I.D to vote - thoughts?

You should have to vote via dying your finger. Maybe all those shy Tories would stay shy if they had blue fingers after

seeing as it’s perfectly possible (and surprisingly common) to live in this country without any form of photo ID, it seems that to require it to vote is introducing a significant barrier. Definitely feels like a slippery slope and if the genuine reason is to try to avoid a small (at the most) amount of fraud, then maybe there are less intrusive ways?

A load of bullshit that belongs in the Descent Into Fascism thread.

Roughly so, cos this is just for polling station voting, right?

What’s wrong with the current thing of just giving your name and address and getting it ticked off and if anyone uses the same name and address later in the day then the alarm bells ring?

And, anyway, as I understand it, the main problem that needs addressing is postal votes. To my mind, of anything needs tightening up, they’re the votes that need to be looked into. So many ways to indulge in a little light fraud via that method (and often unbeknownst to the voter - it’s those helpful local councillors in care homes, etc, that need reining in).

But this is clearly just thinly veiled disenfranchisement rather than any genuine concern about fraud, so…

Fuck. We’re back to the worst hours of Blair’s civillibertysmash waaay sooner than I expected.

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Roughly?
*Doubly

Meh I don’t see the issue with this. You need an ID to buy alcohol, rent a house, claim the dole, get a bank account etc. I can’t think of a group of people that will be affected.

Another high quality contribution. Almost as good as

Keep 'em coming, champ.

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As this stands it definitely seems like a cynical attempt to discourage less affluent vote. Would maybe work if a new form of ID was provided for free? Probably being stupidly optimistic/naive there

yeah, this

given that a far bigger problem for democracy in the UK than voter fraud is voter turnout you’d think they’d put some weight behind trying to /remove/ obstacles to voting rather than increase them eh? :thinking:

as anyone who followed the US election knows this (and the new constituency boundaries) are all about voter suppression (and gerrymandering)

Hi Sheeeeeeeeeit. Still not leaving the house much?

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The biggest issue with voter fraud I can remember was in Tower Hamlets when I lived there, but I don’t the issue was people turning up at the poll stations and claiming to be other people or shit like that.

That’s not me.

i haven’t had a passport since i was 17. have since done all of those things without a photo id. MAKE U THINK

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haven’t had one because i’m poor. so yeah., it’s an issue and anyone who says it isn’t is a tory.

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Even the “proof of address” ID trial is pretty concerning - it’s not uncommon for all the household bills to be in a single name, giving everyone else living there no proof, while these days plenty of households have everything online with no paper bills at all.

Again, it wouldn’t surprise me if those who are going to lose out on that set of rules are disproportionately young (more likely to move regularly/live with parents/flat share and use online billing, while middle-aged and older people who’ve settled and want to keep their paper bills will be fine.

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Eric Pickles’ own report says that there’s no evidence of widespread fraud. It lists 17 ‘significant convictions’, so in reality it’s a minimal problem, and insisting on voter ID would not safeguard against this imagined abuse.

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Alright, Skepta

Whether or not I’m leaving the house much, I still have at least two forms of I.D on me right now, unlike some of the I.D-less on this forum.

I didn’t know you could open a bank account without I.D.

So I live in Northern Ireland. Here we have to produce one of 7 forms of I.D when going to a polling station. One of these is an electoral identity card, which is free. I imagine if you moaners in England had to produce I.D in the future there would be some sort of free option. Peace out.

Have you read the thread?