A report by a parliamentary All Party Group, or APPG, (this is not an official parliamentary group in the same way that a Select Committee is; it's a special interest cross party group) has found that there was both racial and disability discrimination implicated in voters being refused a ballot paper under the new voter ID legislation.
The Electoral Commission has already found that at least 14,000 voters were turned away at polling stations (these being the ones refused a ballot paper by the poll clerks; it doesn't account for those turned away before they entered to polling station)
While a report co-author concludes that the rules need revising I am (as you might expect) more inclined to think that they should be done away with altogether. Disenfranchisement is a very serious harm to the individual and to democracy.
The report, which has been seen by the Guardian, says: “The current voter-ID system is, as it stands, a ‘poisoned cure’ in that it disenfranchises more electors than it protects.”
The authors found that “polling clerks are more likely to fail to compare a photo ID to the person presenting that document if the person is of a different ethnicity”.
They also highlighted the case of Andrea Barratt, who is immunocompromised and was blocked from entering a polling booth after refusing to remove her mask for an identification check.
The report says: “Their decision in that instance was … clearly discriminatory (and potentially unlawful) because they denied Andrea Barratt the right to cast a ballot purely on the basis of circumstances which arose as a direct result of a disability.”
www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/sep/11/voter-id-in-england-led-to-racial-and-disability-discrimination-report-finds
Voter ID was totally unnecessary. Voter fraud was miniscule. Most fraud was committed by Parties and would-be MPs. It was designed by the Tories to disadvantage Labour etc., voters. It should be scrapped.
IYO. MD
None of those are in any way analogous to the voter ID situation.
None of them impinges on an unconditional right.
MD it all depends on how much you want something.
You want free travel on a bus? You can only get it if you apply for a bus pass.
You want to go abroad? You can only go if you apply for a passport.
You want to vote? You can only do it if you have voter ID.
You want to drive/be a passenger in a car? You can only do that if you wear a seatbelt.
You want free school meals for your children? It won’t happen if you don’t apply.
You want to choose which rules you obey and decry the ones you don’t?
You have to have. GN account.
Mollygo
I hate to start this up again, but it was the deprivation of all eligible citizens' unconditional right to vote.
The same way as having to have a passport deprives all eligible citizens of the unconditional right to go abroad or enter the UK.
It is not the same thing at all. There are no analogous situations extant in the UK at the moment.
If any thing, it's more like having one's freedom of movement removed by the deeply stupid Brexit vote, in that it is the removal of a right...
I hate to start this up again, but it was the deprivation of all eligible citizens' unconditional right to vote.
The same way as having to have a passport deprives all eligible citizens of the unconditional right to go abroad or enter the UK.
maddyone
DiamondLily
The LDs are the joke we enjoy - they are always protesting against something
How nasty....
DiamondLily
varian
Voter ID must be scrapped. Liberal Democrats are leading the fight against this deeply unfair scheme.
The Liberal Democrats in both the House of Commons and the Lords consistently led opposition to the introduction of the Voter ID law.
Today Liberal Democrat members backed my Elections (Voter Identification Requirements) Bill, which would scrap the Voter ID scheme and stop this attack on our democracy.
www.libdems.org.uk/news/article/scrap-the-voter-id-schemeIn what way was it"unfair"? It discriminated against nobody because everyone had to have it.
The LDs are the joke we enjoy - they are always protesting against something.🙄
I hate to start this up again, but it was the deprivation of all eligible citizens' unconditional right to vote.
It was not necessary, there was no compelling evidence of voter evidence of voter fraud to justify it.
And despite what all the virtuous and authoritarian posters on here say about it being well publicised and easy to obtain, blah, blah, blah, two reports (including the Electoral Commission's) on the local elections said that it disenfranchised a significant number of voters and was likely to do so again.
We have only had a universal adult franchise for less than 100 years. It was hard fought for; sadly it's no longer valued.
This was an excellent example of people doing what the government told them to do without any question...
I hope that the Lib Dems will get near enough to power in the next general election to be able to repeal this measure.
The Liberal Democrats exist to build and safeguard a fair, free and open society, in which we seek to balance the fundamental values of liberty, equality and community, and in which no-one shall be enslaved by poverty, ignorance or conformity.
www.libdems.org.uk/values
The Liberal Democrats have a positive message and are not funded by billionaires or big trade unions, but by individual members.
The readers of The Daily Express, The Sun, The Telegraph and The Daily Mail may be instructed to regard the LibDems as a joke.
What is really sad is the UK politics has in the last eight years become a joke - but not a funny one.
We have endured eight years of chaos, gross incompetence and corruption. We deserve better.
Mollygo
NotSpaghetti
^Molly I believe it depends on interpretation.
Some Muslim women think it is a requirement.^
*But who turns a requirement into a compulsion not to show your face for security purposes?*
I suppose Mollygo that is a cultural thing in my eyes but so many (men and women) think it's a religious requirement for women to dress thus.
I know the suggestion was that a woman be always available at a voting centre to take a "covered" female voter into a private side-room for identification. The info I read said there must also be a mirror provided for the voter to make sure she was appropriately covered again before venturing back out.
I don't know how well this was implemented.
DiamondLily
The LDs are the joke we enjoy - they are always protesting against something
varian
Voter ID must be scrapped. Liberal Democrats are leading the fight against this deeply unfair scheme.
The Liberal Democrats in both the House of Commons and the Lords consistently led opposition to the introduction of the Voter ID law.
Today Liberal Democrat members backed my Elections (Voter Identification Requirements) Bill, which would scrap the Voter ID scheme and stop this attack on our democracy.
www.libdems.org.uk/news/article/scrap-the-voter-id-scheme
In what way was it"unfair"? It discriminated against nobody because everyone had to have it.
The LDs are the joke we enjoy - they are always protesting against something.🙄
Mollygo
The Liberal Democrat’s are against voter ID, but they think a woman can have a penis. I can see how those two things go together.
That sums them up 👍
Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrat’s are against voter ID, but they think a woman can have a penis. I can see how those two things go together.
Voter ID must be scrapped. Liberal Democrats are leading the fight against this deeply unfair scheme.
The Liberal Democrats in both the House of Commons and the Lords consistently led opposition to the introduction of the Voter ID law.
Today Liberal Democrat members backed my Elections (Voter Identification Requirements) Bill, which would scrap the Voter ID scheme and stop this attack on our democracy.
www.libdems.org.uk/news/article/scrap-the-voter-id-scheme
In the list of permissible evidence of voter identity published on our local authority web site are all kinds of photo travel passes and proof of age cards (presumably for those just past 18) and, a "National identity card issued by an EEA state".
biglouis
I dont drive so Ive just paid best part of £100 for a new passport purely for ID purposes as I dont intend to travel abroad again.
Oh dear, you could have got a free voter id , advertised on tv and internet etc. frequently.
NotSpaghetti
^Molly I believe it depends on interpretation.
Some Muslim women think it is a requirement.^
But who turns a requirement into a compulsion not to show your face for security purposes?
NotSpaghetti
Molly I believe it depends on interpretation.
Some Muslim women think it is a requirement.
At least it is (or should be) an option in this country.
Not like some countries where women are protesting, have been arrested and lost their lives for wanting the freedom to refuse to wear one.
Yes Elegran it apparently says modestly.
Modestly does not require a burka.
It also says in the Bible that people should dress modestly.
Does that mean Christian women should wear a burka?
No, because a burka is cultural, not religious.
I think that in the Koran all it says is that women (AND MEN) should dress modestly.
Molly I believe it depends on interpretation.
Some Muslim women think it is a requirement.
maddyone
No, the wearing of a burka is cultural. It’s not even a religious requirement for Muslim women, just as a Muslim woman herself told me.
And in that case, no problem about removing it, unless it’s a male rule.
No, the wearing of a burka is cultural. It’s not even a religious requirement for Muslim women, just as a Muslim woman herself told me.
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