London: The introduction of voter ID in England has “regrettably” left several eligible voters, especially from marginalised communities, unable to cast their ballot in May’s local elections, which are expected to be bruising for UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Tories.
Anecdotal accounts from campaigners, MPs, and voters highlighted “countless examples” in which citizens have been turned away under the rule, applied for the first time in Thursday’s local election, as they lacked a relatively small list of photo ID documents. These include four mayoral contests and more than 8,000 seats spread among 230 councils in England, including metropolitan, unitary, and district administrations.
The Electoral Commission stated that while the elections were generally “well run,” the requirement to have a photo ID caused difficulty and prevented some individuals from casting their ballots. However, the lack of conclusive data on the number of individuals who were unable to vote has led some to suggest that the situation may be even worse than currently reported.
“We already know from our research that the ID requirement posed a greater challenge for some groups in society and that some people were regrettably unable to vote today as a result,” said an Electoral Commission spokesperson.
“It will be essential to understand the extent of this impact, and the reasons behind it, before a final view can be taken on how the policy has worked in practice and what can be learned for future elections.”
Reports from all over England of people turned away from polling stations because
1)they didn’t know they needed photo voter ID
2)they knew but took the wrong photo ID
3)they thought a photo of valid ID was ok
Email info@unlockdemocracy.org.uk if you experienced problems voting— Unlock Democracy (@UnlockDemocracy) May 4, 2023
“Today has been a dark day for British democracy,” said Tom Brake of Unlock Democracy, who is leading a coalition of groups opposed to the idea, including the Electoral Reform Society, Fair Vote UK, and Open Britain.
The new rules are based on suggestions made in a 2016 study by Sir Eric Pickles, the former communities secretary, who warned that there was a potential for “significant abuse” of the electoral process if individuals could vote fraudulently with little chance of being caught.
Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran tweeted her worry over “significant numbers” of electors in her Oxford West and Abingdon area being turned away after realising they couldn’t vote without identity. Polling station tellers in Oxfordshire had “large numbers” turned away, reporting that between 10-25% were unable to vote.
Lloyd Russell-Moyle, a Labour member of parliament for Kemptown and Peacehaven, tweeted that he has heard of stories of individuals being unable to vote.
In a particular council district, a campaigner claimed to be aware of roughly a dozen persons who were unable to cast a ballot. According to other accounts, senior voters appeared to be often engaged.
A few transgender voters who had trouble getting the government-issued voter ID certificate reported not being able to cast their ballots because their credentials did not reflect their new names.
Clinically fragile persons experienced difficulty as a result of the need that voters to remove any face coverings so staff members may verify their identification. At least one voter reported being turned away as a result of these requirements.
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister acknowledged that it would be a “hard night” for the Conservatives, but argued that they were moving away from “box set drama” politics in the wake of Boris Johnson’s scandal-prone presidency and the disorganised fall of the Liz Truss administration.
For the Conservatives, this will be a challenging issue, a Tory senior said. After 13 years in office, a government has a very high chance of losing seats. The Conservatives have made an effort to manage expectations by citing predictions made by academic experts Professors Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher that suggest they may lose more than 1,000 seats if things don’t go well.
Even while the loss of hundreds of thousands of people is worse than expected, the Tories will try to portray any loss on a lower magnitude as better than expected.
Kalrav Joshi is an independent journalist based in London. He reports and writes on politics, culture, technology and climate.
