I’m immunosuppressed and I was stopped from voting for wearing a mask
A woman who has a severely weakened immune system after undergoing a heart transplant as a child is to launch legal action to challenge new voter ID laws after being turned away from voting at a polling station because she wouldn’t remove her mask.
Andrea Barrett, 29, who lives in Eastleigh, Hampshire and is immunosuppressed, due to taking anti-rejection medication since she was a child, told i she was denied her vote during the May by-elections last year as the new voter ID laws clashed with her health need to wear a mask to protect herself.
She has now launched legal action to challenge “discriminatory” voter ID rules that particularly affect people wearing face masks, including those who are clinically vulnerable.
In the run-up to the May elections last year, Ms Barrett said she was particularly vulnerable as she had been ill with viruses over the last couple of years and was in hospital on oxygen only weeks before the elections.
“I tried to find a way to vote without risking my health,” she said. Ms Barrett began the process of trying to vote by post, but the various stages of the application took too long, so it wasn’t possible in her case and she was left with no other option but to vote in person.
“As soon as I turned up, there was a general atmosphere of hostility,” she recalled. “In May 2023, most people didn’t wear masks anymore and it felt like there was a stigma against those who still wore them, especially someone who looks younger.”
The new voter laws, which came into force from 4 May 2023, require that voters show photo ID in UK parliamentary by-elections and recall petitions, UK Parliament general elections, local elections and referendums in England and Police and Crime Commissioner elections in England and Wales.
The Electoral Commission states that when voting in person, staff members will request to see the ID and check that it looks like the person presenting it.
Ms Barrett says she took along her passport, along with a video of herself putting on her mask, but was told she could not vote unless she removed her mask so they could see her face.
“I requested repeatedly if there were any reasonable adjustments that could be made, such as them looking at my passport and looking at me wearing a mask and the parts of my face that were visible.
“Unfortunately, they said no and refused to even look at my passport. They made my voting contingent on me taking my mask off and seemed pretty rigid in that view.”
She was forced to leave the polling station without voting and says she was left shaken and upset by the experience.
Ms Barrett told i she had an heart transplant operation at the age of seven after a virus damaged her heart. As a result, she has to take medication to suppress her immune system to keep her alive, but it means she is at greater risk of catching illnesses.
“Needing a heart transplant as a child was the result of a virus itself,” she explained. “A virus damaged my heart and that led to heart failure and me needing a transplant.
“As a transplant recipient, the medication I take means I am immunosuppressed and I have some other health conditions too. There are all kinds of layers of protection I try to put in my life – and one of them is to wear masks in certain public situations.
She is now determined to ensure something like this doesn’t happen again and that everyone in society feels included and has the right to vote in person.
“My challenge isn’t just for me; it’s about the collective right to have our voices heard and our votes counted, without compromising health or safety,” Ms Barrett said.
“I am advocating for adjustments that respect both health autonomy and democratic participation.
“Our goal should be a voting process that accommodates everyone, recognising diverse needs without compromising safety or accessibility.”
Due to a technicality involving a back payment of long overdue disability benefits, Ms Barrett does not qualify for legal aid and has launched a crowdfunding campaign to cover legal fees and court costs.
Her campaign, titled “Democracy For All #MyMaskMyVote” seeks to raise £30,000 to go directly towards legal fees associated with her case.
Ms Barrett was invited by the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Democracy and the Constitution to share her experience on the new voter ID rules and they subsequently stated: “Given that the passport was genuine and valid and that the photograph did not give rise to reasonable doubt that it was consistent with what could be seen as Andrea Barrett’s face, there is a question as to whether the refusal to allow her to vote was lawful under the 2022 Act (and, indeed, various provisions of the Equality Act 2010).”
Lara Wong, founder of Clinically Vulnerable Families, told i: “True democracy ensures access for everyone. Yet voter ID laws have disenfranchised people who wear masks for health reasons, particularly those who are clinically vulnerable.
“When we raised our concerns with the Electoral Commission before the election they told us, ‘In this case, the Commission does not have the power to issue instructions to Returning Officers on how they check voter ID. The process is set out in law, which is a matter for the UK Government’.
“Andrea’s case highlights the Government’s neglect in recognising new equality issues and accessibility needs faced by clinically vulnerable people, which were evident since Covid’s emergence over four years ago.
“Backing Andrea’s legal battle is vital – she is championing participation of all people in democracy and the removal of new barriers introduced by voter ID laws.”
At the time of Ms Barrett’s thwarted attempt to vote in May last year, a spokesperson for Eastleigh Borough Council apologised to her, but said voters wearing a face covering were “requested to remove it very briefly so that identification can be verified against their ID documents”.
They said they “tried to reach out to the resident to help in arranging either an emergency proxy vote”, or to “provide alternative arrangements to allow her to lower her mask outdoors whilst observing social distancing.” The council also said proxy or postal votes could have been used.
Eastleigh Borough Council said it would be inappropriate to comment when approached by i.
A spokesperson from the Electoral Commission said: “It is important that people can vote safely and confidently.
“Current legislation, set out by the UK government, requires voter ID to be checked by polling station staff to see if it looks like the voter. The purpose of our guidance is to help administrators understand this law as it relates to the delivery of elections.
“Our guidance outlines the steps they should follow to ensure that they can satisfy themselves of the identity of the voter, and includes advice on checking the ID of those with face coverings.
“We encourage anyone with concerns to contact their Returning Officer to discuss what arrangements can be made.”
A spokesperson for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, said: “We are committed to ensuring everyone can have their say in our democracy.
“Individual electoral registration has stopped fraud and ensured a more accurate register. The 2019 general election was contested on the largest ever electoral register.
“As recommended by the independent Electoral Commission, we have introduced identification for voting in person across Great Britain, mirroring long-standing arrangements in Northern Ireland. 99.75 per cent of English voters in the polling station cast their vote successfully at local elections in May last year and councils will provide free identification certificates to anyone who asks.”
