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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Peter Walker Political correspondent

Low uptake for free UK voter ID scheme among elderly and young people

Voter United Kingdom England
A billboard saying remember photo ID to vote.
Just under 21,000 applications had been submitted in total, only 1% of the estimated 2 million voters who do not possess the necessary documents already. Photograph: Geoffrey Swaine/Rex/Shutterstock

Huge numbers of older voters could be disenfranchised at local elections in May after official data has shown that only 505 people aged 75-plus have applied for free voter identification documents in the month since the scheme launched.

Statistics for the numbers who have applied since the system opened on 16 January also showed that fewer than 6% of those seeking the document were aged under 25, another group seen as disproportionately likely to lack the necessary ID.

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