Over 200 voters turned away from polling stations
More than 200 people were turned away from polling stations across Portsmouth in last week’s elections for failing to meet new voter ID requirements.
City council figures, collected by stewards employed to welcome voters and remind them of the need to show ID, show 223 people were refused a ballot paper with 99 of them not returning to vote afterwards. This number is likely to be higher as it does not include people who left before requesting a ballot paper.
The new rules have drawn widespread criticism across the country with opponents describing it as‘ voter suppression’, however the government said they were needed to tackle fraud.
At last Thursday’s count at Portsmouth Guildhall, Councillor Gerald Vernon-Jackson, who earlier this week announced his intention to stand down as the council’s leader, said he witnessed people trying to use naval base ID turned away.
‘I’ve opposed these rules since they were first proposed ,’ he said. ‘It’s voter suppression pure and simple. So many people in this city do not have a form of ID that is allowed and they’ re being denied their democratic right .’
The number of people eligible to vote in this year’s elections was 148,237 and turnout –at29.5percent–wasdownon last year’s 31.1 per cent.
Cllr Vernon-Jackson said the new rules had‘ undoubtedly’ contributed to the decline, despite efforts by the council to remind people of the ID requirement.
Veronika Wagner, who stood for the National Health Action Party in Cosham, said she had been told that NHS staff were among those turned away after trying to use their NHS ID which is not on the approved list of documents.
‘Given how many hoops NHS staff have to jump through to obtain their ID cards, including DBS checks, surely NHS ID and similar schemes – police and council ID spring to mind – should be permitted in future,’ she said. ‘After all, these ID documents enable staff access to operating theatres, confidential patient or council documents and many more restricted areas .’
The council said there were ‘various factors’ affecting voter turn out and said its data would be provided to the Electoral Commission, which is due to publish a report on the subject this year.