Voters have told the BBC of their anger at being unable to vote in local elections due to new ID rules, which critics say should be dropped.
James Greenhalgh, from Leeds, said he was “livid” after being unable to vote in Thursday’s local elections, having left his passport at home.
“I’ve voted all my life since I was 18, and this is the first time I haven’t,” the 32-year-old told the BBC.
He is one of a number of people frustrated by the changes.
Unlock Democracy said there were a “significant number” of incidents of people being unable to vote, and called the changes unnecessary.
The Electoral Commission has acknowledged challenges with its rollout.
Mr Greenhalgh said he was “half-heartedly” aware of the new rules, but didn’t think about them when heading to the polling station late on Thursday evening.
“A passport isn’t something you carry around with you everywhere you go,” he said, adding that while the staff at the polling station were apologetic, he was “devastated” by the development.
Andre Vince, an NHS worker in West Sussex, was another person unable to vote because of the changes.
He told the BBC he was “incensed” after he was unable to use his NHS ID badge to vote, calling the changes “undemocratic”.
An immunosuppressed woman in Eastleigh, Hampshire, said she was unable to vote because she did not want to risk removing her face mask.
A spokesperson for the local council apologised, but said voters wearing face-coverings were “requested to remove it very briefly so that identification can be verified against their ID documents”.
David Hunter, 77, from East Yorkshire has voted in every UK election – including local, general and referendums – since the 1960s, but chose not to participate in Thursday’s polls in protest against the need for photo ID.
“I didn’t see the problem they were trying to solve – the level of intrusion didn’t merit the solution,” he told the BBC.
“I’m guessing there are other people in my position and it would be interesting to quantify the number of protesting non-voters,” he said.
The requirement was introduced as part of the Elections Act 2022, and requires voters in Great Britain – England, Wales and Scotland – to provide photo ID before voting. It has been in place in Northern Ireland since 2007.
The rules apply to parliamentary and local elections, referendums in England and crime commissioner elections in England and Wales. It also applies to proxy voters.
Valid ID includes passports, driving licences, older or disabled person’s bus passes, and Oyster 60+ cards. Out-of-date ID is permitted as long as the person looks the same.
Before the vote, critics warned that the changes were unnecessary and would damage democracy by making it harder for some to vote.
Tom Brake, director of campaign group Unlock Democracy said the plans went “very badly” on Thursday, and called for them to be scrapped.
He said his organisation had been tracking social media throughout the day, and that it was clear that a “significant number of people didn’t know about the need for voter ID”.
Other issues included people not bringing with them the correct form of identification, as well as those arriving with photographs of their ID, which were not valid.
Source – BBC News
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