Following the local elections in England on 7 May, we carried out research to understand the experiences and views of voters, candidates and electoral administrators.

some of the key findings.

The research gives us a valuable picture of voters’ experiences of elections, what worked well, and some of the challenges and concerns people in England faced. We hope these insights will be useful as you reflect on the elections and consider your work with voters:

• Turnout reached 43.2%, the highest for local elections in England since 2016
• 94% were satisfied with the process of voting
• 79% were satisfied with the process of registering to vote, however satisfaction was lower among younger people (71% of 18-24 year olds and 73% of 25-24 year olds)
• 89% of disabled voters found it easy to participate, compared with 94% of voters without a disability or health condition. 11% of disabled voters said the way elections are currently run prevents them from voting in person.
• Awareness of the requirement to show photo ID at polling stations was high (83%), but awareness of free voter ID (the ‘Voter Authority Certificate’) was lower (52%).

These findings provide valuable insights into the experiences of those involved in and affected by the elections and will help inform our thinking and work going forward. We have made several recommendations to address these issues, including:

• The UK government and electoral community in England should do more to raise awareness of the accessibility support available at polling stations
• The Voter Authority Certificate should be promoted more widely, and it should be made easier to access and use
• The UK’s ability to protect the election information environment from mis- and disinformation should be improved

We have separately published our research on experiences of the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Senedd elections which also took place on 7 May.