The government is going to start a pilot where voters in some parts of England will be asked to provide ID to confirm their address in order to vote. www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-38440934
Currently (except for Northern Iteland) it is unlawful for polling station staff to request ID from voters (they are allowed to ask a set of prescribed questions to determine the identity of a voter, to which anyone can lie in response). Now, I don't have a problem with this in principle (most democracies do require IDto vote). However the approvided forms of ID will a passport, a driver's licence or a utility bill. A passport doesn't not constitute a proof of address, and anyone with a computer and a word processing programme can knock up a convincing fake electricity bill in a matter of minutes. Furthermore, not everyone has a passport or driver's licence, and utility bills will not list everyone eligible to vote in the property.
So clearly this is another poorly thought through piece of government policy... Or perhaps it's nothing more than meaningless gimmick designed to distract attention from other government failings?
Currently (except for Northern Iteland) it is unlawful for polling station staff to request ID from voters (they are allowed to ask a set of prescribed questions to determine the identity of a voter, to which anyone can lie in response). Now, I don't have a problem with this in principle (most democracies do require IDto vote). However the approvided forms of ID will a passport, a driver's licence or a utility bill. A passport doesn't not constitute a proof of address, and anyone with a computer and a word processing programme can knock up a convincing fake electricity bill in a matter of minutes. Furthermore, not everyone has a passport or driver's licence, and utility bills will not list everyone eligible to vote in the property.
So clearly this is another poorly thought through piece of government policy... Or perhaps it's nothing more than meaningless gimmick designed to distract attention from other government failings?