Thread by @Macerty

How many of those tweeps that thought it was a good idea to buy into a rigged electoral system set up by Johnson and the Tories actually wrote to their MP’s to oppose its introduction???

The old saying ‘if you can’t beat then join them’ or ‘If you lie down with dogs you catch fleas’ are as contradictory and full of BS as those who propose paying for voter ID’s as it doesn’t work that way. Voter ID cards are free in Northern Ireland. 🤣

However if there is a charge attached then it’s rigged and the know it all’s on Twitter won’t make a jot of a difference to the election outcome should they pay for 10 others to be eligible to vote. Any charge to vote in any democracy is totally corrupt and anti-democratic.

What you can do is set up advice groups to get access to eligibility to vote if they are having problems verifying their details for items such as the following Northern Ireland example shows: 👇

A UK, Irish or EEA driving licence (photographic part) (provisional accepted)👇

A UK, Irish or EU passport (note: EU passports are not accepted at UK Parliamentary elections)

Any other evidence such as travel passes eg. The Northern Ireland public transport company ‘Translink’ free travel pass card also counts as evidence!

And this is what the government website states:

“Voter identification will require voters to prove their identity by showing a form of photographic identification, before being given their ballot paper in a polling station across Great Britain at national UK-wide elections👇

and at local elections in England.
A broad range of documents, both in date and expired, will be accepted in order to prove your identity to vote.”

So no mention of any charge as yet therefore false alarm in respect of that issue by uninformed tweeps who can’t be bothered to actually check it out. 😂

However there are real issues affecting the right to vote in England that do affect voters and having nothing to do with any charge for a voter ID card:👇

1. Those who can’t afford to travel abroad or haven’t done so in quite a few years might find their passport has expired!

2 The cost of a new passport can prove costly or prohibitive to voting in any election. For a family of 4 including mum and dad that’s really costly amounting time several hundred pounds in total. 👇

3. Then there are the people who don’t drive therefore they can’t produce a driving license as evidence.

In conclusion, the Tories are rigging forthcoming elections by providing obstacles to an individual’s right to turn up and vote without a voter ID card that requires specific forms of proof of identity that can discriminate against certain individuals or groups in society.

@threadreaderapp please unroll thanks