{"id":46546,"date":"2023-05-05T09:35:51","date_gmt":"2023-05-05T09:35:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sheffieldwire.co.uk\/?p=46546"},"modified":"2023-05-05T09:35:54","modified_gmt":"2023-05-05T09:35:54","slug":"critics-say-voter-id-rule-should-be-scrapped","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sheffieldwire.co.uk\/index.php\/2023\/05\/05\/critics-say-voter-id-rule-should-be-scrapped\/","title":{"rendered":"Critics say voter ID rule should be scrapped"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A campaign group has said the requirement for voter ID should be scrapped following a “significant number” of issues during yesterday’s local elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unlock Democracy<\/a> said the efforts to introduce the scheme “went very badly and that the new requirement for photo ID was “not necessary.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the first time, everyone voting in the local elections needed to present ID.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was clear yesterday that many people didn’t know about the need for voter ID.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other issues included voters not bringing the correct form of identification with them, or arriving with photographs of their ID, which were invalid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Electoral Commission its initial assessment is that “overall, the elections were well run\u201d however \u201csome people were regrettably unable to vote\u201d because of the new requirement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yesterday, Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran tweeted her concern about “significant numbers” being rejected after learning about people without ID being unable to vote in her Oxford West and Abingdon constituency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We\u2019ve had reports by our tellers of people being turned away at polling stations for lack of correct ID. That\u2019s just in my constituency so far. Across the country I\u2019m worried this will be significant numbers and far more than the exactly 0 people found guilty of fraud last year.<\/p>— Layla Moran \ud83d\udd36 (@LaylaMoran) May 4, 2023<\/a><\/blockquote>