Photo ID rule may have prevented 445,000 from voting in election, poll indicates

Some 445,000 voters may not have been issued with a ballot paper in the General Election because they did not have the correct identification, polling has suggested. Of the 2,047 people surveyed by More In Common, 3.2% reported being turned away at least once because they lacked the necessary ID. Extrapolated across the UK, this would equate to more than 850,000, according to the pollsters. More than half of these people either gave up or returned and were still unable to vote. The poll found that a third of people turned away had ID which was not on the list of valid ID, a quarter said the name on their ID was different from that listed on the electoral register, while 12% said they were told the picture on their ID did not match their appearance. The data, co-ordinated by the Hope Not Hate campaign group, also suggested there was a disproportionate impact on ethnic minorities, who were more than twice as likely to be turned away than white voters.It found that 6.5% of voters of colour said they were turned away, compared with 2.5% of white voters.