Allowing veteran cards for voting is a positive step, but it’s not enough

Author:
Gen Sandle, Digital Associate

Posted on the 17th October 2024

We have long argued that the list of acceptable forms of voter ID is extremely limited. So it is good news that the Government have announced that they’ll be expanding the list to include HM Armed Forces Veteran Cards. This change will be made in time for 2025 local elections in May.

After veterans were shamefully turned away from polling stations in elections this year because they only had Veteran’s cards on them, this is a very welcome change. 

But it’s not just veterans who have been impacted by the introduction of voter ID: the Electoral Commission has found that a staggering 16,000 people were blocked from voting in the 2024 general election. 

The truth is, the Government could be doing so much more. In an ideal world, they’d scrap the totally unnecessary voter ID policy altogether. But they could also take a massive step in the right direction by expanding the list of acceptable ID forms. 

Below are a number of examples of things the Government could – and should – do to ensure that nobody is unfairly denied a say the next time an election comes around. 

Expanding the list of ID forms 

In order to ensure that nobody is unfairly denied a say in our elections, the Government should expand the forms of acceptable ID, from the initial restrictive list. 

Veteran Cards should just be the start: it’s time for the Government to add the types of ID that most of us carry on us already – like bank cards. In the Conservatives’ 2016 Pickles Review, when voter ID was first raised as a possibility, bank cards were considered as a possible form of ID. But bizarrely, they didn’t make the cut.   

Another option that was trialed, but didn’t make the final cut, was poll cards.  There would be no additional cost as these are already printed by the government, and would prove the voter has access to the place they are registered.  

The government could also balance out some of the iniquities of the old restrictive list, allowing 18+ Oyster Cards rather than just 60+ cards for example. It’s unclear why police warrant cards are not acceptable voter ID either. These additional forms of ID would be a welcome addition to the list of acceptable forms of voter ID. 

 Vouching 

The Government could also learn from abroad and allow ‘vouching’. 

During the passage of the Elections Act into law, along with academics, we suggested that a voter should be able to vouch for another’s identity. A record could then be kept of who vouched for whom. 

Professor Toby James of  the Electoral Integrity Project  agreed that a system of voter ID would be fairer if you could vouch for your partner if you had ID, but your partner lacked theirs. 

This was suggested as an amendment at the Bill’s Committee Stage in the Commons, but it was unfortunately rejected by the last Government. 

The government shouldn’t stop at veterans’ ID 

As it stands, the current list of acceptable voter ID is pitifully, and worryingly, limited. There is no justification for such a restrictive list. Our voter ID scheme is currently stricter than that of any US state, where rules are frequently labelled as voter suppression 

We welcome today’s expansion of voter ID to include HM Armed Forces Veteran Cards. But the Government must not stop the expansion there. 

Do you think that voter ID needs to be scrapped? Add your name. 

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