Former U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson was turned away from a local polling station Thursday for forgetting to bring an acceptable photo identification, falling short of new voter ID rules his government set two years ago, Sky News reported.
Johnson attempted to vote in South Oxfordshire during local elections for a police and crime commissioner for the Thames Valley, but polling station staff were constrained to refuse him as he did not present an acceptable photo ID, according to the report.
Johnson‘s Conservative Party government introduced the Elections Act in 2022, which required photo ID and was controversial as some worried it could disenfranchise disabled and minority ethnic Brits, the report noted.
The U.K. Electoral Commission reportedly found out that 14,000 people were excluded from voting in local elections last May for not having acceptable ID. (RELATED: Man Arrested For Allegedly Driving Drunk With Fake ID Of Former Prime Minister That Expires In Year 3000)
Incredible. When I told Boris Johnson three years ago that his Voter ID law would stop people from being able to vote he told me I was talking “total nonsense”
Now Sky News reports he was turned away from voting for “failing to bring acceptable voter ID” pic.twitter.com/gjvsp7xyEV
— Adam Bienkov (@AdamBienkov) May 2, 2024
British Army veteran Adam Diver, 48, felt “gutted” and his service “invalidated” when polling station staff in Fleetwood, Lancashire, rejected his veterans’ ID card Thursday and turned him away, according to the BBC. There reportedly were similar instances.
“I will be fighting for this ‘special ID’ to be ‘more’ formal,” the 27-year army veteran tweeted Thursday.
Diver’s complaint drew broad attention, even reaching the House of Commons.
“I am sorry about this,” Veterans minister Johnny Mercer tweeted in an apology Thursday. “The legislation on acceptable forms of ID came out before the veterans ID cards started coming out in January this year. I will do all I can to change it before the next one.”
‘Up he pops…like an unflushable deposit.’
‘Epic incompetence, epic entitlement…or epic narcissism?’
@mrjamesob points out the irony of Boris Johnson forgetting his photo ID, when he introduced the voter ID legislation as PM. pic.twitter.com/n17UO5FcAi— LBC (@LBC) May 3, 2024
Johnson returned with an acceptable ID and was allowed to vote, the BBC reported.
“The polls are now open. Vote Conservative today!” Johnson tweeted Thursday, to a torrent of criticisms.
A spokesperson did not deny that Johnson was turned away at the polling station but revealed Johnson voted Conservative, Sky News reported.