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Voter ID in England led to racial and disability discrimination, report finds

⁨234⁩ ⁨likes⁩

Submitted ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨thehatfox@lemmy.world⁩ to ⁨unitedkingdom@feddit.uk⁩

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/sep/11/voter-id-in-england-led-to-racial-and-disability-discrimination-report-finds

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Comments

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  • Mex@feddit.uk ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    Exactly as everybody warned.

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    • throw4w4y5@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      this was always the plan, since minorities and disabled citizens in the tend not to vote conservative.

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  • Gazumi@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    Also affected the poorest communities. The health, wealth and representation gaps grew even wider that day.

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  • ReCursing@kbin.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    Yeah that was the plan

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  • SonnyVabitch@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    Works as intended then.

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  • Double_A@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    The authors found that “polling clerks are more likely to fail to compare a photo ID to the person presenting that document if the person is of a different ethnicity”.

    They also highlighted the case of Andrea Barratt, who is immunocompromised and was blocked from entering a polling booth after refusing to remove her mask for an identification check.

    WTF am I even reading? The problem is that some clerks are too stupid to identify non-white persons? And that someone else refused to take off the mask for 2 seconds to show her face!!?

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    • x4740N@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      Immunocomprimised may potentially be a big risk landing someone in hospital if they inhaled something from the atmosphere that a weakened Immune system could handle

      Sometimes that risk could end up being fatal

      Fyi not a doctor but most people excluding anti-vaxers know how immune systems work

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      • Double_A@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        If you are that endagered you would also not be casually walking around with a normal mask… They are not a 100% protection.

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    • RobotToaster@infosec.pub ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      more likely to fail to compare a photo ID to the person presenting that document if the person is of a different ethnicity

      Wait, are they saying if someone is a different ethnicity they are more likely to not check if the ID matches?

      That’s how it reads to me but I don’t think it’s the intention?

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      • LChitman@kbin.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        I think it means they're less likely to be able to identify that the ID photo is the same person as the one standing in front of them. It's the other-race effect, which I understand is quite natural for people of all races that have less experience with other races.

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    • Chariotwheel@kbin.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      It's kinda funny how this is the opposite problem of the usual "they all look the same!"

      I would probably unable to vote in the UK, given that I am not white and have IDs with various stages of hairlength and glasses. I look quite different in every photo.

      Btw. this doesn't seem to be much of an issue in Germany, so this looks more like growing pains with people who are not used to IDs.

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  • irmoz@reddthat.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    Colour me shocked

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  • omgitsaheadcrab@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    But surely you can’t just let people vote without identifying them?

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    • Oneeightnine@feddit.uk ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      I mean, for a start it’s a solution without a problem. We don’t really have an issue with voter fraud in the UK. All this has done is disenfranchise people who could previously vote without needing an often costly ID.

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      • Flax_vert@feddit.uk ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        Photo ID is free

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    • merridew@feddit.uk ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      You give your name & address at your local polling place, and it is checked off by a polling officer against the Electoral Roll. So yes, you could pretend to be someone else, but they would need to have not already voted. And you could only do it once per polling station, because you’ll be recognised by the polling officers. And for what?

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    • PunnyName@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      Name + DOB + address

      All you need them to give you for verification.

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    • AmberPrince@kbin.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      I can only speak for the US, and even then, only for my state of Illinois, but I had to provide my ID and proof of residency when I registered to vote. After that just my name, address, and signature were needed during the actual election.

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      • snooggums@kbin.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        In Kansas and it was like that when I started voting, then they introduced the ID requirement at some later point. Voter fraud was never an issue, but it did penalize minorities just like gerrymandering so it did what it set out to do.

        Republicans couldn't be happy with a majority, they want absolute control.

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  • Aux@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    I don’t understand what the problem is. A lot of countries require an ID to vote, that’s normal practice. Why is British public such snowflakes about it?

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    • darq@kbin.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      I don’t understand what the problem is.

      The fact that "Voter ID in England led to racial and disability discrimination".

      Maybe read the article?

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      • Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        He doesn’t consider that to be a problem.

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      • Aux@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        What discrimination? Every citizen should have a passport. That’s how it works in every developed country!

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    • PunnyName@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      It’s unnecessary

      Name + DOB + address

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      • SirQuackTheDuck@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        I’ve had voter ID for as long as I know, and I’ve been with my parents to vote very often (good educating on their part).

        It’s never been an issue, you bring your ID, your voter ticket (which gets sent to you by the govt) and cast a vote. No racism issues there.

        It seems the UK has somehow fucked it up.

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      • Double_A@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        How is that secure though? I could easily figure out that information for people of my gender and in my age range…

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    • Hillock@kbin.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      I think the biggest issue is simply that there was no need to change the system if there was no problem to begin with. Any changes to the system would lead to some people losing their ability to vote for no good reason.

      If they stick with the law for a few decades no one will care anymore because everyone is used to it. But this year 14,000 people lost the ability to vote and they prevented 0.4 people from commiting voter fraud. That's not very proportional.

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      • Aux@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        Why would anyone lose their vote? Everyone should have a passport.

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    • Flax_vert@feddit.uk ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      It even exists in Northern Ireland and has never been an issue. You can get photographic ID here for free for voting (but is also usable for proof of age) so it’s very useful

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      • Aux@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        Exactly! It’s not a problem anywhere in the world but England!

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  • wewbull@feddit.uk ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    … and will call for changes, including the acceptance of a greater range of ID documents.

    They’re just a bunch of fucking dullards aren’t they?!?! REPEAL IT!

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    • soviettaters@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      The UK has driver’s license so why not voter ID?

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      • HumanPenguin@feddit.uk ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        Because depriving requires a qualification, voting dose not,

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  • autotldr@lemmings.world [bot] ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:


    Controversial rules governing voter identification led to racial and disability discrimination at this year’s local elections in England, according to a damning report co-written by one of the former ministers responsible for introducing them.

    MPs and peers on the all-party parliamentary group on democracy and the constitution will publish a report on Monday saying that the rules caused more harm than they prevented when they came into force in May, and will call for changes, including the acceptance of a greater range of ID documents.

    The report was co-authored by Sir Robert Buckland, who was justice minister in 2021 when the bill to introduce the rules was first launched in parliament, and who subsequently helped vote them through.

    The report says: “Their decision in that instance was … clearly discriminatory (and potentially unlawful) because they denied Andrea Barratt the right to cast a ballot purely on the basis of circumstances which arose as a direct result of a disability.”

    An interim study published by the Electoral Commission earlier this year found at least 14,000 people had been denied a vote because they lacked the correct form of ID.

    The report’s authors call for ministers to broaden the types of documents that can be accepted as identification, and to allow those who fail ID checks to sign a legally binding declaration instead confirming their identity.


    The original article contains 660 words, the summary contains 224 words. Saved 66%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!

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  • ByteWizard@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    And less votes for their guy, which is the actual problem. Saying minorities can’t get an ID is pure racism. But it’s fine when they do it.

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