Sunday, May 21, 2023
Counting the voter suppression
The BBC add to our knowledge of those who were denied their democratic right to vote earlier this month, with their own survey of local councils and those turned away from polling stations for having no ID.
They report that information from 160 of 230 councils where polls were held this year shows 26,165 voters were initially denied ballot papers at polling stations. Of these, 16,588 people came back with valid ID, whilst 9,577 did not return:
David Cowling, a former BBC polling expert who is now a visiting research fellow at King's College London, also says it must be borne in mind that some voters initially turned away later return with ID.
He says evidence from metropolitan borough councils, and the pilots, suggests around 60% of people initially refused a ballot return with valid ID - producing a rough figure of 0.2% refusals of the votes cast.
"That's arguably 0.2% fewer people than there should be not participating - but on the other hand, it doesn't seem to me that the death of democracy is on the agenda either," he told BBC Radio 4's More or Less.
He adds, however, that there are "imponderables" in the council data, including the fact that people turned back by so-called greeters outside polling stations were not included in the published figures.
Labour MP Clive Betts, who chairs a Commons committee set to hold its own hearing on the new rules, also said official data would not reflect those who stayed at home, either because they didn't have ID or didn't know whether it would be accepted.
"The numbers of these people could be bigger than those who were turned away," he told the BBC.
He added that even if the number of people denied a ballot was in the thousands, it would be a "thousand times more" than the number of people prosecuted each year for voter fraud.
The Electoral Reform Society, a campaign group that opposes voter ID, warned that "far more" people would be turned away at the next general election unless the rule is scrapped.
"These figures, while not a complete picture, show what we've long feared," said Dr Jess Garland, the society's director of policy and research.
"One voter turned away is one too many, but these figures show that the impact was far, far greater."
The Electoral Commission will be collecting information on where greeters were used at polling stations, in order to assess the impact they had.
Jacob Rees-Mogg of course, has effectively admitted that the ID requirement is an attempt by the Tories to gerrymander elections, and that it backfired on them. There is no valid reason why ID should be required, with voter fraud being almost non-existent.
They report that information from 160 of 230 councils where polls were held this year shows 26,165 voters were initially denied ballot papers at polling stations. Of these, 16,588 people came back with valid ID, whilst 9,577 did not return:
David Cowling, a former BBC polling expert who is now a visiting research fellow at King's College London, also says it must be borne in mind that some voters initially turned away later return with ID.
He says evidence from metropolitan borough councils, and the pilots, suggests around 60% of people initially refused a ballot return with valid ID - producing a rough figure of 0.2% refusals of the votes cast.
"That's arguably 0.2% fewer people than there should be not participating - but on the other hand, it doesn't seem to me that the death of democracy is on the agenda either," he told BBC Radio 4's More or Less.
He adds, however, that there are "imponderables" in the council data, including the fact that people turned back by so-called greeters outside polling stations were not included in the published figures.
Labour MP Clive Betts, who chairs a Commons committee set to hold its own hearing on the new rules, also said official data would not reflect those who stayed at home, either because they didn't have ID or didn't know whether it would be accepted.
"The numbers of these people could be bigger than those who were turned away," he told the BBC.
He added that even if the number of people denied a ballot was in the thousands, it would be a "thousand times more" than the number of people prosecuted each year for voter fraud.
The Electoral Reform Society, a campaign group that opposes voter ID, warned that "far more" people would be turned away at the next general election unless the rule is scrapped.
"These figures, while not a complete picture, show what we've long feared," said Dr Jess Garland, the society's director of policy and research.
"One voter turned away is one too many, but these figures show that the impact was far, far greater."
The Electoral Commission will be collecting information on where greeters were used at polling stations, in order to assess the impact they had.
Jacob Rees-Mogg of course, has effectively admitted that the ID requirement is an attempt by the Tories to gerrymander elections, and that it backfired on them. There is no valid reason why ID should be required, with voter fraud being almost non-existent.
It is time for a rethink, but will Labour commit itself to repealing the law?
