Voter ID “should be scrapped” after Electoral Commission finds thousands prevented from voting in General Election

0.25% of voters in the General Election – or 50,000 people – were turned away from polling stations for not having ID the Electoral Commission say.

A new report states that 89% of people in Wales were aware that they needed to show photo ID to vote at a polling station, adding, “While overall awareness levels were high, some groups of people were significantly less likely to know about the requirement. Awareness was lower among younger age groups (71% for 18 to 24-year-olds) and people from ethnic minority communities (76%).”

On those unable to vote, they say, “Data collected in polling stations shows that 0.08% of people who tried to vote at a polling station were not issued with a ballot paper because they did not have an accepted form of ID. 0.25% of people who tried to vote at a polling station in the UK general election were initially turned away, but around two-thirds of those people returned later in the day with an accepted form of ID and were able to vote. ”

“In absolute numbers, around 16,000 people across Great Britain were unable to vote in person at the general election due to the requirement to show ID at a polling station. This compares to 14,000 in England at the May 2023 elections.”

That figure may not capture the entire issue, as they add, “These figures capture the people we know were turned away. However, data collected at polling stations underestimates the impact, partly due to issues with the quality of the data but also because some people will have been reminded of the ID requirement before they went to the polling station. ”

The Electoral Commission note that around 4% of people who didn’t vote said this was because of the voter ID requirement.

Dr Jess Garland, Director of Research and Policy for the Electoral Reform Society, said: “Voting is a fundamental democratic right and even one person being prevented from casting a vote they’re entitled to is one too many.

“Yet, the Electoral Commission’s report lays bare that at least 16,000 people were turned away from polling stations during the general election and effectively barred from having a say in the future of this country due to a lack of voter ID.

“Even that figure is likely to be the tip of the iceberg when it comes to people who simply stayed at home due to not having voter ID. The Electoral Commission estimates that 750,000 people may not have an accepted form of ID. The report also highlights concerning disparities in how voter ID impacts different groups of people, with lower levels of awareness of the requirements among younger people and people from ethnic minority communities.

“Our concern is that voter ID is a disproportionate and damaging barrier that is contributing to people not being able to cast their vote and becoming democratically left behind.

“At a minimum, the government should drastically expand the types of accepted ID people can use to vote. But ultimately, voter ID should be scrapped and efforts now focused on removing barriers to voting, increasing turnout and improving participation in our democracy.”

The full report can be found here.