Thread by @V4CE

V4CE’s stand on May 4, 2023 Elections:

The insistence on Voter IDs was an affront to UK's democracy and cast a shadow on the process when voters found out on election day that to cast their votes they would actually require a form of Voter ID.

#VoterIDandUKElections2023

The echoes of that affront on the voting process reverberated all the way to the US where @nytimes ran a piece with the caption: Voter ID Rules Are Raising Hackles in Britain nytimes.com/2023/05/03/wor…

A UK Guardian piece called it a threat to democracy.

#VoterIDandUKElections2023

@TheNatPulse alluded to concerns as “leftist hysteria” in a piece captioned - “England Introduced Voter ID This Week. There Wasn’t ‘Mass Disenfranchisement’, Despite Leftist Hysteria”

#VoterIDandUKElections2023

Concerns about the new Voter ID rules were anchored on the fact that those who were marginalised would be greatly impacted and they include

1⃣Black and other minoritised Londoners
2⃣Deaf and disabled Londoners
3⃣Older Londoners
4⃣LGBTQ+ Londoners etc

#VoterIDandUKElections2023

Despite V4CE’s opposition to the Voter ID legislation, it endeavored to provide Black and Minoritised communities with the knowledge to ensure their votes count and is not lost or forgotten.

#VoterIDandUKElections2023

Working with the Greater London Authority, we made our members aware via literature, workshops and videos of available options.

One of those was the Free Voter Authority Certificate which was meant to be issued by local authority electoral services.

#VoterIDandUKElections2023

We are deeply concerned to learn that the Free Voter Authority Certificates were rejected in many places according to @BigIssue which reports that

1 in 18 applications were rejected by councils with some recording 15 per cent rejections.

#VoterIDandUKElections2023

Fears and concerns were proven real on Thursday, May 4, 2023, with widespread reports of people being turned away from polling stations with @ElectoralCommUK noting some people were "regrettably unable to vote".

#VoterIDandUKElections2023

The Guardian highlighted examples where people were turned away because they lacked a photo ID while BBC identified Andre Vince, an NHS worker in West Sussex, who was "incensed" at being unable to use his NHS ID badge to vote in the local elections.

#VoterIDandUKElections2023

The Electoral Reform Society @electoralreform who opposes the new rules, said it had received “countless examples” of people being turned away from polling stations as they lacked proof of identity while declaring that #VoterID isn’t worth the risks.

#VoterIDandUKElections2023

John Pullinger, chair of @ElectoralCommUK, has acknowledged that there were issues with voter ID noting to BBC 4 that the commission will collect data and then release an initial report in June and a fuller report in September with recommendations.

#VoterIDandUKElections2023

The Electoral Commission also said it will look into a lot of other issues as it evaluates how the new voter ID system worked in the weeks after local elections including role of of greeters who may have turned voters away.

#VoterIDandUKElections2023

V4CE which remains opposed to the use of Voter ID will continue to advocate the repeal of this legislation wherever possible while ensuring that its members and the public will be kept abreast of any future developments.

#VoterIDandUKElections2023

Read our full statement on the effect of the new Voter ID legislation on the 2023 local elections⬇️

voice4change-england.org/post/v4ce-stat…

#VoterIDandUKElections2023