To remind you that no photo ID = no right to vote.

[SusiePevensie]

Get ID here: www.gov.uk/apply-for-photo-id-voter-authority-certificate

@verdantverdure

Well as the older persons free bus pass is a suitable id, they won't have an issue.

My dd hasn't currently got id though, can't drive and passport has run out, but she's waiting on her new one

People over 66 can apply for a bus pass but I don't think we can assume all pensioners have one. Can we?

It's clearly the personal responsibility of any and all eligible pensioners to apply for their bus passes.

And the same goes for all persons eligible for a free Voter Authority Certificate.

So....what's your point? 🤷‍♂️

And no, that's not an example of disenfranchisement either.

I wonder how they initially reacted when voter ID was first introduced in NI in 1983 was it? How well advertised was it? How much advance notice did they have?
And again when it was changed to photo ID?

Because for me if we have to have ID, and there's a free option then that's fine.

What I have a problem with is that I don't think its been advertised enough. I've seen 1 TV advert, and a lot of people only watch streamed TV so won't even have seen that. And 1 Instagram story that only stays up long enough to read "you must bring ID to vote"
Now bearing in mind I use my debit card as ID to pick up a parcel; and recently used my birth certificate, ct bill and bank statement as proof of ID for a dbs check, there's not really anything that would make me think I couldn't use one of those to vote.

I suppose its assumed that in this digital age everyone will see the ads somewhere, but 90% of people I've mentioned it to didn't know about it. So the advertising isn't working.

That, for me is the problem. Give it a year or 2 and it won't be a problem. I know that my 16 year old will need photo ID in 2 years time so I'll make sure he has some. It will become the norm. But at the moment it's not.

The default used to be that British citizens over 18 can vote.

Now the default is that we can't.

Think of it as Schroedinger's Disenfranchisement.

You won't know if you've been disenfranchised until you go to the polling station and see if they think your photo ID is a good likeness or not.

Bumping. Thanks @SusiePevensie

@DownNative We won't agree, evidently.

Exactly

With 8 weeks until the May election only 505 people over 75 have applied for free voter ID through the government portal.

And only 1237 under 25s.

For people who've got elections coming up, have you seen any local advertising on the subject yet? I haven't, apart from the leaflet that came in with my latest household voter registration letter, but my local authority isn't voting this year, so I wouldn't expect a big push.

I haven't.
Only learnt this through MN

I received a letter from my local council about the up and coming May elections and they provided info on what I need to take as ID is required.

Just nipped out in the car and was listening to Gem FM and they had an advert warning folk they need ID to vote.

This has been designed to put young people and the poor and marginalised off voting, i.e., those least likely to vote Tory. Voter turnout is already depressingly low in this country, especially among the groups who will now have another deterrent to voting. If you're a poor young person without photo ID who was undecided about voting before this, you definitely won't bother now! You'd have to be pretty motivated to bother with applying for the voter ID - not to mention having digital access, which many don't have.

This is a DISGRACE. Mass disenfranchisement by the back door.

And if you are sent a form for a postal vote, check where you're sending your vote back to.

This one goes back up the local Conservative party HQ rather than the local council.

My local council has had a pitiful number of people apply for ID.

Is this true?
Where did you see this? I struggle to believe this isn't fake, if it isn't fake, how can it be legal?

@Kendodd On Twitter.

People have applied for a postal vote, and been sent a postal vote application form with a prepaid envelope.

Check out the address:

Apparently it's not illegal and it's part of how Laura Kuenssberg could say on air that the postal votes looked grim for Labour while voting was still ongoing in 2019.

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/bbc-laura-kuenssberg-postal-votes-electoral-commission-a9242976.html?amp

Same.

People don't believe this can happen to them.

Applications might pick up now since it's on the polling cards

The Electoral Commission have spoken on this and all parties do this.

See attached.

Twitter has put an advisory on Jacob Rees Mogg’s tweet promoting postal voting via the Conservative Party.

“low income families, people in precarious housing, and young people will all face similar barriers. These are unfair rules designed to shore up an unfair system.”

People with disabilities are less likely to have recognisable photo ID according to the government’s own research.

Almost 10% of over 85s don’t have an accepted form of Voter ID, and are far less likely to have the internet or still be driving than younger age groups. (Many women over 85 never drove)

Anecdotally some older people don’t seem to think it affects them. “It’s for fraudsters not me. I’ve been voting all my life. Never miss it.” And “They know me at ours” are comments I have had related to me.

The first quote is from this piece
https://www.bigissue.com/news/activism/trans-elderly-disabled-and-muslim-people-will-be-hit-hard-by-new-voter-id-law-with-less-than-a-month-until-polling-day/

I didn't have photographic ID - no driving licence, passport, bus pass, etc.

However, I applied online via my local council on Monday - send birth, marriage, council tax and utility bill in, and by Wednesday I had received my Voter ID certificate. It was that simple.

They asked for birth and marriage certs, plus one other form of identity - could be a NI number, council tax, utility bill, etc. I don't think that's too difficult for people to find. (Not that I agree with the principle behind it).