Boris Johnson turned away from polling station
after forgetting to bring photo ID
Former PM made the requirement to bring photo ID a
stipulation of the Elections Act in 2022
Jessica
Elgot Deputy political editor
Thu 2 May
2024 20.41 BST
Boris
Johnson was turned away from his local polling station when trying to cast his
vote in Thursday’s elections after forgetting to bring the required photo
identity.
The former
prime minister was initially told by polling station staff he would not be
allowed to vote in the police and crime commissioner election in South
Oxfordshire without proving his identity.
The misstep
was embarrassing for Johnson because the requirement to bring photo ID is a
stipulation of the Elections Act he introduced in 2022 while in Downing Street.
The
Electoral Commission has warned that hundreds of thousands of people could be
excluded from voting because of the law, which it said could have a
disproportionate effect on some groups.
A source
close to Johnson confirmed he had forgotten the photo ID, but did later vote.
“Mr Johnson voted Conservative,” a spokesperson added. Earlier on Thursday he
had posted on X: “The polls are now open. Vote Conservative!”
It came
after the veterans minister apologised to former military personnel who were
prevented from using their veterans ID to vote in the local elections in
England.
Downing
Street said it would “look into” changing the controversial rules, which
require photo ID in order to vote, to allow veterans’ ID cards on to the list
of valid identification.
The
minister, Johnny Mercer, was responding to a complaint from a veteran who said
he had been turned away at a polling station. “I am sorry about this. The
legislation on acceptable forms of ID came out before the veterans ID cards
started coming out in January this year. I will do all I can to change it
before the next one,” Mercer tweeted.
A
government spokesperson said it was the intention to add the veterans’ card to
the list of accepted ID and that defence identity cards for serving armed
forces members were already accepted. “We are already consulting on this,” they
said.
Rishi
Sunak’s spokesperson said earlier that Downing Street had no concerns about
voter ID more generally, adding: “We don’t want to see anyone turned away from
polling stations, we want everyone to be able to vote. Experience from the last
local elections was that 99.75% of people were able to cast their vote
successfully.”
Ministers
have faced significant criticism over the limited number of acceptable forms of
ID, particularly the decision to allow documents such as the older person’s bus
pass but almost none issued to younger ones, such as other travel passes and
student documents.
The
Electoral Commission warned last year that it was difficult to assess the
consequences of requiring photo ID before voting.
It said the
laws could have a disproportionate effect on poorer people, those with
disabilities and people from minority ethnic backgrounds, and that the
disfranchising effect of the law was very likely to be proportionately greater
in a general election.
Among
people who did not vote in May last year, 4% said this was because of voter ID.
If this figure went up to 5%, it could mean about 800,000 people staying away
from the polls at a general election.
A Tory MP
was among those caught out by the voter ID requirement as polls opened for the
local elections in England and Wales. The Ipswich MP, Tom Hunt, said his
dyspraxia was the reason he had lost his documents.
Hunt sent a
message to his local Conservative WhatsApp group stating: “Bit of drama. Turns
out I have no appropriate ID to vote tomorrow. There is an emergency proxy
option if you lose your ID … who would like the honours?”
But Hunt
said it was inappropriate for Labour and social media users to mock him for
misplacing his documents given his developmental coordination disorder.
“I don’t
want to blame everything on my dyspraxia, but it’s a factor in my life I have
to deal with,” he told the Evening Standard. “It’s all well and good people
saying we need to have more neurodiverse members of parliament, but having a
massive pile-on on them, I don’t think it’s going to encourage more people.”
The
Electoral Commission said “most voters” were able to cast their ballots despite
the ID requirements.
“Our
initial assessment of the elections is that they were well run, and millions of
voters were able to exercise their democratic rights,” a spokesperson said.
“This is a testament to the efforts of electoral administrators, who work
tirelessly to ensure the smooth delivery and integrity of polls.”
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