After losing her passport, Hannah Edwards the Lib Dem Candidate for Rutland North East, took a visit to the Rutland County Council offices to arrange her Vote Authentication Certificate, so that she can vote in the upcoming local elections on 4 May 2023.

Following the implementation of The Elections Act 2022, all voters will be required to show an accepted form of photo ID at a polling station before they are given a ballot paper.  

If you do not have photographic ID, you can get a special form of identification to vote from your local council.

This voting ID called a Voter Authentication Certificate. 

Hannah Edwards, Lib Dem Candidate for Rutland North East, has shared her experience of registering for a Voter Authentication Certificate (VAC) with Rutland County Council.

All you need to apply for a certificate is:

1. A passport quality photograph
2. Your National Insurance Number - if you can't find this, you may bring a friend or family member, who has ID, to sign to verify your identity.
3. Your date of birth

Ms Edwards needed to apply for a certificate after misplacing her passport, but having been hit by a car the previous week, didn't have a camera to take a photograph of herself to upload so that she could register for a VAC.

She explained: "I was recently reminded about getting my voter identification arranged, so looked up how to do it if you don't have a passport or driving license to hand. Simple: upload a photo and put your NI number in, and you can print out a valid ID. However, after being hit by a car last week my phone camera broke, so I was left without the ability to selfie, and I don't have a printer. 

"I saw that there was the option to go to your local council offices with just your NI number, and they could sort everything out. I assumed that this would be a nightmare, as I knew the desk is unmanned and you just have to go in and pick up a phone to talk to someone at a switchboard.

"Despite it being the first time the Rutland Council team had registered anyone for a Voter Authentication Certificate, the process was so easy and they were incredibly helpful. As soon as I said I was down in reception (I think the switchboard assumes you're calling from home and not their own building), two people immediately came down to me.

"I explained my issue and they took me into a room with a white wall so that they could take my photo. They uploaded it then and there while taking my address and NI number, then informed me that the paper copy would be mailed to me by Monday."

"My ID arrived on my doormat only 2 days after it was requested."

Hannah is urging Rutland residents without a form of ID to use this service the way she did, adding that "this was a very quick and easy process, which I think a lot of people might not know is available."

It is compulsory to provide photographic identification at the polling booth on 4 May 2023, so make sue you can find the appropriate identification or you have your Voter Authentication Certificate arranged in time for the local elections.

Accepted ID is:

• Passport issued by the UK, any of the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man, A British Overseas Territory, an EEA state, or a Commonwealth country 
• Photocard driving licence (includes a provisional licence) issued by the UK, any of the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man or EEA state
• Biometric immigration document 
• Identity card bearing the Proof of Age Standards Scheme hologram (a PASS card)
• Ministry of Defence Form 90 (Defence Identity Card)
• Blue Badge scheme photocard parking permit
• National identity card issued by an EEA state
• Older Person's Bus Pass / Concessionary Travel pass/card (in Lincolnshire, this is the Older person or Disability bus pass issued by Lincolnshire County Council)
• a Disabled Person's Bus Pass
• an Oyster 60+ Card
• Freedom Pass
• Electoral Identity Card for Northern Ireland
• Scottish National Entitlement Card issued in Scotland
• 60 and Over Welsh Concessionary Travel Card issued in Wales
• Disabled Person's Welsh Concessionary Travel Card issued in Wales
• Senior SmartPass issued in Northern Ireland
• Registered Blind SmartPass or Blind Person's SmartPass issued in Northern Ireland
• War Disablement SmartPass issued in Northern Ireland
• 60+ SmartPass issued in Northern Ireland
• Half Fare SmartPass issued in Northern Ireland
• Electoral Identity Card issued in Northern Ireland 
• Anonymous Elector Document

Residents will not be required to provide photo ID for voting by post.