Adam Diver, a former army officer, said he was being 'gutted'; he could not use his pass to vote in local elections.
Johnny Mercer, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, apologized to a former soldier who was turned away from a polling station because his veteran's card was not considered proper identification.
Adam Diver, a former army officer, said he was “gutted” that he could not use his pass to vote in Thursday's local elections after learning he did not meet the government's criteria at the ballot box.
“I was sadly turned away at the door because my Veteran ID was not allowed as official identification. I will fight for this “special ID” to be “more” formal.”
In response, Mr Mercer, also a former soldier, apologized for the situation and promised to do “everything I can ” to ensure that the cards can be used for voting in the future.
Voters have been required to show photo ID at the ballot box since May last year under reforms introduced by Rishi Sunak's government.
“I felt like my term had been invalidated.”
Veteran's ID issued. in January this year is not currently considered acceptable under the new laws. But following a backlash over Mr Diver's story on Thursday, a government spokesman said ministers intended to add him to the accepted list following consultation.
Replying to the former soldier's post on X (formerly Twitter), Mercer wrote: “I'm so sorry. The Acceptable Forms of ID Act came before veterans' ID cards began being issued in January. I'll do everything I can to change it before the next one.”
Diver, 48, had hoped to vote in Fleetwood, Lancashire, but was turned away after showing his veteran's ID.< /p>
He said: “I felt visibly drained, I felt drained to be honest and upset – I felt angry at that point. I felt like my deadline had been invalidated and I just thought, “What's the point of this?” I served in almost every war and spent 27 years away from my family.
“I thought you could use it as an ID. It's like a driver's license: you can't get a more official license, and it didn't surprise me one bit that it wouldn't be checked.”
Richard Foord, a Lib Dem defense spokesman who served in the military for more than a decade, said it was “an example of the damage that the Conservatives' poor voter ID rules are causing.”
“People who have served our country should not deprive them of the opportunity to exercise their democratic rights,” he added.
“This will be on the list in the next elections.”
But Mr Mercer called it “fake news”. adding: “The person is not banned at all – many other forms of ID are allowed. The veteran's certificate is new; he will be on the ballot for the next election.”
It comes after Conservative MP Tom Hunt admitted he was forced to rely on emergency proxy voting for local elections due to voter identification rules that he supported.
Both Mr Hunt and Mr Mercer voted for the Voter Identification Scheme when it was before the House of Commons. According to parliamentary voting records, they also decided to reject a Lords amendment aimed at expanding the forms of acceptable identification to include employment ID, library cards, bank statements and a range of other documents.
Representative government said: “Our intention is for the new Veteran's ID to be added to the official list of recognized IDs and we are already consulting on this. Department of Defense ID cards for military personnel are now accepted.”
Steve McCabe, Labour's shadow veterans affairs minister, said the incident “is evidence of how the Tories like to claim support for our forces but fail to deliver.”
“Even though says Johnny Mercer, the government has had years to make sure ex-servicemen could use their veteran's ID to vote.
“It looks like the Minister is once again trying to pull the wool over veterans' eyes.”
p>He added: “There have been a lot of problems with photo voter ID in the recent elections. In our democracy, every legal voter should be able to vote.”
An Electoral Commission investigation found that about 14,000 people – 0.25 per cent of voters – did not vote in last year's local elections because they were unable to appear. accepted form of photo identification at your polling place. A similar study will be conducted this year, the commission reported.
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