Almost everyone who attended a polling station in the last General Election was able to vote, but 16,000 people were turned away and others discouraged from voting, a new report finds.
Research commissioned by the Electoral Commission found that only 0.08% of voters – or 16,000 people – using a polling station were unable to vote because they did not present an accepted form of ID.
This is a marked improvement on the May 2023 election, which was the first vote after the voter ID rules were introduced, when the percentage of voters who tried but were unable to vote was 0.25%.
The commission also found that around 4% of people who did not vote at the General Election said their decision was related to the voter ID requirement.
Vijay Rangarajan, chief executive of the Electoral Commission, 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.’
Check out: What is voter ID?
