New proposals for voter identification.

ID cards are proposed for people who turn up at polling stations.

Keeper1

My brother who has agoraphobia and has a postal vote would be disenfranchised he never goes out so would be unable to get a free ID card. It would have been helpful when I needed to open a bank account for him when they were stopping paying his pension into his Post Office account I had one heck of a job getting one sorted out. I can see the for and against for having photo id of some description he is also disadvantaged by having no internet.

I don’t think postal voters will need an ID card. Different checks will be made to make sure they aren’t voting illegally.

We’ll all pay – and for what? Making it slower to vote – as poll workers try to match passports with ten-year-old photos to their owners and driving licences that are still in voter’s maiden names. Should already over-stretched local council workers be able to turn people away from polling stations due to bureaucratic errors? This from the website of the Electoral Reform Society. as is this:
The government’s own commissioned research found that those with severely limiting disabilities, the unemployed, people without qualifications, and those who had never voted before were all less likely to hold any form of photo ID.

Just what benefit would it be at all? Apart from the likelihood that the above are people who would potentially not vote for the Tories perhaps?

The figures for possible voter fraud: in the 2019 election 595 allegations, 4 led to conviction, 2 people given Police cautions. At the very least, notwithstanding the comments above, it truly is a sledgehammer to crack an imaginary nut.

It is also estimated that the cost to local authorities, which we all know are stretched to beyond breaking point financially, will be in the region of £20m per election. Surely this money could be better spent?

I can't answer that without sounding like a conspiracy theorist rosie1959 .

Let's just say that control of the population is a big thing for right wing governments. That said, Blair's Labour government thought they were a good idea too. Eventually gave it up when they discovered how blooming hard it would be to implement, for no positive return whatsoever.

Go on then Alegrais have to ask what possible benefit is it to the Government if I have an ID card right wing or otherwise ?

My brother who has agoraphobia and has a postal vote would be disenfranchised he never goes out so would be unable to get a free ID card. It would have been helpful when I needed to open a bank account for him when they were stopping paying his pension into his Post Office account I had one heck of a job getting one sorted out. I can see the for and against for having photo id of some description he is also disadvantaged by having no internet.

I really don't see a problem with photo ID for voting. You need one for opening a bank account, renting a property, taking out a mortgage, so why not for voting. They are not going to attach your photo to you vote so don't see how it affects your democratic right to vote if you are legally allowed to vote and are who you say you are.

In these times when identity theft is a real concern, it will stop someone trying to steal your vote.

I have a postal vote because I can't get to the polling station, and I have to sign to say its me when submitting my vote. They have a copy of my signature so they can verify it, and I have no problem with this.

rosie1959

Algrais1 badly worded on my part
Your mum may not need photo ID but many do to carry out basic things

I know rosie1959 but I couldn't let it go without a comment

Having photo id to get on the bus, or apply for a bank account, or any of these other things is acceptable, because in fact none of them are a basic right in a democratic country. They're nice, but not essential.

Voting is. Getting as many eligible people as possible to vote is an absolute necessity, and requiring photo id to do that is a step in the wrong direction. There is no problem in this country with voter fraud at the polling station. So why do you think this right wing government wants us all to have id cards? Let's think.....

BTW - we're not at war. Nobody is trying to invade us.

Please read MaizieD's article that I posted above.

How can it be a threat to democracy? Surely it is safeguarding democracy by ensuring that the right person votes.

I see no problem - I carried an identity card everywhere I went in the Netherlands and saw absolutely no problem with it.

Lin52

rosie1959

Alegrias1

A benefit for those without a passport or a driving license they will now have some photographic ID

Why do they need one? My mum's lasted 83 years without one, why start now?

Times are changing try opening a bank account or taking out a mortgage

Think she must have had an ID card during the war.

Did very young children have ID cards

Alegrias1

She's still alive. I just spoke to her on the phone

Ah, but how did you know it was really her? There are many cases every year of people claiming to be someone's mother fraudulently - in fact many more cases than that of people voting fraudulently.

rosie1959

Alegrias1

A benefit for those without a passport or a driving license they will now have some photographic ID

Why do they need one? My mum's lasted 83 years without one, why start now?

Times are changing try opening a bank account or taking out a mortgage

Think she must have had an ID card during the war.

Algrais1 badly worded on my part
Your mum may not need photo ID but many do to carry out basic things

A good idea, especially for those who do not currently hold a passport/driving licence. I really cannot understand the opposition when you need this sort of ID for so many things now days.

Should have said - and she still intends to vote, just like she always has.

She's still alive. I just spoke to her on the phone

Algerias I am sure she doesn’t but ID now is used for so much today that wasn’t required during your mums life

Polarbear2

Does she need a blue badge? That’s what my 99 yr old mum uses for ID.

No, but she has a bus pass. Which is for getting on the bus, not exercising her democratic right which she has had for 65 years.

I remember MaizieD posting a really good article about this, here it is.

www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/politics/voter-fraud-elections-queens-speech-photo-identification

While searching I also found out that 3.5 million people in this country don't have photographic id. Incidences of voter fraud in the last GE? One. One person.

I don't think this is proportionate, do you?

Does she need a blue badge? That’s what my 99 yr old mum uses for ID.

Alegrias1

I don't think my 83 year old mum needs a mortgage.

Not just a mortgage Alegrias. Dh has a lot of problems with elderly clients who don’t have any photo ID.

I don't think my 83 year old mum needs a mortgage.

Alegrias1

^A benefit for those without a passport or a driving license they will now have some photographic ID^

Why do they need one? My mum's lasted 83 years without one, why start now?

Times are changing try opening a bank account or taking out a mortgage

I cannot see a problem and a good thing for those that do not have photo ID at present.

Why not start now? Just because something hasn’t been done in the past, doesn’t mean it’s not a good idea.
Anything which proves you are who you say you are when voting can only be a good thing.
As long as photo ID is free to those who need them ( a tiny amount of the population) I see no problem at all.