The Conservative government insists the change will guard against potential electoral fraud and bring Britain in line with European neighbours.

But opposition parties, democracy groups and election administration organisations have all decried the move, with some viewing it as a crude attempt at voter suppression to benefit the struggling ruling party.

Tomorrow’s contests in swathes of England are the first major electoral test for Rishi Sunak since he became prime minister last October.

His Tories are set to see “significant losses” to the main Labour opposition and Liberal Democrats across a number of key councils, according to a YouGov poll last week of over 6,000 people voting in 18 districts.

Nationally, the Conservatives have been trailing Labour by big margins for months, with a recent Savanta survey showing the opposition party currently enjoying a reduced but still healthy 14-point lead.

Labour lawmakers have been among the chief critics of the new voter ID requirement, sensing a Tory plot to dent their rise – despite the policy promise being in the Conservatives’ 2019 manifesto.

“Voter ID has always been a solution in search of a problem,” Labour MP Alex Norris told parliament last week, adding “millions of pounds have been squandered on this process”.

‘Danger’

There is no evidence of large-scale electoral fraud, according to the electoral commission, the independent body that oversees UK elections.

It notes there have been 1,386 alleged cases reported to police in the past five years, out of tens of millions of ballots cast, leading to just nine convictions and six police cautions.

But ministers point out research indicating 98 percent of voters have at least one of the array of acceptable photo IDs – typically a driver’s licence or passport.

“It’s a sensible thing to do,” Sunak said last month.

“Most people think our elections should have a degree of identification to make sure that they’re high integrity processes,” he added, noting it is “very common in lots of other places”.

But critics argue there were around two million people who did not have the required ID when the law passed last year, and of those, less than 90,000 had since applied for a new “voter authority certificate”.

“The government’s new voter ID requirements are a clear and present danger to democracy in our country,” said Tom Brake, of UnlockDemocracy, which has joined forces with other campaign groups to oppose the policy.

They handed in nearly 119,000 petition signatures in Downing Street last month, urging the government to U-turn, in the buildup to a UK-wide general election expected next year.

“Never before will so many people be at risk of being turned away from casting their vote, either because they don’t have the right form of ID, or they simply forget to take it with them,” Brake added.

‘Big change’

Opponents also note the requirement could hit the young disproportionately, with the electoral commission finding only around two-thirds of 18 to 24-year-olds were aware of the new rules.

Critics say the system is skewed to benefit the old, who typically lean Conservative.

Pensioners who benefit from free local transport can show their bus pass at the polling station.

But for those in their late teens or early 20s who lack the official IDs, a young person’s railcard – offering discounted travel on trains – is not valid.

Some of those charged with enforcing the new rules are anxious.

“The practical effort required to deliver this change in such a short timeframe should not be understated,” Kevin Bentley, of the Local Government Association, said in a statement to AFP.

“Raising public awareness of these new requirements is crucial and we remain concerned about the potential for electoral staff to be overwhelmed … and that some councils may struggle to recruit sufficient staff for polling stations.”

Bentley and more strident critics want rigorous and transparent oversight of how the voter ID requirement fares at the local elections, which generally see poor turnout of less than 40%.

They hope lessons can be learned ahead of the next general election, which poses a far bigger challenge, and far higher stakes.