A FORMER Army officer who swam from the UK to the Isle of Man has been left outraged after being turned away from a polling station that didn’t accept his veteran ID.
Adam Diver, a veteran of 27 years, was turned away at a polling station in Fleetwood, Lancashire yesterday despite bringing the HM Armed Forces Veteran Card along with him.
Since May of last year, voters must bring photo ID to polling stations for by-elections, general elections, local elections and referendums.
The list of accepted ID includes passports, driving licences and even bus passes but bizarrely does not include veterans’ ID cards.
However Adam, seemingly unaware of this fact, turned up to vote yesterday and was left gutted after being turned away.
Adam has since taken to social media to protest the issue, where it sparked national outrage, with Veterans Minister Johnny Mercer even apologising to the disgruntled vet.
In an online post yesterday, Adam shared his story and claimed he would be fighting to make his “special ID” more “formal.”
He wrote: “I’m not one for complaining but I am gutted. I spent 27 years in the Army and today I was going to vote in my local elections.
“I was sadly turned away at the door as my Veteran ID was not allowed as formal ID.
“I will be fighting for this ‘special ID’ to be ‘more’ formal”
Since the post was shared yesterday it has received 3,900 likes and over 890 comments from social media users likewise left stunned that the vet of 27 years was turned away.
One user said: “Disgraceful that’s not accepted. You served for all that time, but you couldn’t vote. You should complain as your life is worth more than your vote.”
Another wrote: “Sorry to hear this. I cannot fathom why that wouldn’t be acceptable as photo ID.”
A third added: “That’s dreadful. But there shouldn’t be a requirement for any kind of photo ID. It worked perfectly well, pretty much forever, until this lot broke it.”
Another replied: “Shocking & appalling that a veteran is excluded from voting in a so-called democracy. Thank you for your service.”
