Hundreds of Suffolk voters refused at General Election

New data from the Electoral Commission shows that 616 people were denied ballot papers on the grounds of not having ID - and more than a third of these did not return later in the day to cast their vote. 

The Ipswich constituency saw the largest number of people turned away, with almost 150 people refused a ballot paper. 

The data did not take into account refused canines (Image: Charlotte Bond) Eighty of those who had refused later returned with valid ID and where then issued their ballot voting paper.

Lowestoft had the fewest refusals with 52, and only 12 people did not return later in the day. 

Of the 69 people turned away from voting in Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket, a majority didn't come back later to vote. 

The new constituency of Waveney Valley, a cross-county patch that elected the East of England's first Green MP in Adrian Ramsay, had 86 people turned away with 14 people returning later.

Had all of those who had been initially refused come back later and voted, none of the final tallies would have resulted in a different member of parliament for any of the constituencies.

This year's general election was the first under the new rules that require valid ID to vote at polling stations.

These include UK passports, driving licences, Northern Ireland ID cards as well as many others.

Earlier in the year, it was reported by the PA news agency that almost half a million voters may have turned away from voting through not having a correct form of ID.  

Electoral Commission chief executive Vijay Rangarajan said: “This was the first time all voters across the UK were required to show photographic ID at a general election, and the data shows almost everyone was able to do so successfully.

“However, our research shows that the need for ID discouraged some people from voting - and we don’t want to see any voters lose their say.

“Public awareness of the need for voter ID is high across the UK, but there are still groups of voters that are less likely to be aware of the need to show ID or that do not have an accepted form."