Saturday, May 13, 2023
Counting those stopped from voting
The Guardian reports on the findings of a group of democracy observers that more than 1% of voters, half of whom appeared to be from minority ethnic backgrounds, were turned away from polling stations because of ID requirements at the local elections.
They add that Democracy Volunteers, a group of election observers, said it conducted snapshot surveys in 118 councils on 4 May, and recorded 1.2% of those attending polling stations turned away because they lacked the relevant ID, or were judged to not have it:
Of those turned away, 53% were identified by observers as appearing to be “non-white”. The group said its teams saw others allowed to vote despite not having ID.
The group, which sent 150 observers, said its staff generally formed teams of two or three, and attended 879 polling stations across all the regions of England.
It said these observers spent between 30 and 45 minutes at each location observing the process and then completed a survey for each polling station.
Earlier authorities admitted it would not be possible to accurately quantify how many voters lacking ID were turned away on 4 May. Charities and other groups have said more vulnerable groups of voters, including older people, transgender voters and those with disabilities, are disproportionately likely to lack the permitted ID.
Tom Brake, of Unlock Democracy, a campaign group for greater democratic participation, said: “This data confirms our prediction that as well as being damaging to our democracy, these unnecessary voter ID rules would be discriminatory too, having a particularly severe impact on ethnic minority voters.
“The whole concept is wrong in principle and the implementation has been a catalogue of chaos. Local authorities weren’t given the time or money to prepare properly in terms of raising awareness and training staff. There has been no plan to comprehensively gather robust data about the number of people refused a ballot, a task made particularly difficult by the use of so-called greeters outside of polling stations. And now we have an element of evidenced racial discrimination.”
So the Tories succeeded in stopping voters unsympathetic to their cause from voting. Despite that they had a disastrous set of elections. It should have been much worse for them.
Update: BBC Political Correspondent, Peter Saull has tweeted that local councils have started publishing data on how many voters were turned away last Thursday because they didn't have acceptable ID. He says that in Walsall, 1240 were turned away, 473 returned with ID, so 767 didn't vote. In Bradford 1261 turned away , 763 returned, 498 didn't vote.
He adds that the statistics only tell part of the story, as some councils employed people outside polling stations who didn't record how many voters were turned away. A fuller picture is expected from the Electoral Commission next month.
They add that Democracy Volunteers, a group of election observers, said it conducted snapshot surveys in 118 councils on 4 May, and recorded 1.2% of those attending polling stations turned away because they lacked the relevant ID, or were judged to not have it:
Of those turned away, 53% were identified by observers as appearing to be “non-white”. The group said its teams saw others allowed to vote despite not having ID.
The group, which sent 150 observers, said its staff generally formed teams of two or three, and attended 879 polling stations across all the regions of England.
It said these observers spent between 30 and 45 minutes at each location observing the process and then completed a survey for each polling station.
Earlier authorities admitted it would not be possible to accurately quantify how many voters lacking ID were turned away on 4 May. Charities and other groups have said more vulnerable groups of voters, including older people, transgender voters and those with disabilities, are disproportionately likely to lack the permitted ID.
Tom Brake, of Unlock Democracy, a campaign group for greater democratic participation, said: “This data confirms our prediction that as well as being damaging to our democracy, these unnecessary voter ID rules would be discriminatory too, having a particularly severe impact on ethnic minority voters.
“The whole concept is wrong in principle and the implementation has been a catalogue of chaos. Local authorities weren’t given the time or money to prepare properly in terms of raising awareness and training staff. There has been no plan to comprehensively gather robust data about the number of people refused a ballot, a task made particularly difficult by the use of so-called greeters outside of polling stations. And now we have an element of evidenced racial discrimination.”
So the Tories succeeded in stopping voters unsympathetic to their cause from voting. Despite that they had a disastrous set of elections. It should have been much worse for them.
Update: BBC Political Correspondent, Peter Saull has tweeted that local councils have started publishing data on how many voters were turned away last Thursday because they didn't have acceptable ID. He says that in Walsall, 1240 were turned away, 473 returned with ID, so 767 didn't vote. In Bradford 1261 turned away , 763 returned, 498 didn't vote.
He adds that the statistics only tell part of the story, as some councils employed people outside polling stations who didn't record how many voters were turned away. A fuller picture is expected from the Electoral Commission next month.
