Swindon Borough Council have hailed the newly introduced voter ID system a success - with only 60 voters turning up to vote without the correct identification.
Stephen Taylor, Swindon Borough Council’s Returning Officer, said that The Government-funded trial of the use of voter ID in Swindon "ran extremely smoothly overall" estimating that turnout was up on comparable previous years by around six per cent to 40 per cent.
He added: “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.”
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