ID for voting - set to exclude young people

www.electoralcommission.org.uk/i-am-a/voter/voter-id/accepted-forms-photo-id

From 4 May 2023, voters in England will need to show photo ID to vote at polling stations in some elections.

This will apply to:

Local elections
Police and Crime Commissioner elections
UK parliamentary by-elections
Recall petitions
From October 2023 it will also apply to UK General elections.

It starts this year, May 2023 in England.

It only applies in some elections in RUK.
That could be because 16 year olds will be allowed to vote in some elections in Wales and Scotland and may not have ID.

DGS at Uni has heard about it and is equipped to vote. DGD living at home, has ID but hadn’t heard of the need for it to be taken with her to vote. I haven’t seen anything about it anywhere on social media except on GN.

We have local elections in May. People can be very vocal on local Facebook groups and in the local press when moaning about the council, which is why it sometimes amazes me that people tend not to be interested in voting in local elections. There's a very high chance that the composition of our local election will change in May, which will make a difference to how the district is run and to people's lives.

DaisyAnne

GrannyGravy13

There are adverts regarding voter ID on TV, in printed media, on social media sites.

You would have to be living totally off grid in the middle of, nowhere not to know about this.

There are three months until the local elections more than enough time to apply for the government ID card if anyone needs one.

I haven't seen them either. I don't buy paper newspapers but I do watch TV and obviously use social media.

I use social media, but I haven't seen anything. I guess it depends what kind of social media people use.

Witzend

GrannyGravy13

There are adverts regarding voter ID on TV, in printed media, on social media sites.

You would have to be living totally off grid in the middle of, nowhere not to know about this.

There are three months until the local elections more than enough time to apply for the government ID card if anyone needs one.

I dare say we’ll have the same sort of scenario as after the Brexit referendum - despite repeated TV and other ads saying you must be registered in order to vote, masses of young people who hadn’t bothered to register, complaining about the result.

Well, I'm part of a group which is trying to make sure that doesn't happen. It's not a question of not being registered - almost everybody who pays council tax is registered, if they have returned the annual request and provided they haven't moved home recently. Students living in halls are also automatically registered.

The point about having ID is separate from being registered.

We're finding that most elderly people do have ID of some sort. The biggest group who don't are young parents. Their lives can often be so busy that thinking about arranging voter ID is the last thing on their minds. They're also not aware that they will have to take it with them to vote. There hasn't been much information locally about how to apply for a pass from the council.

I live in an area with little deprivation. I suspect the problems are worse in areas where people often live in temporary accommodation and don't engage that much with current affairs.

GrannyGravy13

There are adverts regarding voter ID on TV, in printed media, on social media sites.

You would have to be living totally off grid in the middle of, nowhere not to know about this.

There are three months until the local elections more than enough time to apply for the government ID card if anyone needs one.

I haven't seen them either. I don't buy paper newspapers but I do watch TV and obviously use social media.

Mamardoit

Young people need ID to buy drinks in a pub or at the supermarket. Many have a provisional license for that reason. Many do have passports too. Mine used them when they registered at university.

If anyone is disadvantaged it's the elderly.

What people use ID for otherwise is irrelevant unless you consider having to go without a drink, etc., equivalent to being unable to vote?

GrannyGravy13

There are adverts regarding voter ID on TV, in printed media, on social media sites.

You would have to be living totally off grid in the middle of, nowhere not to know about this.

There are three months until the local elections more than enough time to apply for the government ID card if anyone needs one.

I dare say we’ll have the same sort of scenario as after the Brexit referendum - despite repeated TV and other ads saying you must be registered in order to vote, masses of young people who hadn’t bothered to register, complaining about the result.

Pittcity

"growstuff ... PASS cards cost at least £15"

You can get a Citizen card which is a PASS card free by using the code FREEVOTERID.

I know this is an old post, but thanks for posting the info.

I know about it now, but many people don't. I know now because I've been working with some people to make sure that everybody does know.

Some groups will have to make more effort than others to make sure they have ID.

Maudi

If people are keen to vote and are passionate about a certain party I'm sure they can get themselves photo ID. Seems Labour doesn't want photo ID I wonder why?

Simple, really. The people who don't have photo ID are more likely to vote Labour. What are you implying Maudi?

PS. I don't watch TV or buy printed media.

GrannyGravy13

There are adverts regarding voter ID on TV, in printed media, on social media sites.

You would have to be living totally off grid in the middle of, nowhere not to know about this.

There are three months until the local elections more than enough time to apply for the government ID card if anyone needs one.

I don't live off grid, but I must admit that I haven't seen any ads for it. I only know because I'm reasonably active with local politics and we've discussed how to make sure that voters do know about it (especially our voters, of course ;-).)

There are adverts regarding voter ID on TV, in printed media, on social media sites.

You would have to be living totally off grid in the middle of, nowhere not to know about this.

There are three months until the local elections more than enough time to apply for the government ID card if anyone needs one.

If people are keen to vote and are passionate about a certain party I'm sure they can get themselves photo ID. Seems Labour doesn't want photo ID I wonder why?

Franbern, by definition that means only 6 cases that have been found out.

I’m not saying that there are necessarily a lot more, but the fact is that they know only of cases that have been proven.

I do think it’s high time we all had ID cards. I wouldn’t want to be required to carry one at all times, like in some countries, but they’d solve a lot of problems - not just voting, but for the many people who have neither passport nor driving licence.

Of course one objection* is that criminals are now clever enough to be able to fake just about anything, but I still think it’s time.
*The other, from the govt. POV, is of course the cost.

Mollygo

So why not just have ID cards?

Light blue touch paper and retire, Mollygo

😁

An eligible voter should never be barred from casting a vote in an election.

Until now that is - thanks to new Voter ID laws. The Government’s own research shows that over 2 million voters do NOT have a valid photo ID to be allowed to vote.

Now it’s been revealed that, so far, only 10,000 people have applied for the new free government-issued voter ID.

This botched implementation of a bad scheme is barrelling towards disaster. Just 33% of the people are even aware of this new requirement.

Will you write to your MP to ask them what they think an acceptable number of people turned away from the polls in their constituency would be?

unlockdemocracy.org.uk/

"growstuff ... PASS cards cost at least £15"

You can get a Citizen card which is a PASS card free by using the code FREEVOTERID.

... but why is voter fraud suddenly an issue?

I do not trust this government's motives.

The permitted photo documents are listed in the Act (in schedule 1). These
will be:
• A UK, Commonwealth or EEA passport;
• A UK (DVLA or DVA Northern Ireland), Channel Islands, Isle of Man or an EEA driving licence;
• A biometric immigration document issued in accordance with regulations under section 5 of the UK Borders Act 2007;
• A PASS card issued by the National Proof of Age Standards Scheme bearing the PASS hologram;
• An MOD Defence Identity Card;
• A concessionary photo travel pass from Oyster 60+, a Freedom Pass, or a concessionary travel pass from a scheme funded by the Government of the United Kingdom, the Scottish Government or the Welsh Government;
• Northern Ireland Concessionary Fares Scheme cards:
– Senior SmartPass;
– Registered Blind SmartPass or Blind Person’s 35 SmartPass;
– War Disablement SmartPass or War Disabled SmartPass;
– A 60+ SmartPass;
– A Half Fare SmartPass;
• A Blue Badge scheme card issued in Great Britain or Northern Ireland;
128 As above, Q56
Voter ID
56 Commons Library Research Briefing, 18 November 2022
• A free voter document issued by a person’s local electoral registration
officer (the new photographic voter ID card to be introduced by the Act)
or an existing Northern Ireland voter ID card;
• A national identity card issued by an EEA state

researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-9187/CBP-9187.pdf

There is no mention of student cards. PASS cards cost at least £15.

NotSpaghetti I will admit I don’t know the details of either verification process so you might be right about that. I’m more of a conceptual level type of woman than a detailed oriented one.

You might ask why I even replied to the thread, to that I’d say I just wanted to be included

growstuff

maddyone

Don’t have a problem with voter ID at all. It’s overdue in my opinion. It’s says on GrannyGravy’s upload that accredited Student Union cards will be acceptable. Double voting is a problem though and I don’t know how this will be tackled. Anyone who has two homes can vote twice, they only need a postal vote in one area and to go in person in the other. My son who has two homes pointed this out to me. He only votes once though.

Only some student card will be accepted.

The clue is in accredited those are the ones with a hologram I believe.

maddyone

Don’t have a problem with voter ID at all. It’s overdue in my opinion. It’s says on GrannyGravy’s upload that accredited Student Union cards will be acceptable. Double voting is a problem though and I don’t know how this will be tackled. Anyone who has two homes can vote twice, they only need a postal vote in one area and to go in person in the other. My son who has two homes pointed this out to me. He only votes once though.

Only some student card will be accepted.

vegansrock

Well lots of young and disadvantaged people don’t vote anyway, those that want to vote will make sure they get the ID as it’s fairly straightforward. Yes I do know someone who used his son’s vote ( son had asked him to) and it was simple, no challenges or checks, so to say it never happens is based on no facts whatsoever.

One can vote for someone else legally. I believe it's called proxy voting and the process is not more complicated than registering for a postal vote as far as I remember from reading about it.

How can they “find” voter fraud when IDs aren’t checked in the first place.? It’s like saying we don’t need ID for opening bank accounts as most people aren’t money launderers, or lets not bother with passports as anyone can forge them.