Many young voters in Bury may well get a shock when they turn up to vote on May 4th’s local election day. Why? Because they won’t have realised that their travel card photos or university ID photos do not meet the government’s requirements.
According to a report in last Sunday’s Observer, (The Observer’s View on the government’s pointless Voter ID scheme, 26/2/2023) the main reason for this change is to combat voter fraud. All very laudable if it weren’t for the fact that voter crime is as rare as catching a glimpse of the Yeti in the Pennines.
Postal voting scams on the other hand, have presented problems in recent years and so the government piloted two voter ID schemes in 2018 and 2019, which brings us to the additional layer of bureaucracy that is now being introduced, but without any transitional period.
Would be voters, without adequate photo ID, are now encouraged to take up the Voter Authority Certificate. Since the door to this new level of bureaucracy was flung open last month, fewer than 21,000 people have requested the new certificate.
More worryingly, according to the Government’s own research, 4% of all voters do not have a form of photo ID. This is some 2.1 million people.
Make sure your photo ID is in order for May 4th’s elections. More importantly, make sure all those you know are eligible to vote in person are aware of the new changes.
