Groups strongly oppose trials in England
An unprecedented coalition of charities and academics are calling on the UK government to ditch plans to enforce voter ID at England’s local elections in May.
The group, led by the Electoral Reform Society, includes Age UK, the National Union of Students, Operation Black Vote, the Salvation Army and Stonewall.
All are concerned that mandatory voter ID would damage turnout and undermine engagement among already disadvantaged and excluded groups – and worry the trials are a “fait accompli” for a national roll-out.
That would mean Scots would be forced to use voter ID in general elections and possibly future referenda.
In a strongly worded letter to Chloe Smith MP, the UK government minister for the constitution, they state the futility of the move.
“In 2016 there were 44 allegations of impersonation – the type of fraud that voter ID is designed to tackle – out of nearly 64 million votes, reflecting just one case for every 1.5 million votes cast,” the letter reads.
Figures for 2017 show this fell to just 28 allegations of impersonation last year out of nearly 45 million votes, or one case for every 1.6 million votes cast.
Only one of these allegations resulted in a conviction.
Darren Hughes, chief executive of the Electoral Reform Society, said: "Electoral fraud is a serious issue – but mandatory voter ID is a sledgehammer to crack a nut.
"Requiring voters to bring ID to the polling station risks excluding far more people than the handful attempting to undermine the result.”
The groups argue voter ID reforms present a "significant barrier to democratic engagement" and could disadvantage young people, older people, disabled, transgender, BAME communities and the homeless.
Simon Woolley, director of Operation Black Vote, which promotes racial justice and equality throughout the UK, said: “This is clearly not a political issue, but rather a democratic concern.
“Right now our democracy needs to be the strongest it can be, therefore, we should be making the process of voting much easier, rather than introducing more layers of bureaucracy, that will inevitable cause distrust and turn people away."
