A woman has been denied the opportunity to vote in today’s local elections after she tried to use her shotgun licence as a form of voter identification.
Sharon Jeacock, who lives near Bicester, went down to the polling station at 1pm but was not allowed to vote because her shotgun licence did not suffice as the correct voter ID.
Ms Jeacock, who has been a carer for more than 30 years, also showed the polling station staff her national carers ID but she said this was also not accepted.
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Ms Jeacock said: “I showed them the only two forms of photo ID I have which is a national carers card and my shotgun licence.
“The polling staff said they were very sorry but I wasn’t allowed to vote as neither were on the accepted criteria.”
Ms Jeacock was told she could go online in the future to try and obtain voter ID but she said this was particularly difficult in her case as she was not good with using the internet.
She explained: “Not everyone finds going online easy and I think the current law is discriminatory.”
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Ms Jeacock cannot drive so was not able to present the polling staff with a driver’s licence and she does not have a passport because she never goes abroad.
The Elections Act 2022 introduced the requirement to show photo ID at UK Parliamentary elections, police and crime commissioner elections and at local elections in England.
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Ms Jeacock said she was aware that voter ID was required to vote but she “wrongly assumed that a shotgun certificate would suffice”.
When asked how she felt about being turned away from the polling station, Ms Jeacock said: “I feel a bit annoyed to be totally honest as every adult has a right to vote in the UK.
“I think the new law is discriminatory against people like myself who don’t easily have access to the correct photo ID.”
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Ms Jeacock said it was surprising polling staff rejected her shotgun licence as an acceptable form of voter ID, as you “have to be vetted by a doctor and the police” to be given it.
When asked why she was in possession of a shotgun in the first place, Ms Jeacock said: “I don’t use the shotgun, as it was my late father’s.
“But when he passed away, I decided that I would keep it going as a keepsake.”
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Ms Jeacock is a full-time carer and spends most of her time looking after her autistic son.
She said she did not expect others in her family to have the same problem at the polling station, as her husband had a driving licence.
Ms Jeacock said the polling staff were “very understanding” but she could tell they thought it was ludicrous that she couldn’t vote even if they did not say it.
A spokesman for Cherwell District Council said: “Like all councils we are running our elections in accordance with national legislation, which sets out the accepted forms of ID.
"People can check the list of accepted forms of photo ID on the electoral commission website."
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