Earlsdon Ward by-election - 26 October 2023

From May 2023, anyone voting in a polling station must present a valid form of photo ID. This new requirement was introduced by the government through the Elections Act 2022.

The Electoral Commission are responsible for reviewing the implementation of voter ID. After the 4 May elections we provided the Electoral Commission with information about how it was introduced in the City of Coventry, and they produced national figures which can be found on their website.

Although not required for by-elections we have collected the voter ID statistics for the election held on Thursday 26 October 2023 which are listed below.

Our data 

• Total number of polling station electors who applied for, but at least initially were not issued with, a ballot paper; 43
• The total number of polling station electors who were not issued with a ballot paper and who later returned with accepted ID and were issued with a ballot paper; 30
• The number of polling station electors who applied for but were not issued with a ballot paper by close of poll; 13

Contextual information 

• The total number of electors who were eligible to vote in person at the polling stations; 11,896
• The total number of voters issued with a ballot paper at polling stations; 1,938
• The percentage of electors eligible to vote in person at the polling stations who voted; 16%

Percentages 

• % attended the polling station and were able to vote on 26 October; 99.4%
• % who applied for but were refused a ballot paper by the close of poll; 0.6%
• The percentage of electors who applied for, but were initially refused, a ballot paper; 2.2%
• Of the electors initially refused a ballot paper, the percentage who later returned with accepted ID and were issued with a ballot paper; 69.7%