Sarah Norman, Chief Executive of Barnsley Council and Returning Officer for Barnsley, said: “This is the first time that ID has been required in elections. Alongside the national campaign, we have let people know about the changes through local advertising, emails to residents, website information and social media.  

“Out of 140,716 total number of electors who were eligible to vote in person at our polling stations and 19,228 the number of voters who were issued with a ballot paper, we were unable to issue 78 people with a ballot paper due to no ID. We explained the new government law that requires a voter ID, and people were given information which included how they could return to the polling station any time up to 10pm if they have an accepted ID at home.  

“41 people later returned with an accepted ID and were issued with a ballot paper.”