Pressure for law change after outcry over 'turned away' voters

One of the worst hit areas was Sheffield, where the police were called in amid angry scenes when the doors were slammed shut at 10pm and all those not inside were denied the chance to vote.

The chaos prompted demonstrations outside the home of Nick Clegg, the Sheffield Hallam MP, and later city council chief executive John Mothersole apologised and paid back his 20,000 returning officer fee.

There was further embarrassment in Hull, where a polling station ran out of ballot papers, while problems were also reported in London, Manchester, Liverpool, Chester and Newcastle.

The Electoral Commission report into both the Parliamentary and local elections has made an urgent call for the Government to change the law as soon as possible to make sure voters who are queuing at polling stations at 10pm are able to vote at all future elections.

Jenny Watson, chair of The Electoral Commission, said: "Voter confidence is fragile and may take time to re-build after high profile problems like the ones experienced at some polling stations at 10pm.

"In the vast majority of constituencies elections were well run – but this is despite the system, not because of it.

"We have outlined in this report the steps that Government and Parliament need to take to ensure the way elections and electoral registration are run is fit for the 21st century.

"Some changes can be made quickly, others will take more time."

The commission's inquiry found more than 1,200 people were affected by problems at 27 polling places in 16 constituencies.

Issues ranged from poor planning, the use of unsuitable buildings, inadequate staffing arrangements and the failure of contingency plans.

There were further isolated instances of poor administration which led to problems for voters and candidates, including inadequate staffing of polling stations, errors in printing poll cards and ballot papers, and errors in counting votes.

The report recommends immediate action to ensure voter confidence for future elections.

It found that while two thirds of voters were confident the elections were well run, three in ten were not very or not at all confident.

In 2009, only four per cent of voters said that they were not confident that the elections that year were well run.

The report outlines an agenda that needs to be implemented over the next five years, and includes bringing forward an "electoral modernisation strategy" to see the timetable for general elections lengthened and voting opportunities for service personnel and overseas voters improved.

The strategy should also address what role, if any, advance voting might play and also if there is a case for requiring proof of ID at polling stations.

The report also calls for mechanisms to hold returning officers to account. It states: "We want the Government to change the law to make clear that eligible electors who are entitled to vote at a polling station and who are in the queue to enter the polling station at the close of poll will be allowed to vote."

Mr Mothersole said: "We fully co-operated with the Electoral Commission in its review immediately following the election and we said then that we supported its recommendations.

"Now that the Commission has published its more detailed report we still fully support those recommendations, especially the view that polling should be extended after 10pm if there are queues at that time."