My freedom pass (it's a travel pass . I don't know what they're called outside London)has my photo on it. The council has a copy of my photo and other details I must have given to get the pass. I'm sure that pass would work for voter ID too.
This thread has really taken off since my last read.
Way upthread someone asked what had changed to make ID needed. Well off the top of my head they're a lot stricter with financial matters. Banks, lawyers, estate agents just to name three areas with legal duties to check formal ID because of money laundering reasons. They can only take certain forms of ID. I only just had two that I needed. An ID card would make it easier to comply.
As more and more illegality is fought you'll see more ID checks needed. It's going to happen.
When my Granddaughter went to an interview for a holiday job she was required to take her passport and yet when her sister broke her leg skiing and went to casualty the NHS had no record of her existence, her mother said "that's strange she was born in this hospital".
@barry island a company can be charged a huge fine if they employ someone who isn’t entitled to work in the UK … that’s why the passport has to be shown.
However although your granddaughter was born in that hospital she wouldn’t have been known by her name there … her name wouldn’t have been registered yet … they would have her down as ‘Baby and her mother’s surname … female’.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I remember some years back,you had to take your voting card with you. There was a lot of cases of fraud a few years back, students were voting in the uni area AND their home towns,also saw a program where they boasted of lending their card to friends. I had to have several picture IDs at the Hospital,the one on the lanyard, another to access the PCs,and a car park pass.
I believe if you have two homes in different voting areas, as many students do, you are allowed to vote twice in local elections but would have to travel between the two on polling day if you have not organised a postal vote. This option is not valid in general elections.
And I cannot see how lending your card to a friend would work. At the polling station your name is checked by the polling staff on entry. If the name has already been ticked the second person would not get to vote, but would possibly get prosecuted.
Regarding photo ID, I have just found this on the House of Commons website
”The types of ID required include passports, driving licences, PASS scheme and Blue Badge cards, and some travel passes. People without existing photo ID will be able to apply for a free voter card from their local council to use in the polling station. Research commissioned by the Government found 96% of respondents had suitable photo ID with a recognisable picture.”
Though asking for photo proof seems an over reaction given there is an incredibly small number of proven instances of impersonation fraud, on the other hand we do not, and possibly cannot, know how many unidentified instances of fraud take place. If you can get a free ID card, what is the issue? And if you want to argue that it is an obstacle in the way of voting, then it is an obstacle that is easily overcome. If you want to be part of our democratic system you have to get off your backside and go and vote. For a tiny number of people it will mean getting off their backsides twice and first getting an ID card.
I find it absolutely astonishing that at present, you can vote in the UK without presenting a polling card and ID of any form, photo or otherwise. I did so when living in the UK and more so now I’m resident in an EU country where it’s the norm.
If you can now apply for a free photo ID as @BenCotto has identified, that instantly removes any financial barrier and disenfrachises nobody.
As to the idea promulgated by what I suspect is a small minority that having to present ID to vote is somehow taking away some nebulous and entirely fictitious concept of ‘freedom’ - given all the other ways we already do so with abandon already documented above - well I find that as ridiculous as the conspiracy theorists that think the world is run by a cabal of jewish alien lizards. But obviously I’m a poor deluded sheep, as the world really is run by a cabal of jewish alien lizards.
As far as I can tell, the UK government is not proposing that you have to always carry photo ID, just for voting. Slippery slope I hear some cry! Well, here, the slope has well and truly slipped. You must carry your driver’s licence whenever you drive and additionally produce your national ID photo card or passport, if requested. Yes there are some bumptious members of the Guardia Civil, but it is also a significant aid to fighting crime.
To receive healthcare you must present your social security card. It is recommended that you always carry it, so if you have an accident the health service can swipe it and instantly access your medical history, blood type, allergies and current medication you are taking. This may well save your life.
All three of these cards are credit-card sized and not a burden to carry in your wallet or purse. This does not make me feel less ‘free’, it makes me feel safer. Call me a sheep if you will, I don’t care. In fact, just call me Shawn.
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I'm sure that pass would work for voter ID too.
Way upthread someone asked what had changed to make ID needed. Well off the top of my head they're a lot stricter with financial matters. Banks, lawyers, estate agents just to name three areas with legal duties to check formal ID because of money laundering reasons. They can only take certain forms of ID. I only just had two that I needed. An ID card would make it easier to comply.
As more and more illegality is fought you'll see more ID checks needed. It's going to happen.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
And I cannot see how lending your card to a friend would work. At the polling station your name is checked by the polling staff on entry. If the name has already been ticked the second person would not get to vote, but would possibly get prosecuted.
Regarding photo ID, I have just found this on the House of Commons website
”The types of ID required include passports, driving licences, PASS scheme and Blue Badge cards, and some travel passes. People without existing photo ID will be able to apply for a free voter card from their local council to use in the polling station. Research commissioned by the Government found 96% of respondents had suitable photo ID with a recognisable picture.”
Though asking for photo proof seems an over reaction given there is an incredibly small number of proven instances of impersonation fraud, on the other hand we do not, and possibly cannot, know how many unidentified instances of fraud take place. If you can get a free ID card, what is the issue? And if you want to argue that it is an obstacle in the way of voting, then it is an obstacle that is easily overcome. If you want to be part of our democratic system you have to get off your backside and go and vote. For a tiny number of people it will mean getting off their backsides twice and first getting an ID card.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
That's the real problem nowadays.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
If you can now apply for a free photo ID as @BenCotto has identified, that instantly removes any financial barrier and disenfrachises nobody.
As to the idea promulgated by what I suspect is a small minority that having to present ID to vote is somehow taking away some nebulous and entirely fictitious concept of ‘freedom’ - given all the other ways we already do so with abandon already documented above - well I find that as ridiculous as the conspiracy theorists that think the world is run by a cabal of jewish alien lizards. But obviously I’m a poor deluded sheep, as the world really is run by a cabal of jewish alien lizards.
As far as I can tell, the UK government is not proposing that you have to always carry photo ID, just for voting. Slippery slope I hear some cry! Well, here, the slope has well and truly slipped. You must carry your driver’s licence whenever you drive and additionally produce your national ID photo card or passport, if requested. Yes there are some bumptious members of the Guardia Civil, but it is also a significant aid to fighting crime.
To receive healthcare you must present your social security card. It is recommended that you always carry it, so if you have an accident the health service can swipe it and instantly access your medical history, blood type, allergies and current medication you are taking. This may well save your life.
All three of these cards are credit-card sized and not a burden to carry in your wallet or purse. This does not make me feel less ‘free’, it makes me feel safer. Call me a sheep if you will, I don’t care. In fact, just call me Shawn.