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Voting Restrictions

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  • PalustrisPalustris Posts: 4,307
    My wife has no Driver's Licence. Her eyes preclude her from driving. Neither of us have Passports since we have never bothered with holidays. and to be brutal I do not see what this has got to do with people who live in Europe with their own laws and practices.
    Sorry Obelyxx.
    My sister and her husband are in the same boat as is a disabled friend. They have all had to give up their licences for health reasons. Our very elderly neighbour is a non-driver too.
    There is no compunction for anyone to sign the petition, I just brought it to people's attention so that they do do as they saw fit.
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    I have no problem with providing ID to vote or for anything else (in fact I think it's a good idea) so I won't be voting. My driving license is so old that it doesn't have a photo so I can't use that, but I have a passport and if I decide not to renew it, I'll get the ID card that @BenCotto mentioned.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    @Palustris I'm still British and entitled to an opinion on British goings on.

    If everyone had an ID card it would include a photo for ease of identification.  In addition there is now a microchip which has your national security number for access to appropriate health care and benefits and your address.  This info can only be read with a special reader such as at hospitals, the police or social system. 

    What is handy is if, say, you have an accident there is a way to identify you and if there is a fire or devastating flood such as has been seen recently in Belgium and Germany the rescue services know how many people they're looking for.  

    I do wonder that the government thinks it can make such a change to voting rules without first making sure a suitable ID system is in place for those who can't get driving licenses or don't need passports but I do maintain that ID cards are good thing.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • LoxleyLoxley Posts: 5,698
    Obelixx said:
    I do wonder that the government thinks it can make such a change to voting rules without first making sure a suitable ID system is in place for those who can't get driving licenses or don't need passports but I do maintain that ID cards are good thing.
    I would imagine the govt has looked carefully at which demographics this will affect the most, and how they tend to vote. 
    "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour". 
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    Cynical @Loxley!!  But maybe right.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • Has anyone opened a new bank account recently? We had to take two different forms of ID to a local branch   not easy as they have closed so many local branches over the years. We needed one from one list and a second from a second list. Since we had moved house in the last month most of list 2 was not possible as no utility bill with current address on.  Not helped by us going paperless with utility bills. 

    Second list read photo ID. My licence is paper until I got the new one for new address. So I had to just passport.  I only had one option for ID  from each list.  Then we got there and found out the proof of ID given for our mortgage with the same bank meant this wasn't needed! 

    My point being that you need ID for so much these days that not to have one seems a bit like you're disenfranchised yourself from many aspects of modern life. So why not have a  robust ID for identification of right to vote at an poll station.  It's  always bothered me that you didn't need anything,  not even your poll card, for identification to vote. 

    I actually fully support the government's position. I'd even sign a petition to counter this one the OP highlighted.  I'm 

  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    While I do sympathise because yes - lots of people have no driving licence or passport [my mother never had either] I don't have a problem with a National ID card being made a compulsory item, but as said, we need that in place first.

    In many countries, when you drive, you have to carry your licence. I don't have a problem with that, in fact - I think we should adopt it here. It would save a lot of problems.

    If I want to collect something from B&Q, and many other outlets, I have to prove who I am - often with photo ID, or similar.
    If you want to go into nightclubs soon, you're going to need ID, re the pandemic. 

    If you're legit, what's the problem? 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • KT53KT53 Posts: 9,016
    Obelixx said:
    I agree.  ID cards are useful for so many things here and in Belgium and nobody bats an eyelid about producing them.  Prevents identity theft and all sorts of fraud.  It's a means of security, not an infringement of liberties.

    I don't believe anyone should vote without proving they're entitled to and that means showing ID.

    I don't understand the aversion to ID cards either.  The UK is one of very few countries where ID cards of some kind are not used/required.  There is the group who will claim anything and everything is an infringement of liberties, and I wasn't too keen on the idea of the cards carrying all sorts of information other than the basic personal details.
    From my point of view, the only people with anything to fear from having to provide ID are those up to no good.
  • JoeXJoeX Posts: 1,783
    I don't know why the British are so against having ID cards. We have them here in France and we need them to vote. I don't find it a problem. However, I think that the ID card for all should come before it's compulsory to have ID to vote. Then it's the same for everyone and doesn't discriminate.
    Because we are free.
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