Photographic ID needed for next GE

I think it's a good idea.

But, when we go to vote, the officials say 'hi, kitty, mr kitty, how are you?'

Kittylester ?????

I've just come out of a long argument on Facebook about this. My points were:
1) People like my inlaws who had never had passports or driving licences and would stop voting rather than pay for something they didn't use.
2) There was a massive outcry last time identity cards were suggested because "The People" didn't want Big Brother watching them.
3) Generations of people have fought for everyone to have a right to vote. Why should they now have to pay to do so.
4) Some people have suggested bus passes and so on. When I got a card I could use as a bus pass I just told them who I was, it wasn't exactly secure.

Nobody on this thread has actually told me WHY we should need voter ID.

Because Boris said so, therefore it must be true. Keep up Maizie!

To prevent 'fraud' officially (although it is rare) or to make it more difficult and/or expensive to vote!

I do not have a passport, nor do I drive so I have no photo ID. So will not be able to vote ?

To prevent 'fraud' officially

So we all nod our heads and say, "Oh what a good idea"

Here’s more on the real dangers facing our electoral system www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/politics/2019/oct/13/conservatives-accused-of-election-rigging-leaked-id-plans-voter-fraud

@MazieD
the officials at the polling stations have a list with your address and name on it. Which is crossed off when you get your ballot paper.

If you know a person e.g. your grandparent, who you know is definitely not going to vote and their address you just rock up and say you are that person living at that address. It would not be hard. You would need to be correct sex.

At the moment there is not even a date of birth attached to each person to give an indication of their age.

I read an article yesterday that said 3.5 million people in the UK, currently have no photo ID. This number rises to 11 million who don’t currently hold a driving license or passport. These things can be very expensive, we are potentially pricing out a lot of potential voters (although I have a sad suspicion that that is exactly what the conservatives are trying to do).

I don’t object to having to take your polling card along with ANY other form of ID (bank card, utility bill etc). But if they are going to demand photographic ID then the government need to provide free national ID cards to all.

Worried about not having a Passport or Driving licence to pass the identity test when voting at the next General Election ?

VOTE BY POST INSTEAD
Here's the form you need

www.gov.uk/government/publications/apply-for-a-postal-vote

I have a postal vote and can't imagine how I would prove my identity. In the past. I have voted by proxy for a relative who was away at the time of the election. I wonder how that would be managed.

You wouldn’t be able to prove your identity for postal voting or if you register online. Typical I’ll thought through, sledgehammer/nut approach from the Tories which doesn’t tackle the real problems facing the electoral system

Ill

Nobody on this thread has actually told me WHY we should need voter ID. hmm

Because our Eton riddled government want to be sure they can hang on to power for ever? This may be only one of the attacks aimed at disenfranchising a new plebeian class.

We trialled voter ID in our area at the last election.

Personally, I think its a good idea. Across the border of our town there has been huge problems in the past with fraud and impersonation at local elections. Also fraud with postal votes, but that's another story. Councillors and some voters were using polling cards, allegedly, of uninterested voters to bump up the numbers. Huge scandal which was later brushed under the carpet.

petunia can you reference court cases showing this has been proved to be true rather than just rumour.

Can anyone explain to me how a photographic ID like a passport would identify the voter for certain? There are people with the same names, there is no address on a passport. The ID may prove John Smith is John Smith. It does not prove that John Smith is John Smith of 10 Appletree Avenue. It's a silly Tory stunt.

ID cards, like other forms of cards that show our details, are open to abuse, by the police and any other jobsworth who is having a bad day.
3 examples spring to mind
- many years ago Frederic Raphael talking on the radio about being stopped whilst driving through Essex by the police - no reason given other than he was driving a large Jaguar and they didn't like the look of him.

- In 2000 the black Bishop of Stepney, (now Archbishop of York) John Sentamu was stopped outside St Paul's in the rain and asked to get out of his car and to open the bonnet
so that the constable could search it. No reason given. His dog collar was covered by a scarf. He was then asked what he did and as he told the office, he removed his scarf. Surprise, surprise he was told to be on his way.

- in 1968 2 of us were parked outside a fish and chip shop in Shepherds Bush whilst the car driver went inside. A policeman walked slowly around the cat, staring in at us and then asked where the driving licence was. Of course it was in its correct place in the front window. It was 1.00am and he was bored.

Stop and search was rife in the 80s and so will requests for IDs be in the 2020s.

Some people just want to think the lived through their own war, complete with ID cards and rationing. I don't think the rest if us will ever work out just what sadness there is in their lives to make them think that would be better than what they have now.

Were here ID cards in the war? I never remember seeing one. I do remember my dad was stopped during a mock invasion en-route to his wedding and showed his army pay book as ID. He was allowed through. If there were IDs surely he wouldn't have been.

Apparently there were! en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Registration_Act_1939

Absolutely splendid idea, bring it on.

Yes, they did carry ID cards. I still have my father's card.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Registration_Act_1939