Boris thanks villagers who refused to let him vote using a magazine as his ID
Boris Johnson was turned away from voting at his local polling station yesterday after attempting to use a magazine as a form of ID.
Mr Johnson, who introduced the Elections Act requiring photo ID in 2022, was attempting to cast his ballot in South Oxfordshire, where a police and crime commissioner for the Thames Valley was being selected, according to Sky News.
Polling station staff told the former prime minister to go away and come back after he initially failed to comply with legislation he introduced while he was in Downing Street.
Mr Johnson said of the incident: ‘I want to pay a particular tribute to the three villagers who on Thursday rightly turned me away when I appeared in the polling station with nothing to prove my identity except the sleeve of my copy of Prospect magazine, on which my name and address had been printed.
‘I showed it to them and they looked very dubious… within minutes I was back with my driving licence and voted Tory.’
Thursday’s election was the first time many voters in England and Wales had to present ID to vote under provisions first rolled out at last year’s local elections.
What is an acceptable form of voter ID?
In order to be able to vote you must show proof of identity in order to vote, following a new requirement introduced last year.
A passport, driving licence or a PASS-accredited student card are the forms of photo ID most commonly used by people voting for the first time.
The Electoral Commission has a list of the approved forms of ID, you can show.
If you wear a face covering – for religious, cultural or medical reasons – you will have to remove it briefly for the clerk to check your face against your photo. There will be a private area to use, if you want, and women may request that a female member of staff confirms their identity.
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It looks like Boris wasn’t the only MP who forgot his ID as Tom Hunt, MP for Ipswich asked local members to act as his ‘emergency proxy’ after he found that he had no appropriate ID to vote in the local council elections.
In a screenshot of a Whatsapp conversation, published by ITV political correspondent Harry Horton, Mr Hunt is seen asking for help from members following a ‘bit of drama’, adding: ‘Turns out I have no appropriate ID to vote tomorrow’.
The Elections Act has proved controversial, with fears that it would prove a deterrent to voting, particularly among disadvantaged groups.
In 2023, the Electoral Commission warned the new law, which requires people to show acceptable forms of photo ID when voting in person, could exclude hundreds of thousands of people, including those with disabilities and from minority ethnic backgrounds.
The commission found that in local elections last May, 14,000 people were not able to vote because they did not have acceptable ID.
In England, passports, driving licences, blue badges and certain local travel cards are accepted forms of voter ID.
A spokesman for Mr Johnson did not deny he had failed to bring ID, saying only: ‘Mr Johnson voted Conservative.’
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