Labour calls for voting ID trial to be scrapped after dozens turned away in Gosport

Gosport was one of five UK areas taking part in the trial on Thursday in an effort to cut down on voter fraud.

But observers reported that around one in 60 voters were turned away nationally, and 44 people were denied the right to vote in Gosport.Labour’s spokeswoman for voter engagement, Cat Smith, said: ‘There was absolutely no case for introducing voter ID in the first place but, after Thursday’s fiasco, it is impossible for the Government to justify rolling it out.’

A Government spokesman insisted the pilots had been a ‘success’.

They added: ‘Voter ID is an important step to ensuring the public can have greater confidence in our democratic system and the success of yesterday’s pilots proves that this is a reasonable and proportionate measure to take.

‘The overwhelming majority of people cast their vote without a problem. We will evaluate the pilots before announcing the next steps in delivering voter ID nationally. As well as this, the independent Electoral Commission will conduct a planned evaluation of the pilots.’