No ID? That's A Problem

Voter ID is coming to the UK. With legislation coming in just in time for the next local elections, all voters will need to bring an approved form of ID to vote. Don’t have ID? Apply for a voter authority certificate at your local council, for free.

Sound simple? It’s not. With most people unaware of the changes, a campaign was meant to be launched in January to educate voters. At the same time, the government website allowing people to sign up for free voter ID still isn’t ready, raising concerns that the publicity campaign won’t be effective, and will potentially leave people disenfranchised.

Why do I care?

With the Electoral Commission already having warned that elections won’t be able to run properly, let’s round up the top concerns about the new electoral rules

Disenfranchisement

2% of the UK population doesn’t have any form of photo ID, and 4% don’t have recognisable ID. Which means that just over 2 million people could potentially lose their ability to vote. And that’s without taking into account the people who have ID but aren’t aware of the changes and show up without any, for whom the inconvenience could be a barrier to voting.

Demographics

In most other countries where Voter ID is mandatory, like most EU countries, having photo ID is mandatory for all citizens anyways. But in the UK, the general rule of thumb is that the richer you are, the more likely you are to have ID. Those who don’t, disproportionately come from marginalised, harder-to-reach communities, including older people and those who are homeless or transgender.

Political Motivations

Supposedly, the legislation is meant to combat voter impersonation. But given that that’s barely a problem in the UK at the moment, and that the demographics least likely to possess ID are generally not Conservative voters, critics are questioning the true motivations behind the rule change.

The list of allowed documents includes a range of travel cards for elderly and disabled people, which is good, but it excludes equivalent passes for students and young people. University ID cards are also excluded. All this is only adding weight to the criticism that the legislation is politically motivated and meant to limit under-represented and younger voters.

Other Electoral Issues

The law comes at a time when voter fraud is low, and elections in the UK tend to be pretty secure. Less secure, and perhaps more deserving of attention: 9 million eligible voters aren’t registered at all, campaign rules are rife with loopholes, and there’s no mandatory transparency about the funding of political advertising.

So what?

With local elections coming up, it’s worth thinking about your organisation’s role in voter awareness, registration, and access. There is a scenario in which mandatory voter ID can be perfectly executed, and can actually make elections safer. How do we make sure we make that a reality, without leaving millions of people disenfranchised?