Thank you to the many constituents getting in touch regarding Voter ID.
A secure
electoral system is a vital component of a healthy democracy, and the public
must have confidence that our elections are secure and fit for the 21st
century. Asking voters to bring ID to their polling station is an important way
of achieving this and the Electoral Integrity Bill will put such a requirement
into law.
Voter ID is
not new. Northern Ireland has required paper ID at polling stations since 1985,
and photo ID since 2003 - introduced by the last Labour Government. It has
proved to be effective at tackling fraud and has not curtailed election
turnout. Most other democratic countries in the world require some sort of
Voter ID - and for very good and obvious reasons.
Identification
to vote has been supported strongly by the Electoral Commission and
international election watchdogs. At present, it is harder to take out a
library book or collect a parcel at a post office than it is to vote in someone
else’s name.
In pilot
schemes in 2018 and 2019, the overwhelming majority of people cast their vote
without a problem and the success of the pilots proves that this is a
reasonable and proportionate measure to take; there was no noticeable adverse
effect on turnout.
The
Electoral Commission, which carried out/commissioned appropriate research, stated
that “the experience of taking part in the pilot scheme appears to have had
a positive impact on people’s perception of the security of the polling station
process, and on their confidence in it...Polling station staff were satisfied
with how polling day went and were confident that they could manage the process
of people showing voter identification at future elections."
Under the
Government’s proposals, anyone without appropriate ID will be able to apply for
a new free one, meaning that no voter will be disenfranchised. Acceptable ID
will include not only passports and driving licences but almost certainly
senior (and disabled) bus passes and rail passes etc.
If you
would like to discuss this further or any other matter, then please do not
hesitate to contact me.
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