Tories announce end to universal suffrage

[Guy Profumo]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-38440934

Bunch. Of. Cunts.

[Sean of the Shed]

Tories announce end to universal suffrage

At the referendum vote I didn't get a voter registration card so I walked in to the polling station and mentioned this. They just asked my address and when I asked if they wanted to see some ID they said it didn't matter, which rather took me aback.
This is a whole other thing though. By making it compulsory to show ID they are targeting the poor more isolated voter and deterring them from having a say in elections.

[Calvert]

Tories announce end to universal suffrage

I assumed it was already UK wide policy to produce ID before voting as we've had it here for years in a bid to tackle the Vote Early, Vote Often culture.
They'll be shooting plastic bullets and deploying water cannon next..

If you're motivated to vote it's not a biggie to bring along ID..The real issue is persuading the disenfranchised that their vote might actually do some good, but that's a different argument entirely.

[Sean of the Shed]

Tories announce end to universal suffrage

It depends on what ID is demanded. Photo ID is not compulsory in the UK, and there are a lot of people in poorer areas who do not have a passport or driving licence.

[ursus arctos]

Tories announce end to universal suffrage

That is exactly the point, and why this is a favourite tactic of US Republicans determined to suppress the vote of poorer people and people of colour.

[Calvert]

Tories announce end to universal suffrage

I get that. Same here, but I'm saying it's not necessarily the lack of photographic ID which will discourage the poorest from voting. There are other reasons.
I voted for the first time in my life in the EU Referendum. I had ID for all previous elections/ referenda but through a combination of apathy, dismay at the system/ candidates or simply working long hours, I just never got around to it.
Like I said, it's been mandatory to produce photographic ID to vote here for years . Maybe you just become accustomed to it. Same with driving licences. I believe England introduced the photographic section well after it was law here.

[Nocturnal Submission]

Tories announce end to universal suffrage

Utility bills are being considered as proof of identity. If the authorities are going down that route they'll presumably also consider Tax Credit/Universal Credit documentation too, so the less privileged members of society shouldn't be adversely affected by any changes.

[delicatemoth]

Tories announce end to universal suffrage

As reported this will disenfranchise me. Photo ID? That costs money (passports are super expensive, driving licenses are for people who drive and probably also expensive). I suspect that being trans may bring additional complications in obtaining it. I have my last passport somewhere but it is in a different name and the picture does not look like me.

"This was disputed on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme by Chris Skidmore, the minister for the constitution, who said he did not agree that asking people to verify their identity would hit levels of electoral participation.

He said the plans would be trialled in 18 areas during the local elections in 2018 to see whether it was best for people to be asked for proof of address, such as utility bills, or driving licences and passports."


I haven't lived anywhere I received utility bills for 13 years. I didn't have an address for nearly 3 of those years.

The absence of these sorts of barriers is the main reason I usually manage to vote - even then I missed the last general election because I was too paranoid to register.

[Guy Profumo]

Tories announce end to universal suffrage

Calvert wrote: I assumed it was already UK wide policy to produce ID before voting as we've had it here for years in a bid to tackle the Vote Early, Vote Often culture.
They'll be shooting plastic bullets and deploying water cannon next..

If you're motivated to vote it's not a biggie to bring along ID..The real issue is persuading the disenfranchised that their vote might actually do some good, but that's a different argument entirely.

Utter tosh.

Not everyone has a driving licence or a passport.

[Satchmo Distel]

Tories announce end to universal suffrage

It disenfranchises the young, who do not yet drive and are living with parents or in shared accommodation. I would not have been able to vote until I was in my mid-20s at least.

Maybe if they included NI cards it might work (which I got at 16)

[caja-dglh]

Tories announce end to universal suffrage

Calvert wrote: I get that. Same here, but I'm saying it's not necessarily the lack of photographic ID which will discourage the poorest from voting.

There is a big difference between discouraging and preventing.

[Guy Profumo]

Tories announce end to universal suffrage

Satchmo Distel wrote: It disenfranchises the young, who do not yet drive and are living with parents or in shared accommodation. I would not have been able to vote until I was in my mid-20s at least.

Maybe if they included NI cards it might work (which I got at 16)

Or just your voter registration card?

(which, as discussed above, isn't necessary either. It's the action of scum determined to gerrymander the vote and exclude political opponents from voting. )

[Calvert]

Tories announce end to universal suffrage

Utter tosh.

You should require ID to use a word like 'tosh'

Look, I'm not agreeing with it. Go fight someone else. I'm saying it's been par for the course here as far as I can remember but there were extreme circumstances.
The matter will soon be resolved when you can only vote using your Identity Card in a few years anyway.

[Lucy Waterman]

Tories announce end to universal suffrage

Chris Skidmore was in the year above me at uni, where he was best known for once drunkenly climbing the tower of the University Church of St Mary The Virgin and urinating onto passers-by below.

Plus ca change.

[Diable Rouge]

Tories announce end to universal suffrage

Calvert wrote: I assumed it was already UK wide policy to produce ID before voting as we've had it here for years in a bid to tackle the Vote Early, Vote Often culture.
They'll be shooting plastic bullets and deploying water cannon next..

If you're motivated to vote it's not a biggie to bring along ID..The real issue is persuading the disenfranchised that their vote might actually do some good, but that's a different argument entirely.

Similarly, voters in the Republic are advised to carry some form of photo ID with them, in case the polling card doesn't arrive on time, but once a person has the latter, you generally don't have to show your photo. As has been said, it would be worrying if such measures were used as an excuse for voter profiling, but it certainly hasn't been used in such a manner here.

[Calvert]

Tories announce end to universal suffrage

The mandatory photographic ID here includes a free Voter Identity Card.
Most people can't be arsed getting one, I imagine, so they use passport or driving licenses instead.

[NickSTFU]

Tories announce end to universal suffrage

This is one of those, on the one hand and other hand moments.

[Duncan Gardner]

Tories announce end to universal suffrage

I'm rather hoping that Lucy and co gave Skidmarks a wedgie at College, to see if he lived up to his nickname.

I'm with Calvert on this. The idea's typical over the top Tory cuntishness, but as flaws in the democratic system go it's probably not top rank (though points by DM and others taken).

I'm writing this from the electoral utopia of Macedon (not the former Yugo Republic but the estate known to Calvert and everyone else as Rathcoole).