Racial discrimination at polling stations, overwhelmingly disadvantaged WOC on 2 May

[Chirawehaha]

https://bylinetimes.com/2024/05/23/vast-majority-of-those-turned-away-over-voter-id-in-local-elections-were-non-white-according-to-polling-station-observers/

Excerpt:

Seven in ten voters turned away due to issues with photo ID during this month’s local and police commissioner elections in England appeared to not be white, according to the first major analysis of the May 2nd voting process.

That compares to just a quarter of the population in England and Wales who are not white, according to the latest 2021 census. The research by the non-partisan group Democracy Volunteers suggests that people from ethnic minorities are far more likely to have faced issues with the voter ID rules – posing serious risks of discrimination in the imminent General Election on July 4th.

One in fifty voters – 2.1% of those observed – overall were turned away for lack of ID, mostly in urban areas, the report out today (May 23rd) has found.

The demographic differences were stark, according to the 150 volunteers who observed 725 polling stations on May 2. Fifteen percent of those excluded were ‘white passing’ men, 26% were ‘non-white passing’ men, 15% were ‘white passing’ women, and 44% ‘non-white passing’ women.

That comes to over two-thirds of those turned away appearing to be from ethnic minority backgrounds, and is a significant rise from the 55% in last May’s elections.

In contrast, observers noted 12 voters were allowed to vote without showing ID; most of whom were ‘white passing’.

This has just got the data for those who are turned away. Of those that were did they have the correct ID on them and did they have a polling card?

All they have to do is walk the 5 mins home and get id. I don’t get the drama?
and they won’t make same mistake on July 4th

White passing and non-white passing gives me the ick. And was there any specificity about who the non-whites actually were, or where they were, or is that the extent of the observation?

This is completely meaningless. It was well publicised that ID would be required and what you needed to do if you didn't have any ID. If they had a polling card then they had been given the information, whether they chose to read it is another thing. They even allow people to use expired passports and driving licences if the photo still looks like you. It isn't discrimination unless they were turned away because of ethnicity, age, sex, or disability. Which no one was.

I have had a postal vote for at least the last 10 years. It just makes everything so much easier. There are options/choices for ID too. My husband is from a country where ID cards are compulsory. (Hardly anyone has a passport), but you need the ID card for pretty much everything, to open a bank account, see a doctor, start school, for example. Hopefully everyone will be able to get their ID sorted before the election.

You can apply for voter ID to vote if you don't have any other form of ID.

It's free.

https://www.gov.uk/apply-for-photo-id-voter-authority-certificate

I didn't vote because I had no ID surely they were aware the rules had changed.

You don't get the drama - I would guess this is because you have photo ID. I don't and had to rely on the polling station staff thinking that my expired passport still looked sufficiently like me to let me vote: my voting card didn't arrive in time and not everyone has an expired passport.

It's what the change was literally designed to achieve.

Well there was one white person turned away, who should have known better. Who should have lost the right to vote after the treason he committed in 2019.

Utter rubbish.

If they turned away people who weren’t white for not having correct ID, but disallowed white people who didn’t have the correct ID to vote, then that is discrimination. How is it not?

That was meant to say ‘allowed’ white people. My apologies.

That's not what the article or data says though. They just have the data on who was turned away, not who had the correct ID.

Correct me if I'm wrong.

That’s exactly what the article says. I even quoted the relevant paras!

How do we know they didn't have ID? Were they asked? Was someone stood over their shoulder while they had their ID checked? The article doesn't prove anything, and it also says "mostly white-passing", which means what, 7/12? Is it just white-passing people we take issue with but the others are fine?
They checked 725 polling stations in very specific areas. You cannot say "mostly in urban areas", when you only checked urban areas! Considering there are circa 40,000 polling stations in the UK, it is hardly proving much at all. Voter fraud is a pretty big deal so I would assume those righteous enough to write the article in the first place would be leaping on the opportunity to report it.

Where does it say that those turned away had the correct ID? What % of those turned away had it?

I've read that article 3 times and tried in vain to look for a link to the actual data but all it does is say who was turned away, not whether they had ID on them.

I feel like you’re having a parallel conversation. Where have I said those turned away had the correct ID?

You said it was racial discrimination to turn away non-white voters with correct ID but accept white voters who didn't have correct ID. I agree but I can't find the data supporting it in that "research".

Exactly. They weren’t even asked. You get that you’re just restating my (and the article’s) point?

And so what if it was urban areas? Is discrimination fine in urban areas?

Having an issue with discrimination is ‘righteous’?

No, that’s not what I said at all. Please read that comment again. ’If they turned away people who weren’t white for not having correct ID’

It seems a bit strange to have been allowed to vote without photo ID in 2024 given the state of the world currently. I can't access anything without a million forms of ID but used to be able to rock up and vote.

Forgive me if I am missing something, but to me this just says that more non-white people than white people showed up to vote without photo id. Meaning non-white communities either did not get the message it's now required, or chose not to act upon it. Anyone without correct id was turned away in accordance with the new rules, apart from a couple of isolated incidents where somebody claimed a small number of white-looking people were allowed to vote without id, but no further info on that given.

That said OP, it's widely acknowledged that the photo id requirement is more likely to deter those from lower socio-economic backgrounds from voting than it is to deter the relatively wealthy and educated.

So more effort needs to be made, and quick, in those communities to get the message out. Community centers, doctors, churches. Is literacy or language an issue? This is also a huge barrier in knowing who to vote for.

The numbers are irrelevant really, you need to know the causes behind those turning up with no ID.

Sounds like 2.1% of people learnt how to follow basic instructions on May 2nd. 👍