Voters will have to bring identification to polling stations for the first time next year, as part of a crackdown on electoral fraud.

Sky News understands a series of pilots will be set up in which voters will have to produce a document such as a driving licence, passport or utility bill to prove their identity.

Ministers have decided to adopt a series of recommendations contained in a hard-hitting report by former cabinet minister Sir Eric Pickles, who said he feared abuse of Britain's electoral system was widespread.

Sir Eric said this summer that it was time for ministers to consider voter ID rather than relying on trust, saying it was "ridiculous that it is harder to take out a council library book than to pick up a council ballot paper".

The Cabinet Office will announce in the coming days that it will adopt many of his 50 recommendations. Voter identification is slated to be the centrepiece of the announcement, according to sources.


The issue has been controversial. Sir Eric, the Government's anti-corruption tsar, had accused town halls of "turning a blind eye" to postal voting fraud and a number of other irregularities including impersonating other people, because of political correctness.

He said he had found evidence of pressure put on women and vulnerable people, particularly in some Pakistani and Bangladeshi communities, to vote the same way as community leaders.

Sir Eric Pickles on electoral fraud

Identification at polling stations is already required in Northern Ireland and in many other countries, although some MPs have pointed out that many voters do not have any identification and could be put off voting by the measures.

The Electoral Commission welcomed his proposals for voter identification and said such a scheme would enhance public confidence. They have drawn up proposals for a scheme of identification, including voter cards, which they say would cost between £1.8m and £10.8m to implement.

If pilots are successful, voter identification could be rolled out nationwide before the 2020 election.

Other recommendations in Sir Eric's report included:

:: Clamping down on postal vote "harvesting" by political activists by ensuring that a postal vote can only be handled by the voter or a nominated individual

:: Addressing alleged intimidation of voters inside and just outside of polling stations, by giving more powers to returning officers than are currently provided under election laws

:: Carrying out nationality checks on all voting application to tackle links between electoral and immigration fraud

:: Asking postal voters to reapply every three to five years in order to prevent fraud based on using multiple addresses

:: Use of English - or Welsh - only at polling stations.

The review, published in August, was commissioned by David Cameron after a court case brought by local residents found the mayor of Tower Hamlets, Lutfur Rahman, guilty of corruption.

Sir Eric said at the time: "I believe electoral malpractice is far more common than one isolated London borough, thanks to the state's collective state of denial.

"We should never be frightened to look under the rock when what crawls beneath threatens us all. It's time to take on the electoral crooks and defend Britain's free and fair elections."