Elections and voting


We often receive Freedom of Information (FOI) requests for information about elections and voting. For the purposes of transparency and openness, we have compiled comprehensive information regarding this common topic.

Election results

Results of past elections are available on our results page.

4 May 2023 election and voter ID

From 2023, rules were introduced requiring voters to produce photo ID to vote in a polling station. Please visit the Electoral Commission’s website for more information.

Information on accepted forms of photo ID for voting is available on our voter photo ID page.

On 21 September 2022, a report regarding voter identification was presented at the Council’s Democracy and General Purposes Committee. This report outlined the impacts and risks of the requirement for voter ID.

Our data relating to voter ID at the 4 May 2023 election is published on our voter ID data page.

At the 4 May 2023 election, some local authorities used ‘greeters’ outside polling stations to explain the ID requirements to electors. Within the borough of Maidstone, 21 out of 63 polling stations had a ‘greeter’ stationed outside at some point during polling day. The number of people turned away from polling stations by ‘greeters’ was not recorded.

Voter Authority Certificate (VAC) applications

If an elector does not have an accepted form of photo ID, they can apply for a Voter Authority Certificate for free.

We do not hold summary data on VAC applications. This is because Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) are not required to record how many VAC applications they have received, accepted, or rejected.