New figures released by Stoke-on-Trent City Council reveal that a total of 97 people were denied the right to vote in the General Election last month after failing to bring ID to the polling station.
The 2024 General Election was the first to include the ID law, which requires all voters to bring an official form of ID with them to the polling station. This rule was not in place during the 2019 General Election.
The data was released by the council following a Freedom of Information request. Of the 97 occasions, 47 occurred in Stoke-on-Trent North, 26 in Stoke-on-Trent South, and 24 in Stoke-on-Trent Central.
However, 45 of the 155 polling stations across Stoke didn’t record this information, so the real vote denial figure could be much higher.
It is unknown whether any of the 97 people who were denied were able to place their vote once they had collected their ID and returned to the polling station.
The polling station that turned away the most amount of voters was the Burslem Cricket Club in Stoke-on-Trent North. This station turned away a total of seven voters. The high level of voter rejection did not prevent Labour from winning big during the election.
Experienced writer and journalist James McKean leads the daily editorial output at StaffsLive. To contact him, email news@staffslive.co.uk
