Thank you for contacting me about the Elections Act and the Electoral Commission.

The Elections Act will improve the accountability of the Electoral Commission by making provision for a Strategy and Policy Statement to be introduced. I fully support this measure as I believe that making the Electoral Commission more accountable will strengthen the integrity of the electoral process and help prevent fraud.

I welcome that the Elections Act makes provision for a wide range of photographic identification to be used for voting at the polling station. These documents have been carefully chosen with security and accessibility in mind. Let me assure you that 98 per cent of electors already own one of the documents specified in the Elections Act. Moreover, anyone without identification will be able to apply for a free Voter Card from their local authority.

The Elections Act also includes provision to update the list of acceptable identification in the future, in recognition that available forms of identification will change over time.

Thank you for contacting me.