4 ms·

In the context of the UK, I've never heard a good argument against Voter ID.

earthbee 5y ago
How about not only there being a lack of evidence showing significant election fraud in the UK but there's also positive evidence there is no significant election fraud, and that there are hundreds of thousands of people in the UK who have the right to vote but cannot get ID and adding the extra hurdles and steps to allow these people to vote anyway will discourage at least some from voting? And that this could potentially unfairly affect the results of elections, which is exactly the problem that voter ID is supposed to prevent
- CodeGlitch 5y ago
  > How about not only there being a lack of evidence Isn't this a chicken and egg problem? Without voter ID we don't know whether fraud has taken place or not. > there are hundreds of thousands of people in the UK who have the right to vote but cannot get ID That is a wider problem that should be fixed. Agreed that in the current state it would cause friction for people to vote.
  - earthbee 5y ago
    > Isn't this a chicken and egg problem? Without voter ID we don't know whether fraud has taken place or not. No, they keep a track of who has turned up to vote, if you are putting extra votes in or voting in someone else's name then either the number of votes and number of voters wont tally or you'll start seeing a significant number of people who have voted twice, once from the genuine voter and once the person who was fraudulently voting in someone else's name.
- davidhbolton 5y ago
  Well there was the well publicised case of Luther Rahman, the Tower Hamlets Mayor. See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-32428648 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-32428648 But I'm more inclined to suspect postal fraud. There was talk of students voting twice but whether that was a big thing is unknown. But clearly there has been some level of election fraud going on.
  - throwaway8689 5y ago
    Lutfur not Luther. I was once encouraged by a canvasser to vote in my home town and where I was studying because 'they'll never know'.
bengale 5y ago
I've yet to hear a good argument for them.
sys_64738 5y ago
What training do those working in polling stations have to decide if your Voter ID matches the presenter? What is your recourse when you're turned away?
- CodeGlitch 5y ago
  These sound like manageable problems, do they not?
  - sys_64738 5y ago
    No.
pjc50 5y ago
There's no national ID system to base it off? The politics is odd; voters don't want mandatory ID cards, but they seem comfortable with legally requiring ID to rent or buy a house, have a job, have a bank account, and now voting.

How about not only there being a lack of evidence showing significant election fraud in the UK but there's also positive evidence there is no significant election fraud, and that there are hundreds of thousands of people in the UK who have the right to vote but cannot get ID and adding the extra hurdles and steps to allow these people to vote anyway will discourage at least some from voting? And that this could potentially unfairly affect the results of elections, which is exactly the problem that voter ID is supposed to prevent

CodeGlitch 5y ago
> How about not only there being a lack of evidence Isn't this a chicken and egg problem? Without voter ID we don't know whether fraud has taken place or not. > there are hundreds of thousands of people in the UK who have the right to vote but cannot get ID That is a wider problem that should be fixed. Agreed that in the current state it would cause friction for people to vote.
- earthbee 5y ago
  > Isn't this a chicken and egg problem? Without voter ID we don't know whether fraud has taken place or not. No, they keep a track of who has turned up to vote, if you are putting extra votes in or voting in someone else's name then either the number of votes and number of voters wont tally or you'll start seeing a significant number of people who have voted twice, once from the genuine voter and once the person who was fraudulently voting in someone else's name.
davidhbolton 5y ago
Well there was the well publicised case of Luther Rahman, the Tower Hamlets Mayor. See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-32428648 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-32428648 But I'm more inclined to suspect postal fraud. There was talk of students voting twice but whether that was a big thing is unknown. But clearly there has been some level of election fraud going on.
- throwaway8689 5y ago
  Lutfur not Luther. I was once encouraged by a canvasser to vote in my home town and where I was studying because 'they'll never know'.

bengale 5y ago

I've yet to hear a good argument for them.

sys_64738 5y ago

What training do those working in polling stations have to decide if your Voter ID matches the presenter? What is your recourse when you're turned away?

CodeGlitch 5y ago
These sound like manageable problems, do they not?
- sys_64738 5y ago
  No.

pjc50 5y ago

There's no national ID system to base it off? The politics is odd; voters don't want mandatory ID cards, but they seem comfortable with legally requiring ID to rent or buy a house, have a job, have a bank account, and now voting.