Voting and photo ID

[SpringTime]

Quickly searched EDF and didn't see a thread solely dedicated to this...

I just received an email to petition the government/Commons on the issue of requiring photo ID in order to register to vote. Being a snotty and narrow-minded sod who goes abroad now and again, and drives a car, the petition reminded me that we don't all live the same way.

Is this a bad idea? Are National ID cards a good idea? Is fraud really such a problem in UK voting?

Here's the petition:

https://www.change.org/p/british-government-stop-government-plans-for-voter-id

[ianr]

There's a research briefing at https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-9187/.

[TheCat]

There was quite a lively discussion on this issue on the 'Hartlepool' thread a few months ago....starts on page 3 and goes for a while....

[RichH]

I run into problems with not having photo ID increasingly often. My passport expired ages ago and, as I don't expect to travel abroad any time soon, I don't want to pay to renew it just for it to serve as photo ID. I have a paper driving licence which is valid for longer than the photo version would be so I don't want one of those either. I thought about getting the national ID card only to discover that the scheme was scrapped a decade ago. I'd like that scheme to be re-introduced but I guess it was too expensive and no doubt with all sorts of conspiracy theories surrounding it at the time, uptake was very low.

[JohnL]

Theres this https://www.citizencard.com/

[RichH]

Thanks @JohnL, I'd not heard of those. Perhaps because I'm just a little bit older than their main target age groups :) These don't appear to cover every possible use (eg. some financial institutions don't list them as acceptable proof of ID) but they could be handy for day-to-day requirements.

[Dogkennelhillbilly]

It's a solution looking for a problem. You'd still end up eg taking two pieces of ID to open a bank account and prove your address unless you want to reregister with the police/someone else every time you move house.

We already have government issued ID for citizens - passports. The government issued ID for noncitizen residents is Biometric Residence Permits - and no-one knows wtf to do with them, and you can't use them to cross the border.

[SpringTime]

Most of us have passports but they're 75 quid, aren't they? Not everyone is so flush.

[Dogkennelhillbilly]

ID cards wouldn't be free: either you'd pay for them at point of issue or you'd pay for them through tax. Neither is attractive.

[OutOfFocus]

I assume an ID Card would be cheaper tomake than a passport

[alex_b]

OutOfFocus Wrote:

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> I assume an ID Card would be cheaper tomake than a

> passport

Not significantly, if you put the same effort into the identity verification/anti-fraud process and use the same systems. Of course it all comes down to the specs. From memory when ID cards were being considered under the last Labour government there was going to be about a ?20 difference between an ID card only or an ID and a passport.

[Dogkennelhillbilly]

OutOfFocus Wrote:

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> I assume an ID Card would be cheaper tomake than a

> passport

It's ?161-800 to get a new Biometric Residence Permit, which is basically an ID card for immigrants. (This is not a visa application fee). Nothing is cheap when it gets outsourced to wankers like Sopra Steria, Capita, G4S...

https://www.gov.uk/biometric-residence-permits/replace-visa-brp