The Tories’ voter ID rules are anti-democratic. Labour must scrap them
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Version 0 of 1. Readers respond to reports that as many as 400,000 people may have been prevented from voting last week The news that voter ID rules may have stopped 400,000 taking part in the general election (Report, 8 July) shows that fears that the Tories’ electoral reforms would damage democracy were well founded. The Johnson administration introduced extreme photo ID requirements, stripped the Electoral Commission of its independence and designed electoral boundaries around a register missing millions of eligible citizens. Our system saw democratic backsliding. The new government could begin to build a more inclusive democracy. It could repeal parts of the Elections Act, consolidate electoral law and introduce new innovations such as automatic voter registration. A new Representation of the People Act to strengthen elections for the 21st century is needed. The Electoral Integrity Project has a blueprint for reforms that were proposed by academics and civil society groups in the last parliament. There is now an opportunity to take them forward.Prof Toby S JamesUniversity of East Anglia; co-director, Electoral Integrity Project My octogenarian grandmother was a Labour councillor in the 1990s. She now has dementia, but still follows politics keenly, and was looking forward to voting in person as she always has done. I phoned her on the morning of election day to remind her of the ID requirements, and she reassured me that she had her passport. Walking is very difficult for her, but she made it to the polling station. When she was asked for ID, she became confused and forgot that she had it. She discovered it in her handbag as soon as she got home. Disfranchisement of older people, disabled people and those from ethnic minority backgrounds was always so obviously inevitable with this heavy-handed requirement. It saddens me that my principled, passionate grandma was one of a possible 400,000 people who were denied the right to vote last week. Labour should scrap the rule.Name and address supplied One likely reason for the low voter turnout for the UK general election is likely to be that it was the first in which voter ID was required. Moreover, as the allowed forms of ID were skewed towards older voters, this further disfranchised younger voters – I know several who did not have the necessary documents. Perhaps voter ID should be dropped and voting made compulsory? Michael SymondsSutton Bonington, Nottinghamshire Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section. |