To be shocked by plan to disenfranchise the poor.

[Fab39ish]

Just seen a report on my facebook feed which suggests that the Government want to make it compulsory to provide photo ID to vote.
What happens to people who don't drive or have a passport?
Is there a national cheap photo ID card you can buy. But even so if you are poor maybe you won't be able to afford that?

fab Northern Ireland is part of the U.K.

rest of the UK. Damn auto-correct

Kerberos, that's hardly an issue in the UK. The number of votes cast in the 2015 election was 51.4 million. Allegations of voter fraud: 130. That's 0.00024%. Interestingly, allegations of fraudulent campaigning numbered 383 in 2015- this seems to be a much more significant problem than voter fraud. (source)

What Gaelic said. The UK is officially the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland is part of the UK.

The reports I've read state that the tories don't have plans to introduce a free ID card to the rest of the UK. So it WILL disenfranchise poorer people who can't afford a passport.

Guardian report says the same.

It does surprise me that you don't even need your polling card when you rock up to vote. What's to stop someone going around a bunch of polling stations giving different names and addresses?

Exactly anti. I am sure my sister will love having to spend a weeks jsa on a passport just so she can vote.
Apologies I did say rest of UK. Auto-correct thought differently.

Here's a link that says no plans to roll out free ID cards. So poorer people will be disenfranchised. This is sickening. www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/conservative-manifesto-general-election-2017-voter-id-laws-racist-voters-poll-latest-a7742666.html

I don't see the problem with this tbh. I've always had to provide photo ID to vote.

Long overdue, its ridiculous that anyone can pretend to be anyone and vote without ID. Most countries manage it.

Oh it was in the guardian so it must be true!!

It'll never pass unless they allow for a free ID. And that's going to reignite the whole "identity card" furore.

Ah, sorry, I see now that the issue is that they won't provide free or low cost options. Yes, in that case I apologise. People absolutely should not be prevented from voting because there is a cost that they can't meet.

So how is a single person on jsa going to be able to vote than if they don't have the required ID?

It is in the manifesto apparently. Plus it's the Guardian and the Independent.
Sorry cross post treacle

I think a free ID card would be fab. We haven't renewed our passports (can't afford the fees or the foreign holidays 😄) so it would be very useful. It would also be good for voting. Every time I go to vote I am struck by how easy it would be to wander in and pretend to be someone else.

I have lived for a few years in a country with ID cards and it was fine. They served a valid purpose and came in useful for all involved. Shock, horror! 😜

not sure what single has to do with it
point is, if you don't want to pay for passport and if you don't drive surely.

I mean, I know some people can't pay - but also those who can shouldnt have to get a passport just for voting, that's crazy.

When ID cards were proposed by Labour, they were going to cost us (the public). The suggestion back then was that they would be means tested, but it was never confirmed.

It's not just the initial cost. Who will pay for replacements - lost or stolen ? How about renewals ?

And finally, what laws will be put in place to prevent the mission creep we see with everything the government does when it sticks it's nose into our lives ? How soon before "voter ID" is needed for buying alcohol ? Or entering a public building like a jobcentre ? Or using public transport ? Or claiming whatever benefits are left ? Or attending a demonstration ? Or enrolling a child in school ?

My prediction : none.

I was referring to my sibling who doesn't drive and does not have a passport and indeed couldn't afford to buy one as the cost would amount to a weeks jsa virtually.

But this could affect May more than that.

To answer the OP: YABU to be shocked. We're in Tory wet-dreamland now. All of their oppressive polices of the past few years that they knew they would never get past a reasonably informed and educated electorate are coming out now. If you are shocked by this, just wait till they get in, and the 80% that were under the surface start coming through.

I suspect we'll see a move back to the Poll Tax too - the other way to stop the poor from voting.

This is from the manifesto :

The British public deserves to have confidence in our democracy. We will legislate to
ensure that a form of identification must be presented before voting, to reform postal
voting and to improve other aspects of the elections process to ensure that our elections
are the most secure in the world. We will retain the traditional method of voting by pencil
and paper, and tackle every aspect of electoral fraud.

Available here :

s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/manifesto2017/Manifesto2017.pdf

It says "a form of identification" I don't see where it says photographic identification?

Many.

I think we should all have ID. I think the ID was a fabulous idea and I am disappointed it was scrapped. If we all had ID it would cut down massively on crime and fraud, (particularly benefit fraud and electoral fraud) or at least people getting away with crime and fraud, and it would solve the issue of poor people not having drivers licences, utility bills, passports etc.

Providing there are ideas afoot to supply the poor (or indeed anyone who just feels they need it) with some sort of formal ID free of charge (assuming they don't have access to any of the usual accepted forms of ID) then I don't have an issue with needing to provide ID to vote.

Considering we are supposed to be one of the most highly developed countries in the world, I think we are remarkably lax at requiring and obtaining proof of ID in all sorts of areas. Electoral fraud and inappropriate use of the NHS without eligibility would appear to be alarmingly easy to carry off.