General Election 2024: The 5 Birmingham neighbourhoods with highest percentage of voters with no qualifying ID

New laws requiring voter ID were introduced last year

Several areas across Birmingham each have thousands of registered voters with no qualifying ID – potentially denying them a chance to vote in the upcoming General Election.

New laws requiring voter ID were introduced last year, with the local elections in England on May 4 last year being the first in Britain to require voters to show identification before being issued with a ballot paper.

However, exclusive data from Survation and Royal Holloway, University of London suggests that more than 1.9 million people are registered but lack appropriate ID to vote – some 4 per cent of all those registered.

The proportion is much higher in some areas however.

Over in both Wakefield West in West Yorkshire and Liskeard Central in Cornwall, an estimated 39 per cent of registered voters don’t have ID, affecting thousands of people. 

Meanwhile, the worrying figures suggest Quinton in Birmingham has 16,423 registered voters without qualifying ID – around 21.5 per cent.

Chris Hanretty, Professor of Politics at Royal Holloway, University of London, said: “The vast majority of registered voters have photo ID, but a small proportion don’t, and that small proportion gets bigger in some areas.

“If just a few of these voters without ID turn up to vote, we can expect lots of stories about people being disenfranchised.”

Voters can use passports, driving licences, Proof of Age Standards Scheme (PASS) cards, Blue badges, and some concessionary travel cards.

People without an existing acceptable form of voter ID can also apply online or by post for a free Voter Authority Certificate (VAC).

The deadline to apply for a VAC in order to vote in the Parliamentary General Election on Thursday, July 4 is 5pm on Wednesday, June 26

Here are the five Birmingham areas with the highest percentages of registered voters withourt the correct ID in the city:

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