A Sholing man lost out on his vote in the General Election due to a 'clerical error'.

Jason Kemp turned up to the polling station in Sullivan Road after work on Thursday, at around 7pm, to cast his vote.

But to his shock, he was told his name had already been crossed off the list.

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Now, his partner Stephanie Eyres is calling for more robust checks to make sure this cannot happen again.

The 31-year-old said: "I was furious, I'm not going to lie. I said 'why should he have to lose out because of a clerical error?'

"Especially as we had to bring our ID as well, and two people checked mine.

"I think something more needs to be done - but I thought the ID rule was supposed to stop this from happening. But clearly, it doesn't work."

Last year, voters for the first time had to provide a form of ID to vote - a rule introduced by the Government to reduce electoral fraud.

According to the Electoral Commission, there were 1,462 cases reported to police between 2019 and 2023.

After 'going back and forwards' with staff at the polling station, the electrician was offered a proxy vote - but he was told that this would not count.

Stephanie said: "What is the point of that if it's not going to count?"

She went on to say: "He was turned away and provided a contact telephone number.

"We called the number straight away and explained the situation to be told that nothing could be done and he had lost his vote.

"I am absolutely disgusted about this. We are passionate about our vote and it is unacceptable that he has been denied his vote due to the mistake of someone working at the polling station."

Southampton City Council said that because the polling station paperwork was now sealed and only now accessible by a court order, it could not say definitively what had happened in this case.

But, a spokesman did say: "It is our view that unfortunately an individual came and showed their voter ID, but an incorrect name was then marked on the register. When the ‘correct’ person arrived, it appeared that they already voted. 

"They had valid photo ID, and they were issued with a tendered paper because of this clerical mistake."

They added that these issues are 'remarkably few' and that typically it is due to clerical error rather than an individual stealing the vote of another.

"This has been and remains an ongoing issue," they said. "We will continue to lobby government to revise electoral legislation to address genuine issues such as this in the electoral process.”