A 2016 Electoral Commission report pointed out that 3.5 million citizens in the UK do not have access to photo ID, and 11 million citizens do not have a passport or driving licence
More than 700 people were denied a vote for not having ID in pilots conducted in May’s local elections – across just 10 council areas. We could see voters excluded on an industrial scale if mandatory photo ID were rolled out nationally
There were just eight allegations of personation fraud – the type voter ID is meant to prevent – in the whole of the UK last year, out of millions of votes cast. What are the government really trying to solve, by making it harder for all of us to vote?
Implementing mandatory voter ID would cost up to £20m per General Election, according to the government's own figures
Darren Hughes, Chief Executive of the Electoral Reform Society, said: "When millions of people lack photo ID, these mooted plans risk raising the drawbridge to huge numbers of marginalised voters – including many elderly and BAME voters."
The government have sat on their hands in the face of the actual threats to electoral integrity: anonymous 'dark ads', dodgy donations, and disinformation. Instead of taking on the real issues, they are using a sledgehammer to crack a nut #voterID
.@darrenhughesnz: “Make no mistake – these plans will leave tens of thousands of legitimate voters voiceless. Ministers should focus on combating the real threats to our democracy, rather than suppressing voters’ rights."
Darren Hughes: “The government have been left with only a dog whistle to justify this ‘show-your’-papers policy, with no evidence of widespread impersonation."
Our constitutional rules should be fair for all sides – not a political football for whichever lot happens to be in control. This gamble with our democracy will strike many voters as US-style gerrymandering
Instead of scaremongering and undermining our proud tradition of trust at the ballot box, ministers should think and tackle the real problems our democracy faces: millions left off the electoral roll and a broken, one-person-takes-all voting system
Eleven seats were won by fewer than 100 votes in 2017 - making it likely this policy would have a direct impact on the makeup of our Parliament
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As always, the parliament we ended up with looked nothing like the way we voted - this is because Westminster's voting system warps the results.
With First Past the Post, minuscule changes in the vote can have major impacts. The Conservatives gained a 7% increase in seats from 2017 – on a 1% increase in vote share - delivering their largest majority since 1987. The Lib Dems increased their vote share, but lost a seat.
As results are announced today for councils across the country, we are already starting to see some wildly disproportionate results.
It doesn't have to be like this, when Scottish council results are announced later, the seats each party get will be in proportion to how many people voted for them - as they don't use first past the post. ers.tools/local-democracy
The #ElectionsBill, which passed last night, will make it harder to vote for millions, while making it easier for the government to control the Electoral Commission. It’s a travesty that parliamentarians passed a Bill that erodes our precious democracy. mirror.co.uk/news/politics/…
The law will only make it harder for some people - older people can use bus passes and 60+ Oyster cards as valid forms of ID - but young people’s railcards, and student Oyster cards will not be permitted. bigissue.com/news/politics/…
The government overrode a compromise amendment, suggested by a Conservative Peer, that would have expanded the list of acceptable IDs - instead they adopted their own arbitrary and restrictive list.
The #ElectionsBill is having its second reading in the House of Lords today - there is a lot wrong with this bill, from spending millions to make it harder to vote, to reducing the independence of our Electoral Commission.
Around 2.1 million people lack the necessary identification for their voter ID scheme, according to the government’s own research. Checking millions of documents and supplying ID will cost up to £180 million a decade electoral-reform.org.uk/expensive-vote…
Poll workers will have the power to turn voters away if they think an old photo doesn't look enough like them. Unlike border police, poll workers are not specially trained to do this sort of work. Growing a beard or getting a bold haircut shouldn't disenfranchise you.
Following the retirement of Viscount Ridley there is going to be a Conservative hereditary peer by-election. The 45 Conservative hereditary peers in the Lords will be voting to select who will get a seat in the Lords for life as his replacement. parliament.uk/globalassets/d…
Candidates, drawn from a list of Conservative hereditary peers outside the Lords, submit short, often bizarre, statements such as the below to garner support.
This time though, one candidate has gone a bit further than usual, submitting a peculiar YouTube search link as his statement... youtube.com/results?search…