New proposals for voter identification.

grandtanteJE65

I honestly cannot see that a photo id is a threat to democracy.

Surely polling stations have always checked that those who present themselves are eligible to vote?

Whether they do so by asking for your name and address, your social security number or by seeing your passport or driving licence cannot make the slightest bit of difference.

Photo ID is a threat to democracy if it denies citizens their fundamental right to vote.

If people are happy with this it's very scaring.

I can’t think there are many cases of fraud at polling stations. They cross off your name as you arrive, so if you had an extra vote for someone who’d died or was no longer living there, it’d mean going twice, or else getting someone else to impersonate them.
Not that I’m saying any sort of fraud should be ignored, but such presumably very small numbers wouldn’t normally make any appreciable difference to the outcome, would they?

I wouldn’t have any objection to photo ID, though I do realise it’d be a problem for some. Older people who don’t have a passport or driving licence could presumably use a bus pass - ours include photos - I don’t know whether that applies everywhere though.

I don’t have any objection to the idea of identity cards, but I wouldn’t want to be obliged to carry one at all times, as happens in some countries.
Presumably the main reason they haven’t been introduced already (except during WW2) is the huge cost.

TBH I’d think there’s a lot more potential for fraud with postal voting, as was demonstrated some years ago in (IIRC) Tower Hamlets.

One thing is sure, I think. This will happen eventually. We will need proper identification to vote, - one day.
We carried ID cards in WW2. I clearly remember mine.
I can see no harm in it, nor a threat to democracy.

There will always be people who just don't vote, its their choice, and as much as we have a right to vote, we also have a right to abstain.

But can we be sure that no one is voting on behalf of the no voters? This is very easily done if you live in a building with a shared letter box, I know, because I've lived with such an arrangement and had post stolen by another tenant. It does happen.

Photo ID would put a stop to this.

Necessary now. Also worried about abuse of postal votes. We have a system that invites dishonesty.

I was born in 1950 and issued with an ID card - I still have it but don't suppose I can use it now!

I'm just amazed how many people have fallen for this.

There has been post after post explaining why we don't need this and how it is voter suppression, and still we get told by some that its necessary and nothing to worry about.

I despair that the electorate is so easy to mislead.

I have worked in polling stations for many years, and I think this idea is excellent. I know that on at least 3 occasions I have been 99% certain that somebody has presented at the polling station twice. When challenged, they just said words to the effect ‘you must be mistaken’.

I am in the UK, Belfast.

Alegrias1

I'm just amazed how many people have fallen for this.

There has been post after post explaining why we don't need this and how it is voter suppression, and still we get told by some that its necessary and nothing to worry about.

I despair that the electorate is so easy to mislead.

Zombies!

Aepgirl

I have worked in polling stations for many years, and I think this idea is excellent. I know that on at least 3 occasions I have been 99% certain that somebody has presented at the polling station twice. When challenged, they just said words to the effect ‘you must be mistaken’.

3 occasions in 'many years'. What a terrible threat to democracy..

kircubbin2000

I am in the UK, Belfast.

Daughter is in London.The white card you are sent is for information only, you do not need it at the poll as the clerk will have your name on her list.

MaizieD

Alegrias1

I'm just amazed how many people have fallen for this.

There has been post after post explaining why we don't need this and how it is voter suppression, and still we get told by some that its necessary and nothing to worry about.

I despair that the electorate is so easy to mislead.

Zombies!

Charming. Again those who disagree with the major players on here are labelled “zombies”.

Alegrias1

I'm just amazed how many people have fallen for this.

There has been post after post explaining why we don't need this and how it is voter suppression, and still we get told by some that its necessary and nothing to worry about.

I despair that the electorate is so easy to mislead.

Come on GNers buck up! ?You have been told why you shouldn’t want ID voting cards so why persist with your own opinions on the matter? Yes...that’s exactly what is being said to us by Alegrias and Maizie takes the insult one step further.
Sheesh! No wonder people don’t bother to debate points much.

MaizieD

Aepgirl

I have worked in polling stations for many years, and I think this idea is excellent. I know that on at least 3 occasions I have been 99% certain that somebody has presented at the polling station twice. When challenged, they just said words to the effect ‘you must be mistaken’.

3 occasions in 'many years'. What a terrible threat to democracy..

Are you saying that fraud doesn’t matter, then, if the cases are few?

Thank you for replying Kircubbin2000.

Am I the only Gransnetter who has sat outside polling stations and seen voters scurrying up saying "I'd no idea / completely forgotten it was today". If turned away because they have no ID will they come back again? Unlikely.

Similarly those who thought they had to bring their polling cards but had forgotten. Happens to supporters of all parties.

Driving licence / passport photos photos would be a poor way of identifying anyone at a polling station without electronic equipment.

And what about postal voting, now being so widely encouraged? Manifold occasions for fraud already.

Electronic voting facing a camera would be the way forward if anyone thinks the cost and voter deterrence worth it.

What do you want us to do Lemongrove? Politely say that we will happily give up our rights and discourage voting, just because some people keep on ignoring the evidence?

Pity any poor accused person who gets anyone on their jury intent on ignoring the truth and just going with their unfounded beliefs.

Are you saying that fraud doesn’t matter, then, if the cases are few?

In our imperfect world nothing works without a flaw and there are always people who try to buck the system. But one has to judge how valuable the imposition of photo ID, with its attendant costs, inconvenience, and potential to disbar a great many people from exercising their right to vote, is against the negligible effect on electoral outcomes of a a few fraudsters.

MaizieD

^Are you saying that fraud doesn’t matter, then, if the cases are few?^

In our imperfect world nothing works without a flaw and there are always people who try to buck the system. But one has to judge how valuable the imposition of photo ID, with its attendant costs, inconvenience, and potential to disbar a great many people from exercising their right to vote, is against the negligible effect on electoral outcomes of a a few fraudsters.

All the other nationalities seem to cope very well. Do you think the British are all too stupid to do the same? Are we somehow inferior in your mind, because we made different decisions to you?

Keep up with the offensive name calling. It shames your cause and keeps your party out of power. The working class now have aspirations and will no longer be bullied into toeing the line, as they can see for themselves the hypocrisy of those espousing left wing causes, whilst looking down their noses at the multitude they consider inferior.

It's a good idea

I honestly cannot see the problem with voter ID.

Resorting to calling posters zombies or any other name because they have a different point of view totally negates any argument put forward by.

As others have said, if you don't wish to comply with the requirement you simply get a postal vote. Just choose this option when your entry on the Electoral Register is checked annually and you won't need the ID.

However since it is quite normal to use a photo id (passport, driving licence, bus pass) I really don't see why people get ruffled about the idea of having one and I'm sure that it would prove useful for other purposesif you don't hold the alternatives.

I had to provide quite a lot of documentation and a photo to get my bus pass when we moved house last year and can't imagine that a photo ID would require anything else, so anyone with a bus pass could probably get one issued by their local authority with no fuss.

GrannyGravy13

I honestly cannot see the problem with voter ID.

Resorting to calling posters zombies or any other name because they have a different point of view totally negates any argument put forward by.

I'm not calling you zombies because you have a different point of view. I'm doing it because you are ignoring the evidence that voter ID is not needed because voter fraud is minimal and doesn't have any effect on results in an election. The only reason I can think of for people doing this is that they have been scared by gossip and lies and haven't thought it through.

Even the bl**dy PM has said that the move isn't against actual voter fraud, but against the perception of voter fraud

It's pointless, expensive and disenfranchises people. Why would you want that?

So funny that an authoritarian move to restrict people's rights is being defended by people who believe that Johnson is a libertarian.

As others have said, if you don't wish to comply with the requirement you simply get a postal vote.

It's so ironic that postal voting is far more open to fraud than is in person voting.