Asked by
To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of
the impact of voter ID rules on people’s ability to vote, and
what plans they have to review these rules before the next
general election.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for
Levelling Up, Housing & Communities () (Con)
My Lords, we are encouraged by the first rollout of voter
identification and are confident that the vast majority of voters
will have cast their vote successfully based on sector feedback
and our own observations on the day. As set out in legislation,
we will be conducting an evaluation of the implementation of
voter identification at the May polls and intend to publish the
report no later than November this year.
(GP)
I am quite surprised at that Answer, because initial reports
suggest that thousands, if not tens of thousands, of people were
not able to cast their votes. Of course, the really disturbing
thing is that a former member of the Government—still a Member of
the other place, recently knighted, Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg—said at
the National Conservatism Conference in Westminster last
Monday:
“Parties that try and gerrymander end up finding their clever
scheme comes back to bite them, as dare I say we found by
insisting on voter ID for elections”.
So a member of the Minister’s own party has called it
“gerrymandering”.
(Con)
The successful introduction of voter identification at May’s
elections was to ensure the future integrity of our voting
system. Comments from elsewhere do not reflect the reality of the
reason for or the administration of that change. The
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Local Government and
Building Safety, , made the Government’s position absolutely clear in
a letter responding to a point of order raised in the House of
Commons on 16 May. This letter has been deposited in the House of
Commons Library.
(Con)
My Lords, several years ago I was concerned in a case involving
allegedly forged postal votes. In the course of that time it
became clear to me that many heads of family in some communities
were providing postal votes that were, in my eyes, highly
questionable. I very much hope that the Government are still
keeping the matter under review.
(Con)
I assure my noble friend that voter identification is just one of
a series of measures within the Elections Act that are aimed at
tackling voter fraud and ensuring the future security of our
electoral system. Further changes will be delivered later this
year to introduce sensible safeguards against the abuse of absent
voting, clamping down on the practice of postal vote harvesting
and tightening the rules around postal and proxy votes.
of Ullock (Lab)
My Lords, according to the Electoral Commission, 1.2% of people
who attended a polling station at this year’s local elections
were turned away because they lacked photo ID. We are not talking
about ID but photographic ID; that is the concern. If the next
general election reflects the turnout of 2019, this could mean
that 380,000 voters are sent home and prevented from exercising
their right. On this basis, can the Minister really say that
these photographic voter ID requirements, as they stand, are fit
to be applied at the next general election?
(Con)
As I have said, we are undertaking a review. It is essential
that, before we make claims such as we are hearing from the other
side, we understand how the policy has operated in practice, what
has gone wrong and where there are any areas for improvement in
the future. Of course, where there are lessons to be learned, we
will do so and we will change at the point of that evaluation. We
are already gathering evidence as a Government. Also, the
Electoral Commission is conducting extensive evaluation; we
expect its initial findings later this month and a full report in
September. I suggest that the whole House waits until we get that
full evaluation before we start throwing stones.
(Con)
My Lords—
(LD)
My Lords—
(Con)
My Lords, it is the turn of the Liberal Democrats.
(LD)
My Lords, we already have a problem with fewer young people
turning out to vote than others. The clear implication of what
said was that this was
intended to discourage more young people from voting, but it
ended up discouraging some older people from voting as well.
Would not one of the easiest things be to expand the number of
possible means of identification that young people could present
when voting, and make it clear that that is being relaxed?
(Con)
We will look at the evidence of that. We have said we that we
will look at other forms of identification when we have the
evidence to do so; that is what the Government will do.
Baroness O’Neill of Bengarve (CB)
Do the Government have any intention of specifying what sort of
ID is acceptable? I decided to test this out in the recent local
elections. I took my House of Lords pass; it has a photograph, as
we all know, but it was not acceptable. Luckily, in my pocket I
also had a passport, so I was able to vote. This should not be
left unclear.
(Con)
The returning officers have a clear list of acceptable forms of
photo identification that they use. They have been fully trained
on those. As I have said, we will look at other methods of photo
ID and get the evidence to say when something is particularly
useful. ID is changing all the time, but we have to ensure that
it is secure ID that is being used in a polling station.
(Con)
My Lords, there is plenty of anecdotal evidence in London and,
indeed, councillors have reported cases of voter fraud to the
police in previous elections and been ignored. Can we have an
assurance that there is going to be proper evaluation,
particularly in some of the London boroughs where this evidence
exists?
(Con)
We have made it very clear in the legislation that will be doing
a review, not only after this general election but after the next
two to ensure that the voter identification system we are putting
in place is right, is correct and is not disenfranchising any
voters from electing.
(Non-Afl)
My Lords, does the noble Baroness agree that this Question would
not be relevant if the introduction of biometric ID cards by the
last Labour Government had not been opposed by the party
opposite? Does she also agree that such a measure would also have
addressed the scourge of criminal identity theft that blights our
country as fraud offences go through the roof?
(Con)
A national identification card is a totally different subject; it
is much wider and further than this. That debate is perhaps for
another day.
(Lab)
My Lords, the integrity of our electoral system is important. In
the light of what the Minister has told the House about the
Government’s review, will she now undertake in advance to raise
with her noble friend the Leader of the House that we should have
an opportunity to debate that review in government time in the
autumn?
(Con)
I do believe that it was agreed in the legislation that when the
review came out it would be discussed by both Houses. If that is
not correct, I will correct it in a letter in the Library—but I
am pretty sure that that is what was agreed.
(DUP)
My Lords, whenever photographic ID was introduced for elections
in Northern Ireland, it was supported by all parties and all
Members in both Houses of Parliament. Why should it be different
for any other region of the United Kingdom?
(Con)
We took the good practice from Northern Ireland that has been in
place for 20 years and we thought that it was correct and right
for the integrity of our democratic system to bring it across the
whole of the United Kingdom.
(Con)
My Lords, I welcome the comment that my noble friend made in
relation to the Electoral Commission report, which is due in the
next few days, but is she aware of the Democracy Volunteers
report, already published, which would appear to indicate
deficiencies in terms of communications and publicity,
particularly with the ethnic communities, and also, as indicated
previously, that certain returning officers did not have adequate
information as to what photo ID was acceptable at polling
stations?
(Con)
I am certainly well aware of that report and we will take into
account any comments made and any evidence in it. We will also be
doing quite a lot of talking to people who went into those
polling stations and taking their views as we move through the
review. What I have to say is that some local authorities were
exceptional at reaching out to their communities in many
different ways in order to ensure that people had full access to
their polling stations We need to use that best practice across
the whole of the local government sector.
