About 600 voters were turned away in Chester, 200 in Sheffield Hallam, 300 in Lewisham in London, 200 in Withington, in Manchester and many in other places.
Tens of thousands of voters in the UK's general election could get compensation worth £750 for being turned away from polling booths for reporting near the closing time.
As the Electoral Commission launched an urgent inquiry into the fiasco that followed a late surge by British voters, a leading human rights lawyer said the voters can take legal action for being denied the right to vote.
It is still unclear how many places were affected, but reports of such problems came from London, Sheffield, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle, Birmingham, and Bristol, where police threw voters out of polling stations after the 10pm deadline.
"These people have a right to sue. They will get at least £750 in my view. Under the European Convention you have a right to vote," leading human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson, QC, said.
"They were terribly disappointed, they should all sue and get money from the election commission, which seems to have incompetently overseen it," he said.
About 600 voters were turned away in Chester, 200 in Sheffield Hallam, 300 in Lewisham in London, 200 in Withington, in Manchester, and many in other places.
Electoral officers closed the doors of most booths at the scheduled time (10pm), while people were allowed to cast their vote until 10:30pm in some places.
The police had to intervene at booths in Manchester when people, upset at not being allowed to vote, turned restive.
There were also reports of some polling booths running out of ballot papers, raising serious questions on the Electoral Commission's preparation for the closely contested election.
An unprecedented statement from the Electoral Commission said: "The Electoral Commission will be undertaking a thorough review of what has happened. There should have been sufficient resources allocated."
In his Sheffield Hallam constituency, Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg went to offer his apologies to frustrated voters at a polling station in Ranmore after they queued for more than three hours.
Labour candidate Jack Scott said he was angry as people may have been denied the chance to cast their vote. Former Hillsborough MP Helen Jackson said it left any close results open to legal challenge.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}