Fifth of polling stations turned away voters in ID scheme trial

A FIFTH of all polling stations that took part in trials of a new voter ID scheme to combat electoral fraud ended up turning people away.

The Democracy Volunteers group attended polls in the five council areas where the system was tested – Bromley, Gosport, Swindon, Watford and Woking – and found voters were refused a ballot paper in 21 per cent of locations because they could not prove their identity. A total of 1.67 per cent of the 3,229 voters sampled were unable to cast their ballots, according to the group, though it said it was unable to say whether any returned later with ID.

The planned introduction of voter ID has raised concerns that it may make it more difficult for vulnerable groups such as the disabled, the homeless and older voters to cast their ballot.

Cat Smith, Labour’s spokesman for voter engagement, labelled the pilots a “fiasco” and said they amounted to using a “sledgehammer to crack a nut”.

She said: “There was absolutely no case for introducing voter ID in the first place but, after yesterday’s fiasco, it is impossible for the Government to justify rolling it out.”

However, a Government spokesman insisted the pilots had been a success.

“Voter ID is an important step to ensuring the public can have greater confidence in our democratic system and the success of yesterday’s pilots proves that this is a reasonable and proportionate measure to take,” they said.

“We will evaluate the pilots before announcing the next steps in delivering voter ID nationally.”