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.
If you believe in getting more people involved in our democracy rather than making it harder to vote - sign our petition to register your opposition. ers.tools/voter-id
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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…
This afternoon the Commons is debating the Government's controversial #ElectionsBill. This bill will reduce the independence of the Electoral Commission, ban those without the right ID from voting and change the electoral system for Mayors and PCCs electoral-reform.org.uk/the-government…
Banning those without the right sorts of ID from voting could cost up to £180,000,000 a decade, with millions alone being spent on bigger poll cards to explain the complicated rules. Around 2.1 million people lack the necessary ID according to the government’s own research.
Disadvantaged groups, like the unemployed, those renting from a local authority and disabled people are less likely to have ID. The bill expects them to travel to, sometimes distant, local council offices to request alternative forms of ID. electoral-reform.org.uk/expensive-vote…
You can explore the proposed boundary changes here bcereviews.org.uk
We support the principle of equalising boundary sizes, but there should have been more flexibility to help seats reflect actual communities. Allowing up to 10% difference in size between seats would have helped to minimise disruption for voters and MPs.
Reviews should also be based on a more accurate data source than the electoral register, which the Electoral Commission estimated was missing 9.4 million voters. These voters tend to be urban, younger, from lower-income groups, renters, and ethnic minorities.
Boundary reviews cause so much consternation with MPs as they know, with first past the post, that it is where they fall that will decide whether they win or lose their seat. thetimes.co.uk/article/4d76ba…
We made this graphic a few years ago - but look how control of our fictional town council changes between the reds and the blues as the boundaries move, even though nobody changes their vote.
Thankfully our Independent Boundary Commissions mean the boundaries aren't drawn for partisan advantage, but if we don't want lines on a map to decide our government, we need to abandon the idea that each constituency should elect one MP.