The Tory government has announced plans to introduce a voter ID scheme for future elections with details laid out in last weeks Queen’s Speech. This would require voters to show an approved form of photographic ID in order to vote in a UK parliamentary election in Great Britain and local elections in England. Photographic ID is already required to vote in Northern Ireland.

We know an election is coming, an announcement yesterday could mean that we have a general election as early as December 12th. I don’t know about you but I want a Labour government instead of socks for Christmas this year.

Register to vote today.

Why is this being introduced?

The government reasoning behind this is to prevent election fraud.

There was only 1 conviction for voter impersonation at the last election but 819 people were turned away from voting in trials across 8 councils. We do not believe this is being done to prevent fraud but it is being introduced as a form of voter suppression – a tactic used by the Republican Party in the US.

3.5 million people in the U.K. don’t have access to any photographic ID and if you restrict the acceptable form of identification to passports and drivers license the number rises to 11 million. There are a number of reasons people may not have an ID but the bulk of people who do not are not groups that would be target voters for the Tory party – young people, those on a low income and people from ethnic minorities. And let’s not forget the difficulties that trans people have accessing photographic ID.

How does this affect you?

Well if you don’t have photographic ID with you when you go to vote you will be turned away at the ballot, and given the number of people in the UK without photo ID this amounts to voter suppression. If you do have a form of photo ID make sure you have it with you on your way to the polling station.

What can you do if you don’t have ID?

A valid UK passport, driving license or provisional license is acceptable and you can apply for these through the GOV.UK website.

Alternatively if you cannot get an ID, perhaps you’re unable to afford it at the moment, you can apply for a postal vote. This allows you to vote without presenting ID and is also a convenient way to vote if you think you’ll struggle to get to the ballot box on election day.

However if you forget to send off a postal vote you can take it to the polling station and submit it on election day although you may be asked for ID.

Whilst campaigning in Ardwick we’ll be carrying postal vote applications so just ask us for one or download it from the council website.

Voting is a hard won right and we should not let this government take it away from us.

Irene Robinson
Ardwick Labour Branch Chair

All I want for Christmas this year: