Shadow Voter engagement minister and voter ID

[Yellow Bear]

Just seen a new item about voter ID being required at poling stations and  two things spring to mind:

1    As per title is this yet another un-necessary non job for the "selected few" paid for by the state.

2   That this would disadvantage ethnic minorities who will not have photo ID and discourage them from voting.   Coming from the left who have benefit most from malpractice and voter fraud are they "twitching"

Personally my view is yes to both.

[Ricko]

Thoreau springs to mind, " the government that governs best governs least "

A case for national ID cards ?

[TIGHTCHOKE]

There has apparently been a massive rise in voting fraud, here in Peterborough it has been prevalent for many years, anything that leads to a cut in the fraudulent voting is a plus.

[JohnfromUK]

Interesting - I ran across photo ID problems recently.

I offered a passport - declined - as 12 days out of date (no foreseeable need for one at present, so I haven't applied for renewal)

Asked for driving licence - mine is old and doesn't have a photo, so wouldn't do.

Offered SGC.  Not accepted as 'not a recognised form of ID'.

So - apparently I have no valid photo ID

[poontang]

22 minutes ago, Yellow Bear said:

 

2   That this would disadvantage ethnic minorities who will not have photo ID and discourage them from voting.   Coming from the left who have benefit most from malpractice and voter fraud are they "twitching"

 

 

I'm not sure why ethnic minorities would be less likely to have photo ID? Photo ID is required in Northern Ireland, and is accepted and used with no real issues. 

Most people over the age of 18 will have some form of photo ID, whether it be a student card, travel card, driving licence, passport or a myriad of other forms of ID, some may even have a shotgun/firearms licence!!

This stems from a report on electoral fraud published in 2014, and photo ID was one of the recommendations. There were other recommendations on proxy voting and party reps handling voters registration and ballots. 

I would think the Labour party are non too keen on anything that could inhibit some of their core vote from 'playing the system'. 

Labour... Vote early... Vote often. 

14 minutes ago, TIGHTCHOKE said:

There has apparently been a massive rise in voting fraud, here in Peterborough it has been prevalent for many years, anything that leads to a cut in the fraudulent voting is a plus.

Arrrgh yes, Peterborough. 

It's a town on the list of local authority areas identified as at high risk of electoral fraud... bet you can't guess why? 

[Old Boggy]

19 minutes ago, JohnfromUK said:

Interesting - I ran across photo ID problems recently.

I offered a passport - declined - as 12 days out of date (no foreseeable need for one at present, so I haven't applied for renewal)

Asked for driving licence - mine is old and doesn't have a photo, so wouldn't do.

Offered SGC.  Not accepted as 'not a recognised form of ID'.

So - apparently I have no valid photo ID

Bus Pass ?

[Old Boggy]

6 minutes ago, Old Boggy said:

Bus Pass ?

Sorry Dave, just seen the muzzle loader photo. Clearly you're old enough for a bus pass.

 

OB

[JohnfromUK]

8 minutes ago, Old Boggy said:

Bus Pass ?

No - as no buses where I live.  Apart from SGC, I don't have any photo ID at present, though passport is only a few weeks out of date; I'm waiting for the new 'blue' ones to renew (even if they are printed in France!)

[Yellow Bear]

34 minutes ago, JohnfromUK said:

Offered SGC.  Not accepted as 'not a recognised form of ID'.

This is one thing that really "boils my urine" as I have encountered this as well, since it is the only "ID" that actually has a police check - even passports have only just started on this road.

[JohnfromUK]

11 minutes ago, Yellow Bear said:

This is one thing that really "boils my urine" as I have encountered this as well, since it is the only "ID" that actually has a police check - even passports have only just started on this road.

The ironic thing is I only needed the ID to change a (single) old style £10 note into modern, but my bank insisted on photo ID (I might be money laundering!).

[TriBsa]

Any new measures being put in place to reduce fraudulent postal votes?

[TIGHTCHOKE]

26 minutes ago, JohnfromUK said:

The ironic thing is I only needed the ID to change a (single) old style £10 note into modern, but my bank insisted on photo ID (I might be money laundering!).

At £10 a time you'll never reach major league crime baron status!

[Westward]

45 minutes ago, TriBsa said:

Any new measures being put in place to reduce fraudulent postal votes?

As I understand it postal votes exist for situations where voters cannot attend in person to cast their vote. We all know why certain urban "communities" opt for postal votes when they often live close to polling stations, but I'm mystified as to why it's allowed in such circumstances. Apparently, anyone who wants to vote by post simply has to fill in a form.

Like so many things these days it's wide open to abuse; in this case it's usually by those who emanate from cultures where corruption is the normal way of doing things.

[JohnfromUK]

2 minutes ago, Westward said:

in this case it's usually by those who emanate from cultures where corruption is the normal way of doing things.

I'm sure that is true, but it is also (allegedly) encouraged by some 'pressure' groups - for example students were encouraged to get a postal vote for their home constituency, and also vote in their university/college constituency.  Again - allegedly Momentum have been active in this area, and at the last election some students boasted on social media of having voted twice this way.  Mind you they may have Diane Abbotts firm grasp of arithmetic ........... and not understand that 2 times is twice, not once on two occasions.

 

[muffin]

A couple of years ago we got invited to Buck House garden party Had to take a utility bill and photo ID driving licence no good passport run out only had SC guy at the gate said do not get many of these get another one in a minute when wife shows hers I said. What is good enough for HRH is good enough for any one I Say  

[Wb123]

2 hours ago, JohnfromUK said:

Interesting - I ran across photo ID problems recently.

I offered a passport - declined - as 12 days out of date (no foreseeable need for one at present, so I haven't applied for renewal)

Asked for driving licence - mine is old and doesn't have a photo, so wouldn't do.

Offered SGC.  Not accepted as 'not a recognised form of ID'.

So - apparently I have no valid photo ID

I turned up to a job interview once with the only photographic ID that I had (FAC), it caused some significant debate as to wether or not they could accept it but ultimately I got the job. The key point in the debate with the admin drone I suspect came when I pointed out that it was the ID I had used to check onto the flight there, after which she took it to the interview panel to see what they thought. 

[muffin]

I use mine first if anyone asks if they do not like it tough

[oowee]

Sooner we get out of the dark ages and get id cards the better. Better still chipped at birth. 

[Wb123]

7 minutes ago, muffin said:

I use mine first if anyone asks if they do not like it tough

I tend to use my driving licence as first choice but on the occasions that has been away (fairly frequently an issue) my fac is the only thing left. As it has only been an issue for work where walking out would leave the people asking for my ID in an impossible spot it has always been accepted (I could probably turn up with nothing I suspect). Were for instance I to miss the chance to vote over it I would be seriously hacked off.

The difficulty in such situations is that the balance of power is with the person checking the ID, not the person asked to supply it. If my ID is refused for work the not inconsiderable investment in time getting me to that point is lost, and they have to find someone else very fast, for a flight or to vote etc whoever requires ID has you by the short and curlies. 

[JohnfromUK]

34 minutes ago, oowee said:

Better still chipped at birth.

Quite a lot of politicians are.  The chip is located on the shoulder.

[Scully]

5 hours ago, oowee said:

Sooner we get out of the dark ages and get id cards the better. Better still chipped at birth. 

Mmmm....can't agree with that one I'm afraid. I dislike the 'nothing to hide nothing to fear' mentality which often goes hand in hand with this train of thought. In my opinion the less interference the state has on my life the better. 

[Danger-Mouse]

55 minutes ago, Scully said:

Mmmm....can't agree with that one I'm afraid. I dislike the 'nothing to hide nothing to fear' mentality which often goes hand in hand with this train of thought. In my opinion the less interference the state has on my life the better. 

Hear hear, couldn't agree more.

I've used my SGC a few times for ID when applying for jobs and had no trouble with it being accepted.

Also used it at a casino when applying for membership. The only comment it raised there was "I hope you haven't brought one with you!"

[Gordon R]

Automatic prison sentences for electoral fraud would be a welcome addition.

[poontang]

1 hour ago, Scully said:

Mmmm....can't agree with that one I'm afraid. I dislike the 'nothing to hide nothing to fear' mentality which often goes hand in hand with this train of thought. In my opinion the less interference the state has on my life the better. 

Whilst I would agree to a certain extent with what you are saying Scully, it is only possible to vote if you are on the electoral register. The register holds more information than that which is printed on, for instance, the Northern Ireland electoral identity card, where only a name, dob and photo are required. If such a card can reduce the likelihood of electoral fraud then I wouldn't be averse to such a thing. A full on identity card system I would be dead against.

[oowee]

1 hour ago, poontang said:

Whilst I would agree to a certain extent with what you are saying Scully, it is only possible to vote if you are on the electoral register. The register holds more information than that which is printed on, for instance, the Northern Ireland electoral identity card, where only a name, dob and photo are required. If such a card can reduce the likelihood of electoral fraud then I wouldn't be averse to such a thing. A full on identity card system I would be dead against.

Why? The data is already there just in separate places. Look how your moby is already starting to put all that handy data in one place. Imagine all the data simply linked to an iris scan. It could be used for everything, simpler safer and more secure.