Former United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson was barred from voting at his local polling station after forgetting to bring the required photo ID.
Johnson had intended to vote in the police and crime commissioner election in South Oxfordshire on Thursday. However, polling officials informed him that he would not be allowed to vote without providing his identity.
In the UK, there are 22 acceptable forms of ID, including passports, driving licences, blue badges, and certain local travel cards.
This incident has reignited controversy over the Elections Act introduced by Johnson in 2022, which requires photo ID. The law faced intense criticism from Britons, with the Electoral Commission warning in 2023 that it could exclude hundreds of thousands of people, including minorities and those with disabilities.
A spokesperson for Johnson confirmed that he had forgotten his photo ID but was able to cast his ballot after returning with valid ID.
“Mr. Johnson voted Conservative,” Sky News quoted the spokesperson as saying.
Downing Street announced that it would “look into” changing the controversial rules, which require photo ID to vote, to allow ID cards of veterans to be added to the list of valid identification.
