Tuesday, April 04, 2023
Tories' evidence-free voter suppression hits stormy waters
Voters going to the polls in England in a few weeks time will find that there has been a major change in the arrangements for them to state their democratic preference. It will be the first time that anybody wanting to vote will be required to prove who they are through some form of ID.
Ministers argue that this new measure is necessary to tackle fraud, however as the Guardian reports, statistics shave shown that there was not a single proven case of in-person voter impersonation last year. In fact the biggest risk is postal voting, which has no such measures attached to it.
The paper suggests that the new requirements could lead to mass confusion at polling stations as voters are turned away for lack of the appropriate ID, as official data shows that there has been minimal take-up of free official voter documents, with applications for the relevant paperwork closing in three weeks:
Data from the Electoral Commission said that in elections in 2022, which covered local elections in England, Scotland and Wales, elections to the Northern Ireland assembly, a series of mayoral elections in England and six Commons byelections, there were seven allegations of “personation” at polling stations, as the offence is officially known.
There was no action by police in any of these cases because there was either insufficient evidence to proceed or no evidence of wrongdoing, the report found.
There were three allegations of personation involving postal voting, which is not affected by the new ID rules, with one still being investigated.
There were 185 electoral-related offences reported during 2022 in all, the majority of them connected to campaigning rather than voting, with no action taken in 119 instances.
The statistics highlight a point made repeatedly by opponents of voter ID, that it tackles a problem which is almost unknown in Britain, while creating a barrier to voting for the estimated 2 million adults who lack the necessary documentation.
Those without ID can apply for a free so-called voter authority certificate, issued by their council but available via a central government portal.
A running tally for central applications, which close on 25 April, show that as of Sunday exactly 37,000 people had applied, fewer than 2% of the possible number of voters lacking ID.
Older and younger voters are even less likely to have applied for the document, despite both groups being seen as vulnerable to being put off from voting by the new laws. So far, just 1,361 people aged 75 or older have applied, 3.6% of the total. Just 6% of applications, 2,247 in all, have been from under-25s.
It is becoming more and more evident that these new rules are an an expensive, and unnecessary policy designed to dicsourage voting by groups who are unlikely to support the Tories. It is voter suppression by another name.
Ministers argue that this new measure is necessary to tackle fraud, however as the Guardian reports, statistics shave shown that there was not a single proven case of in-person voter impersonation last year. In fact the biggest risk is postal voting, which has no such measures attached to it.
The paper suggests that the new requirements could lead to mass confusion at polling stations as voters are turned away for lack of the appropriate ID, as official data shows that there has been minimal take-up of free official voter documents, with applications for the relevant paperwork closing in three weeks:
Data from the Electoral Commission said that in elections in 2022, which covered local elections in England, Scotland and Wales, elections to the Northern Ireland assembly, a series of mayoral elections in England and six Commons byelections, there were seven allegations of “personation” at polling stations, as the offence is officially known.
There was no action by police in any of these cases because there was either insufficient evidence to proceed or no evidence of wrongdoing, the report found.
There were three allegations of personation involving postal voting, which is not affected by the new ID rules, with one still being investigated.
There were 185 electoral-related offences reported during 2022 in all, the majority of them connected to campaigning rather than voting, with no action taken in 119 instances.
The statistics highlight a point made repeatedly by opponents of voter ID, that it tackles a problem which is almost unknown in Britain, while creating a barrier to voting for the estimated 2 million adults who lack the necessary documentation.
Those without ID can apply for a free so-called voter authority certificate, issued by their council but available via a central government portal.
A running tally for central applications, which close on 25 April, show that as of Sunday exactly 37,000 people had applied, fewer than 2% of the possible number of voters lacking ID.
Older and younger voters are even less likely to have applied for the document, despite both groups being seen as vulnerable to being put off from voting by the new laws. So far, just 1,361 people aged 75 or older have applied, 3.6% of the total. Just 6% of applications, 2,247 in all, have been from under-25s.
It is becoming more and more evident that these new rules are an an expensive, and unnecessary policy designed to dicsourage voting by groups who are unlikely to support the Tories. It is voter suppression by another name.
