Your right to vote is precious: but the government has just made it more difficult.
One way to beat the ID requirement is to register for a postal vote.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/apply-for-a-postal-vote
Use the above link to find the form and then send it back into the relevant council for free:
Lewes District: Forms should be returned to:
Electoral Services
Southover House, Southover Road
Lewes, BN7 1AB
Wealden: Wealden District Council
Electoral Registration Officer
Wealden District Council
Vicarage Lane
Hailsham
BN27 2AX
One way or another, make sure you keep your right to vote.
16 Jan 2023
The government website that allows you to apply for a free Voter Authority Certificate is now live. If you don't have photo ID, now is the time to apply. Here it is:
https://www.gov.uk/apply-for-photo-id-voter-authority-certificate
30th Dec 2022
Council elections are less than six months away - but you may not be allowed to vote!
For next May’s District elections you will need photo ID – and not just any photo ID. There is a list of what’s allowed in the link at the end of this article. There are a lot more allowable forms for older people than for younger, eg an old person’s bus pass is allowed, but a student Rail card isn’t.
LibDem campaigner Cathy Bryan says, “Voter ID is a brazen attack on democracy, but we can all resist it by having the right document to hand when we vote. It is clearly loaded in favour of older voters. Everybody, but especially younger voters, needs to make sure that they’re entitled to vote. If you turn up at the polling station without the right ID, you won’t be able to vote. So start making sure now that you can vote, or you’ll lose it.”
If you don’t have any photo ID of your own, you can buy what’s called a PASS card (yes, you could actually pay for the right to vote!!) You should be able to get a free voter ID card from Lewes District Council, but we don’t know yet when they will be available.