Commission warns voters may need proof of identity

VOTERS may be required to provide proof of identity, if new recommendations are introduced by the government.

The Electoral Commission said yesterday that the government needed to develop a "comprehensive electoral modernisation strategy".

In a report on this year's general election, the commission said that, in the majority of constituencies, the elections were well run, without major problems.

However, it warned that the coalition government's ambitious programme of democratic reforms was likely to add to the pressure on the machinery of electoral administration, and it warned that ministers needed to strengthen the system in order to maintain public confidence. This includes allowing anyone in a queue at the close of poll to be allowed to vote.

The commission chairwoman, Jenny Watson, said: "We are lucky to have inherited a trust-based system from previous generations. But this cannot endure for ever.

"The basic building blocks of electoral administration need long-term support and reform," she said.

"Voter confidence is fragile and may take time to rebuild after high-profile problems like the ones experienced at some polling stations at 10pm.

"In the vast majority of constituencies elections were well run - but this is despite the system, not because of it."