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Government to reject election challenges that cite voters’ lack of ID

Councils had warned that election results might be challenged if people are turned away from polling stations

By Anita Mureithi
Government to reject election challenges that cite voters’ lack of ID
The local elections on 4 May will see voter ID laws used for the first time in England | Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
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Calls for election reruns if people are turned away from polling stations for not having valid photo ID will be rejected, the government has said.

In a letter to the Local Government Association (LGA) seen by openDemocracy, communities minister Lee Rowley wrote: “Someone being correctly turned away from the polling station for not having the appropriate photographic identification [...] is not a valid reason to challenge the outcome of an election.”

The LGA had written to Rowley, a Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) minister, with concerns about the upcoming elections – the first since voter ID laws were introduced.

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