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07/05/2010
Voters Turned Away
Angry voters resorted to sit-in protests last night after poll stations failed to deal with the demand.
Hundreds of voters were turned away from polling stations and police had to be called to deal with the lengthly queues as the voting deadline passed.
There were problems in parts of London, Manchester, Sheffield, Birmingham, Liverpool, Newcastle and Surrey.
Angry scenes erupted at the polling station in Sheffield Hallam, where Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg was standing, after dozens of voters were turned away.
Students tried to prevent ballot boxes from being taken away for the count after they were turned away from a polling station.
Police were called and Sheffield's deputy returning officer Lee Adams admitted staff "couldn't cope" with the number of people who turned up at the polling station.
One Sheffield official said the turnout had probably been the highest for 30 years and "it caught us out".
The founder of a protest group on Facebook said students were segregated from other voters and today accused polling staff of "discrimination".
Comments on the website indicate residents were directed to a "fast track" queue whereas students had to wait for around two-and-a-half hours.
One Sheffield University student, Kate Eleanor Baldwin, wrote: "Initially it was just divided by registry number, which meant Ranmoor students were put into the fast track queue."
But in the evening, "with an increase of voters, this fast track queue was only available to what they referred to as a 'resident queue"', she said.
Commenting on the queues all over the country Labour Party deputy leader Harriet Harman said on Sky News that when she left her Camberwell and Peckham constituency last night, people were still queuing up outside waiting to vote.
Meanwhile Business Secretary Lord Mandelson acknowledged on BBC News that the situation could lead to legal challenges.
With human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson QC also admitting on ITV News that people denied the right to vote could take legal action.
"What the returning officers should have done is brought everyone in and locked the door."
"It shows that there has been a high turn-out. We have got to make sure that all the votes are counted, " said Lord Mandelson
An inquest into the incident will be held at a later date.
(LB/GK)
Hundreds of voters were turned away from polling stations and police had to be called to deal with the lengthly queues as the voting deadline passed.
There were problems in parts of London, Manchester, Sheffield, Birmingham, Liverpool, Newcastle and Surrey.
Angry scenes erupted at the polling station in Sheffield Hallam, where Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg was standing, after dozens of voters were turned away.
Students tried to prevent ballot boxes from being taken away for the count after they were turned away from a polling station.
Police were called and Sheffield's deputy returning officer Lee Adams admitted staff "couldn't cope" with the number of people who turned up at the polling station.
One Sheffield official said the turnout had probably been the highest for 30 years and "it caught us out".
The founder of a protest group on Facebook said students were segregated from other voters and today accused polling staff of "discrimination".
Comments on the website indicate residents were directed to a "fast track" queue whereas students had to wait for around two-and-a-half hours.
One Sheffield University student, Kate Eleanor Baldwin, wrote: "Initially it was just divided by registry number, which meant Ranmoor students were put into the fast track queue."
But in the evening, "with an increase of voters, this fast track queue was only available to what they referred to as a 'resident queue"', she said.
Commenting on the queues all over the country Labour Party deputy leader Harriet Harman said on Sky News that when she left her Camberwell and Peckham constituency last night, people were still queuing up outside waiting to vote.
Meanwhile Business Secretary Lord Mandelson acknowledged on BBC News that the situation could lead to legal challenges.
With human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson QC also admitting on ITV News that people denied the right to vote could take legal action.
"What the returning officers should have done is brought everyone in and locked the door."
"It shows that there has been a high turn-out. We have got to make sure that all the votes are counted, " said Lord Mandelson
An inquest into the incident will be held at a later date.
(LB/GK)
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