ID to prevent electoral fraud

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

This ongoing problem has again been addressed by Eric Pickles.

Predictably, on the BBC News today, the interviewer suggested to Pickles that the people who would be most affected by this are the poorest people who do not have driving licences or passports.

We all know, of course, to whom she was referring, but PC rules prevent a direct statement.

Muslim women are without doubt the people who are being used in this way by their masters - their men. They are being told for whom to vote for obvious reasons and, because they are allowed to keep their faces covered, such fraud is particularly easy. The excuse that they do not possess driving licenses or any photographic ID is the ideal method of perpetuating this process as they are not permitted to do so by their men.

I suspect that even if they were forced to carry photographic ID, it would like as not be ineffective as they would simply refuse to show their faces. Along the same lines, I'd be interested to know whether they are obliged to show their faces at border controls when entering the country.

Re: ID to prevent electoral fraud

It's a step in the right direction but let us not forget that the biggest cause of election fraud is the postal vote where one member of a household (usually the patriarch) takes it upon himself to use everyone else's vote in the household to vote the same as him. Postal voting should only be allowed for those who genuinely can't get out of their house to vote due to illness or some other valid reason. Postal voting because you can't be arsed getting to the polling station should be stopped.

Re: ID to prevent electoral fraud

Unless they accept a utility bill as proof of ID that'll be me unable to vote then.
I've no passport or driving licence. It's bad enough proving who I am already.

Re: ID to prevent electoral fraud

Whilst I agree its a good idea I've no passport and my driving licence has no picture on it so they won't take that. More and more I think an identity card is a good idea.

Re: ID to prevent electoral fraud

I wouldn't mind one .... but the last time the idea was floated wasn't it cost each person about £60 to get themselves one?

Re: ID to prevent electoral fraud

Perhaps a national insurance card ? That's free and lasts a life time.

Re: ID to prevent electoral fraud

I believe this fraud is not simply in one particular area of the population.. Think of the number of students who frequently move house/flat, another moves in to take their place , they have moved into another property that has only just been vacated. The postal votes if applied for must be open to anyone who lives in a particular house at any given time. Students are not the fastest at updating their information , as we all know !

Then there are the Care Homes. Postal votes for all the inmates, many of whom can't even hold a pen ,let alone use it. Who puts the X in their box ? Is it binned or is it filled in by a member of staff ?

Yes, we should have ID and postal votes should be scrapped. That idea was bound to be open to fraud from the beginning.

Re: ID to prevent electoral fraud

Here in NI we HAVE to show photographic ID to vote

If we don't have a driving liciense , passport, bus pass etc, we apply for a voting card which is free

Re: ID to prevent electoral fraud

A birth and marriage certificate should be enough to prove your identity, and could be checked easily enough.

Re: ID to prevent electoral fraud

Does the free voting card include a photograph? If so, there is the answer.

I hear that there are all sorts of problems caused by people not having appropriate documentation, and I can understand that there must be many perfectly honest people who would experience such problems.

I have long been in favour of identification cards, not just for voting but to prove one's identity in many situations. Opponents to the idea claim that it is a breach of human rights, but I can see no real objection if you have nothing to hide. Even ex-criminals could obtain identification cards: their identity could easily be proven by the police or courts.