Next week, the House of Lords will vote on terrifying legislation that would introduce mandatory ID to vote in elections.
This deeply regressive measure, which has been condemned across the political spectrum, could disenfranchise two million people across the country simply because they do not possess photo ID. The incidence of electoral fraud in the UK is vanishingly small, and voters correctly recognise that our elections are safe from fraud and abuse.
At the same time we know – not least from examples in the US – that voter ID will lock out the most marginalised from our democracy, preventing those most in need of a voice from having their say. It not only tackles a problem that doesn’t exist, but also comes at a huge expense to the taxpayer – an estimated £120m.
