: In your community (libdems.org.uk)

Note

Liberal Democrats fought against the requirements for Voter Id as we believe it will stop a lot of people from voting. Lib Dem peer Baroness Pinnock said: “Safeguarding our democracy and our birthright to vote should be the priority of any responsible government. But, unless you have the right documents, this birthright will be snatched away from you by the Conservative government.”

The Electoral Reform Society said this about the proposals:- “

Evidence from around the world shows that forcing voters to bring photographic ID to the polling station just makes it harder for people to vote – while doing little to increase faith in the integrity of the system. The Government think their scheme could cost up to £180,000,000 a decade. We don’t need to spend millions to put up barriers to people taking part in our democracy”.