Page 2 | Voting ID is a nonsense

Cranmer · 2023-05-04T20:01:13+00:00

They asked to see my ID at the polling station door, but I went to the desk and could have said I was anyone. Should they not check it against your name and address, not just randomly look at the picture at the door? All this does is put people off voting as they can't be bothered to get their passport out the drawer. Grrrrr

Original poster

Cranmer · 04/05/2023 21:37

We did not even take our polling cards. We really could have voted on behalf of any of our neighbours or other family members.

More training is certainly needed. I came home fuming... I must be turning into a 'Grumpy Old Woman'!

OP posts:

ObfuscationWithMenaces · 04/05/2023 21:39

Ifailed · 04/05/2023 21:13

of course it is, the Torys bought it in to try and exclude people who may vote Labour, but now the hard-right press are complaining it might deter older votes who tend to vote Tory!

How did you come up with that little gem?

Tinkerbyebye · 04/05/2023 21:46

Ifailed · 04/05/2023 21:13

of course it is, the Torys bought it in to try and exclude people who may vote Labour, but now the hard-right press are complaining it might deter older votes who tend to vote Tory!

Don’t be so ridiculous
ID is required when voting in many countries, we are finally getting there, and it will help stop election fraud

Kingpin90 · 04/05/2023 21:49

We had no local elections, where I live. Feel quite left out. Don’t most young people need ID to buy alcohol etc.

Beneficialchampion2 · 04/05/2023 21:50

BurscoughBooths · 04/05/2023 21:14

Why is that correct? Surely showing your ID once is enough, at the desk where you are given your ballot paper

Show quote history

Because it would be a big waste of time queuing for 10 mins to get to the desk to discover you've not got ID...

Frabbits · 04/05/2023 21:53

DoAWheelie · 04/05/2023 21:21

The point was never to make voting more secure. It was to remove votes from poor people who are the most likely to have no ID and most likely to vote labour.

It's working perfectly at its intended goal as voter suppression.

This, a hundred times this.

LizzieSiddal · 04/05/2023 21:54

Mine went like this

ID Checked at door
ID checked at desk and also I had to repeat my name and address

This is in a tiny village and I’ve known the lady at the desk for 27 years 🤣

We had a laugh about it.

NorthStarRising · 04/05/2023 21:55

The point was never to make voting more secure. It was to remove votes from poor people who are the most likely to have no ID and most likely to vote labour.

My husband has no form of photo ID, so he sorted out a voter identity certificate which is free. Or are you saying other poor people are too lazy or dim to bother?

WhiteFire · 04/05/2023 21:56

I handed mine along with my polling card to person 1 who checked the id and found me on the main list, person 2 then filled in their sheet and person 3 handed me my voting slips (and then made sure I put them in the right box)

Pretty much exactly what has happened every other time, no queuing, no waiting. Boxes seemed quite full (was 6pm)

(Before I get jumped on I had councillor and mayoral elections)

UnsolicitedOpinions · 04/05/2023 22:01

I had ID with me and didn’t get asked for it at all!

pointythings · 04/05/2023 22:06

This was always intended as a voter suppression measure. Voter fraud in the UK has always been infinitesimally small. It's all very well saying that other countries have voter ID - they do. But those countries also have compulsory ID cards, which the UK does not. If this had been genuinely well intentioned, ID cards would have been brought in first.

Frabbits · 04/05/2023 22:07

Tinkerbyebye · 04/05/2023 21:46

Don’t be so ridiculous
ID is required when voting in many countries, we are finally getting there, and it will help stop election fraud

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It's estimated that this scheme will cost around £180 million a decade to run, over and above the normal cost of running elections.

Not a small amount. For that amount you'd expect voter fraud to be a HUGE problem, wouldn't you? Absolutely massive.

But yet, it's not. In 2019 there were 33 reports of suspected votor impersonation. 33. That's because rigging elections in this way is already virtually impossible, given how logistically challenging it is to impersonate enough people to swing an election whilst remaining undetected. The fact is, it's not a real risk at all.

What is a fact, and has been shown in many other countries that have introduced voter id, is that the requirement for ID reduces turnout disproportionately amoungst lower earners, people with limited education etc. Y'know, the people who (typically) do not vote conservative.

So if you think the tories love this scheme for any other reason than reducing voter turnout for opposition parties, then you are very, very mistaken.

MuchTooTired · 04/05/2023 22:07

Nobody was on the door at mine, just walked to the main table, was asked for my name, presented my ID, and then my ballot was scanned on to the iPad which I didn’t really think was weird until after I’d posted my vote.

Did everyone else have that happen? Made me feel as though my vote was somehow tied to my identity if anyone could be bothered to check it which I sincerely doubt they would. I’ll remove my tin foil hat now…!

LP9 · 04/05/2023 22:07

I had mine checked once by a lady on the door who commented on my hair colour change!! It was a bit weird because my hair colour hasn't changed but my drivers licence has a black and white photo.

youveturnedupwelldone · 04/05/2023 22:15

I had to show I had photo ID with me to get in, then the clerk checked my ID against the roll before I got the ballot paper. Exactly what I expected to happen.

NoSquirrels · 04/05/2023 22:20

Theunamedcat · 04/05/2023 21:21

We had a lady outside checking we HAD id then it was checked at the desk before handing over the card

This is what happened at our polling station - chap out front checking ‘Did you bring your ID with you?’, said yes and went in, showed it at the desk to confirm my identity matched address/name etc. Chap at the door didn’t want to see my ID, he was purely to remind people in case they needed to pop home to get it.

It’s a dumb-ass thing anyway.

Reugny · 04/05/2023 22:25

Tinkerbyebye · 04/05/2023 21:46

Don’t be so ridiculous
ID is required when voting in many countries, we are finally getting there, and it will help stop election fraud

Show quote history

The handful of election fraud cases in this country has been done by postal votes NOT by voting in person.

I've had a postal vote for over a decade due to my working practices. My ID and that of others who have postal votes is not being checked.

Goldpanther · 04/05/2023 22:27

Just finished working as a poll clerk today.

We had people come to the desk, asked for address and name as usual, then double checked against ID. People who had forgotten or incorrect ID were then correctly recorded. Ballots were issued once we had checked ID.

Reugny · 04/05/2023 22:28

NorthStarRising · 04/05/2023 21:55

The point was never to make voting more secure. It was to remove votes from poor people who are the most likely to have no ID and most likely to vote labour.

My husband has no form of photo ID, so he sorted out a voter identity certificate which is free. Or are you saying other poor people are too lazy or dim to bother?

Lots of people voted in the referendum at the last minute. So this will deter those people.

Not saying poorer people are lazy or dim but most people who don't vote in society are younger and/or poorer people.

NoNamesLeft371 · 04/05/2023 22:31

NorthStarRising · 04/05/2023 21:55

The point was never to make voting more secure. It was to remove votes from poor people who are the most likely to have no ID and most likely to vote labour.

My husband has no form of photo ID, so he sorted out a voter identity certificate which is free. Or are you saying other poor people are too lazy or dim to bother?

There are studies suggesting poorer people are less likely to vote overall. Adding additional steps isn’t going to improve it if that’s the case.

lljkk · 04/05/2023 22:31

Young people have photo ID to buy booze or go clubbing.
Old people have bus passes.
Most people in between have something suitable.

Bad form if a young person can't use their railcard ID, though.

Why don't any of you absentee vote? It's so much easier to vote from home and than this voter ID malarky.

Irridescantshimmmer · 04/05/2023 22:33

I have an out of date passport which I produced as voter ID today, and got some attitude from a woman in the polling station about my passport being out of date.

I still resemble my passport photo.

I was still able to vote but checked online at a uk gov site to see if my passport was still valid and the site confirmed it is.

I complained to the local councillor who will escalate the complaint to a manager at my local council and the woman concerned will be dealt with.

Just because we need ID to vote, this does not give the people in the polling station the right to interrogate voters over out of date passports.

It costs between £82 and £93 to renew an out of date passport, no voter should be under any pressure to update a passport just for ID and especially during a cost of living crisis.

So, I'm posting this to remind you kind people not to be under any pressure to cough up nearly £100 in the middle of a cost of living crisis, if you happen to only have an out of date passport as voter ID, because it is still valid, providing you still resemble the passport photo.

Augend23 · 04/05/2023 22:35

Frabbits · 04/05/2023 22:07

It's estimated that this scheme will cost around £180 million a decade to run, over and above the normal cost of running elections.

Not a small amount. For that amount you'd expect voter fraud to be a HUGE problem, wouldn't you? Absolutely massive.

But yet, it's not. In 2019 there were 33 reports of suspected votor impersonation. 33. That's because rigging elections in this way is already virtually impossible, given how logistically challenging it is to impersonate enough people to swing an election whilst remaining undetected. The fact is, it's not a real risk at all.

What is a fact, and has been shown in many other countries that have introduced voter id, is that the requirement for ID reduces turnout disproportionately amoungst lower earners, people with limited education etc. Y'know, the people who (typically) do not vote conservative.

So if you think the tories love this scheme for any other reason than reducing voter turnout for opposition parties, then you are very, very mistaken.

Show quote history

This.

Turnout in my (solidly Labour) ward was so low the polling station had only just got onto their second side of A4 (so maybe 30 voters) by the time I turned up to vote this evening.

NoNamesLeft371 · 04/05/2023 22:36

Tinkerbyebye · 04/05/2023 21:46

Don’t be so ridiculous
ID is required when voting in many countries, we are finally getting there, and it will help stop election fraud

Show quote history

There was very little voter fraud beforehand.
what would be gained? Large scale fraud- enough to turn the result- just didn’t happen.

cakeorwine · 04/05/2023 22:38

I never understood why you didn't have to show your polling card.

If you had your polling card and something with your name and address on it, would that be enough to prove you were you? Or even something with just your name on it?

I mean -someone who was trying to impersonate you would have to get your polling card and something with your name on it - so maybe a family member in the house. I guess that might happen.

Still - it will be interesting to see whose vote gets suppressed - turnout is low anyway for local elections. Some groups are less likely to vote as well.