Tory voter ID rules meant around 16,000 people missed out on having their say at the General Election, a watchdog has found.
The Electoral Collection found one in 400 voters were initially turned away on July 4, although two thirds later returned with valid ID. But analysis found 0.08% who tried to vote were unable to do so.
The requirement to provide valid photo ID, which hasn’t been needed in previous General Elections, was the reason why four in every 100 people who didn’t vote failed to do so, the Commission said. People from poorer backgrounds were more likely to say this was the reason, it said.
Electoral Commission chief executive Vijay Rangarajan said: “This was the first time all voters across the UK were required to show photographic ID at a general election, and the data shows almost everyone was able to do so successfully.
“However, our research shows that the need for ID discouraged some people from voting – and we don’t want to see any voters lose their say. Public awareness of the need for voter ID is high across the UK, but there are still groups of voters that are less likely to be aware of the need to show ID or that do not have an accepted form.”
It called for the Government to accept a wider range of IDs, including the Jobcentre Plus Travel Discount Card and the 18+ Student Oyster photocard, in addition to the Veteran Card.
Figures show 14 people did not return to polling stations in Basildon & Billericay, which Tory Richard Holden won my a mere 20 votes. In the constituency of Poole, which Labour’s Neil Duncan-Jordan won by just 18 votes, 14 voters were recorded as not returning to polling stations after being turned away for not having the correct photo ID.
In Cambridgeshire North West, where Labour’s Sam Carling won by 39 votes, six potential voters did not return after being turned away, while in Devon Central – won by Mel Stride for the Conservatives by 61 votes – 16 did not come back.
Photo ID rules were brought in by Boris Johnson’s government as part of the Elections Act 2022, as the then-government said they were necessary to combat the risk of in-person voter fraud. Mr Johnson was himself turned away from a polling station at the May 2024 local elections after forgetting to take a photo ID.
The commission’s analysis of the impact on July’s general election was based on data collected by polling station staff and a YouGov poll of 5,863 adults between July 4 and 26.