The big change with this year's local elections was of course the introduction of the requirement to show photo ID to vote.
On election day I visited our local polling stations and only found one instance of someone forgetting their ID, who subsequently returned and successfully voted.
The polling clerks reported no problems with the new system, everyone had been prepared and had brought photo ID or voter authority certificates with them.
This anecdotal response seems to be borne out by the official figures from election day:
"Data shows most electors voting in the borough met newly introduced voter ID requirements.
Figures show that across Test Valley Borough Council, 21,789 electors voted in person at our 95 polling stations on 4 May 2023.
By the end of polling day, 52 electors who had tried to vote in a polling station had not been given a ballot paper because they did not meet the new voter ID requirements (0.2%). This equates to 0.1% of the entire turnout for the elections which was 33,916 votes cast, including postal votes.
The figures also show while 127 electors were initially turned away, 75 returned with acceptable ID and were able to vote.
The Electoral Commission is collecting data from all local authorities across England who held elections on 4 May. It will publish an initial assessment of the voter ID requirement in June and a full evaluation of the local elections in autumn."
Whilst it is disappointing that any elector was turned away, the Returning Officer had to comply with the new legislation introduced for polls from 4 May 2023. These figures demonstrate that the vast majority of electors who came to our polling stations were aware of the new ID requirements and were able to cast their vote.