Whether a poll card with barcode, or voters having to show photographic ID, the Government should exercise extreme caution when deciding whether to proceed with introducing voter ID requirements, given the lack of robust evidence as to their value for money. That’s according to a report by the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee (PACAC). While voter confidence is essential, more pilot studies are needed to determine whether voter ID is an effective method of winning it.
The Government proposed in the Queen’s Speech 2019 an electoral offence of intimidation against candidates or campaigners during an electoral period; that’s welcomed by the committee of MPs. An interim report published by the Law Commission in 2016 made recommendations designed to consolidate electoral law and make it fit for purpose, but to date little progress has been made, says PACAC; hence its report.
According to the report, the 2019 pilot schemes that required voters showing their identity included the provision of free, locally issued ID available from their local council, if electors did not have the required form of ID. If such rules became law, it would not be before 2022, the report suggested.
The chair of the committee, Sir Bernard Jenkin the senior Conservative MP, said: “As voters prepare to head to the polls, they ought to do so with full confidence that the system underpinning our democracy is robust, fit for purpose, and properly safeguarded against attempts to subvert it.”
The MPs found that electoral law is so complicated that even professional party compliance teams find it difficult to adhere to with complete confidence. For the report in full visit https://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/public-administration-and-constitutional-affairs-committee/.
Comment
Cat Smith, Labour’s Shadow Minister for Voter Engagement, said: “This damming report highlights the wilful neglect of this government towards our electoral system. Labour has consistently called on the government to reform our 19th century electoral laws, but the government has done nothing to address this.
“Instead the Tories have focused on making it harder for people to vote through discriminatory voter ID requirements and scaremongered about the scale of electoral fraud taking place in this country.”
