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Local elections: No reruns if voters don’t have ID [1]

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Date: 2023-05

Calls for election reruns if people are turned away from polling stations for not having valid photo ID will be rejected, the government has said.

In a letter to the Local Government Association (LGA) seen by openDemocracy, communities minister Lee Rowley wrote: “Someone being correctly turned away from the polling station for not having the appropriate photographic identification [...] is not a valid reason to challenge the outcome of an election.”

The LGA had written to Rowley, a Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) minister, with concerns about the upcoming elections – the first since voter ID laws were introduced.

Critics say the new laws will further disenfranchise marginalised groups, with the Electoral Reform Society labelling them a “barrier to democracy”.

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Last month a poll found one in four people did not know they needed photo ID to vote. The Electoral Commission has also confirmed that “greeters” stationed outside polling stations will not record how many people leave when reminded of the need for ID, meaning the true impact of the laws may not be known.

Rowley also met the LGA and its political group leaders in February to discuss challenges to results, as well as other issues including safety and security at polling stations and recognisability of voters' ID.

Minutes for the meeting, obtained by openDemocracy, state: “Members highlighted concerns [about] election petitions stemming from issues with voter ID and expressed concern about the pressure on [returning officers] and presiding officers in polling stations.”

Election petitions are used to challenge the result of an election if voters or candidates believe it wasn’t run properly.

According to the minutes, “civil servants explained that electoral petitions due to electors being legitimately turned away due to lack of approved ID would not be successful and that unfortunately, DLUHC cannot stop people making petitions”.

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[1] Url: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/uk-local-elections-voter-id-reruns-rejected-government/

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