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I can’t agree with Andy Beckett’s condemnation of voter ID (After this week’s botched experiment, see Voter ID for what it is: Tory scam to steal election, May 3). The basic principle of voter ID is not objectionable: we all agree that Europe has far more complex political systems and mature political cultures than Britain, and voter ID laws are common across Europe. France, Germany, Finland, the Netherlands, Sweden and Italy require their voters to present ID when they vote. Are all these EU members also enemies of democracy?
It’s also hard to counter claims that the progressive vote was suppressed with the fact that the Conservative vote collapsed and Labor – and left politics in general – were hugely successful last week. Apparently, the hypothetical fears that the progressive vote would be limited just didn’t pan out in reality.
The anecdotes about people being turned away for lack of ID are mostly just a handful of sleepy Tories like Boris Johnson forgetting their own laws, which doesn’t make for a conspiracy to rig an election.
Voter ID is easy to implement and strengthens confidence in our election security. It obviously works well and should stay.
Robert Fraser
Salford, Lancashire
Andy Beckett is right when he points out “at least 2 million Britons” who do not have “any acceptable voter ID”. As a local election candidate on Thursday to keep my seat of Latchford West in Warrington (which I did) I spoke to a handful of people on election day who were registered to vote but didn’t have the correct photo ID and so didn’t turn out to vote. Given that I only spoke to a small percentage of our voters on Election Day, it’s hard to know exactly how many other people were affected.
Not everyone is politically engaged enough to plan ahead – voting can be a spur-of-the-moment decision on the day – but not every person is denied the right to vote, and it won’t be part of official protocol.
Maureen McLaughlin
Warrington, Cheshire
As expected, Marina Hyde’s article (Did we really expect the Tory MPs who fought for the voter ID rules to follow them? Don’t be funny, May 3rd) brilliantly illuminates a shockingly silly yet alarmingly mean reality and points the finger at the clowns who are hoisted by their own petard. I imagine Boris Johnson and Tom Hunt won’t forget their IDs for the upcoming general election.
But taking a step back, I don’t see the problem Brits have with carrying a national ID. Most countries of the European Economic Area (Denmark and Ireland are the exceptions) issue national identity cards which have the advantage for us of being accepted for cross-border travel – a luxury denied to Brexit Britain. Here in France, our national identity card is an absolute identifier; it carries more weight than a passport. No one feels that their liberties are being violated or that they are being spied on by the state.
If everyone carried such a card in Britain, it would solve the issue of proof of identity for voters at polling stations. Carrying it is no more difficult than carrying a bank card. This is pointless.
Nigel Evans
Paris, France
Regarding Marina Hyde’s article, The Electoral Commission recommended voter id in 2014
Peter Bottomley
Worthing, West Sussex
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