Only 0.08% of voters – or 16,000 people – were unable to vote in the General Election because they did not present an accepted form of ID, research commissioned by the Electoral Commission has found. 

The commission found that around 4% of people who did not vote said their decision was related to the voter ID requirement.

Commission chief executive Vijay Rangarajan said: ‘We don't want to see any voters lose their say.'

Director of research and policy for the Electoral Reform Society campaign group, Jess Garland, said: ‘Even one person being prevented from casting a vote they're entitled to is one too many.

'Voter ID should be scrapped.'