Photo ID

Cartini

Biblioklept said:

Cartini said:

Adeline said:

I don't have a driving license either. It's really difficult and it must disproportionately hurt disabled people and those on a low income. 

No wonder the the current government put it in place for the next election too and made it harder for certain groups to vote. 

I suppose I will eventually have to save up and get a passport but it seems very unfair.

Photo ID, which I agree with, is being brought in to stop people voting several times.  Whether that works or not, only time will tell.

I don't agree with it and found this quote from electroal reform interesting: 
"Evidence from around the world shows that forcing voters to bring photographic ID to the polling station just makes it harder for people to vote – while doing little to increase faith in the integrity of the system. "

In the US there's irrefutable evidence that strict ID laws "disproportionately disadvantage already marginalised groups."

And the UK Government's own commissioned research found that those with severely limiting disabilities, the unemployed, people without qualifications, and those who had never voted before were all less likely to hold any form of photo ID.

They've also not exactly made it very public that this law is in place and I can believe at the next general election many thousands of people will be turned away as they'll turn up without the required ID. 

Plus your comment about stopping voter fraud doesn't appear based on facts. In 2018 there was rumours of large-scale fraud and people voting several times, the reality is there were only 266 cases of electoral fraud investigated (hardly enough to sway an election) and of those only 1 led to conviction and 2 to cautions. 

Whereas there are well over 2 million people of voting age in the UK without photo ID. 

In 2019 they did a tiny pilot of this at some local elections and 740 people were turned away and lost their constitutional right to vote because circumstance meant they didn't have photo ID. 

Let`s split my comment into two parts:

"Photo ID, which I agree with":  I`m ex-military and, voting aside, believe that we should all have ID means of one form or another.  My preference is an actual Identity card. 

"Whether that works or not, only time will tell" This comment implies that the efficacy of using ID when voting is yet to be proved.  It doesn`t mean that I agree, or disagree, with it.

Whether you (generally, not pesonally) agree with an ID card or not, my personal feeling is that it will be mandatory in the future.  It might not be in our lifetime, but it will be implemented at some point.

JBS2022

I applied for a Voter ID last night and got an email from the local council this morning, my application has been accepted so get it in 5 days. I can finally go to the Poll station and vote. Apparatly Cash Converters are accepting Voter ID for people selling items and people buying  and fags are using cos you have to be over 18 to vote. If it has a photo on it, it will usually be accepted as ID, no matter what Government says, I might apply for a CitizenCard which are valid ID, but cost £15.

bg844

In all fairness I don’t really see a problem with having to pay for ID, you don’t need to buy a passport as a provisional is generally sufficient. Yes, I know some can’t afford it but everyone else has to pay so I don’t think they should discount or give someone one for free. Over 10 years £34 (the current provisional fee) is £3.40 a year.

Adeline

It has been interesting to read all of the different opinions on this. 

An alternative that has come up a couple of times is a provisional driving license. 

However many of us are unable to drive for medical or disability reasons so therefore cannot apply for one.

I am not opposed to the need for ID but I am concerned about the increasing demand for it with seemingly little thought to the barriers faced by many to obtain it.

Statistically women, disabled people, ethnic minorities and low-income people are disproportinately impacted by the requirement for ID and also face greater barriers to obtaining ID.

JoOfVengerberg

bg844 said:

In all fairness I don’t really see a problem with having to pay for ID, you don’t need to buy a passport as a provisional is generally sufficient. Yes, I know some can’t afford it but everyone else has to pay so I don’t think they should discount or give someone one for free. Over 10 years £34 (the current provisional fee) is £3.40 a year.

Again, fine if you meet the criteria. I would have to declare my eyesight issues etc. that mean I cannot drive so I would not even get a provisional. Why if photo ID is mandatory should the most vulnerable/poor etc. have to take a huge chunk of their income for something like a passport? It's exclusionary and unfair, especially for disabled people who can't travel but still require spending £80+ so that they can do basic things like switch banks (the one I tried switching to is online only so requires that) or getting a library card as said above etc. I think the attitude some people have of 'well I had to do it so so do you' is very unforgiving and we should be trying to ease the suffering of others. If someone has to spend almost a week's benefits for this one required piece of ID, how are they supposed to eat for example?

JBS2022

Biblioklept said:

JBS2022 said:

I applied for a Voter ID last night and got an email from the local council this morning, my application has been accepted so get it in 5 days. I can finally go to the Poll station and vote. Apparatly Cash Converters are accepting Voter ID for people selling items and people buying  and fags are using cos you have to be over 18 to vote. If it has a photo on it, it will usually be accepted as ID, no matter what Government says, I might apply for a CitizenCard which are valid ID, but cost £15.

Good to know they come through relatively quickly and I'd be so interested to hear if you do get it within the 5 days if you'd be happy to update?

I think my issue is the CitizenCard or even the Voter ID, while some shops might accept them etc, it won't count for the things that are really important. 
Bank accounts, job applications, Gov Gateway etc. They're all increasingly expectant of people having either driving license or passport and there's over 11million adults in the UK without either. 

My local library started doing digital books so I tried to sign up for a library card online. The only options for proving ID were uploading photo of driving license or passport and something else with proof of address. I emailed and said I don't have either and they said there was no alternative but they'd be happy to accept an expired passport if I had that (as well as proof of address) 
When you can't even get a library card it's quite worrying. 

Apparently CitizenCards should be accepted by all organizations as official ID, as they are endorsed as such by the Police, Government etc. My sister used her CitizenCard as ID for claiming UC and a new bank account. I will update when I receive my Voter ID card.

JBS2022

Hi all, an update to let @Biblioklept know that my Voter ID came through today It took 2 days from application to receipt of card. Extremely fast but that's not uncommon with my Council.

SueHeath

Thanks for the update JBS2022 i think i will be looking into these forms of ID - i will have to google as i've not heard of them before, x

JBS2022

SueHeath said:

Thanks for the update JBS2022 i think i will be looking into these forms of ID - i will have to google as i've not heard of them before, x

Apparently they can only be used for voting at elections and not as official ID even though they have a Photo on the card. It can be used as a form of secondary ID though, if used in combination with 2 other documents like a bank statement and utility bill.

chiarieds

To apply online for a Voter Authority Certificate @SueHeath - https://www.gov.uk/apply-for-photo-id-voter-authority-certificate

As far as voting goes, if you have a Blue Badge that can be used: https://www.gov.uk/how-to-vote/photo-id-youll-need  That hopefully helps some, but not all, disabled people.

I've been able to use my Blue Badge in the past with my Building Society, & my solicitors, also more recently with my daughter's solicitors. The latter was a bit ludicrous to be honest, as they wanted photo ID, but hadn't ever seen me in person, nor were they going to; they did accept a scan of my Blue Badge after some discussion!

I've decided to exchange my extremely old & very tatty paper driving licence for a new one as it has my old address on it. I could still drive, but haven't done so since I moved here. Photo ID seems needed more, but for a library card.....?

JessieJ

As it is proving difficult for some, maybe apply for postal voting, it makes life easier, with no need to go out.

Forms of ID for a polling station includes Blue Badge & also the Freedom bus passes for disabled. I've recently applied & received the latter, it was easy to do online. It's free & if you don't ever use it for the bus, at least it is a free form of ID.

Must admit, I think it's an ill thought out idea by the government that has been pushed through too quickly. Maybe thinking more votes for them, who knows.

john_taylor

My best suggestion is vote from home, or ask for assistance at the polling station, explain issue and bring someone to help. Hopefully there won’t be an issue.

JBS2022

Someone asked either here on another forum what the Voter ID looks like so here goes:

Strawberry1

All those years we did not need photo I D to vote . Now suddenly we need photo I D  . Some things change for the better some not .

JBS2022

Strawberry1 said:

All those years we did not need photo I D to vote . Now suddenly we need photo I D  . Some things change for the better some not .

Yeah it's annoying, not everyone has photo ID especially as it costs money to buy. I couldn't even open a bank account for years.

Strawberry1

@JBS2022 , some ideas are silly I think .  

JBS2022

Biblioklept said:

JBS2022 said:

Biblioklept said:

JBS2022 said:

I applied for a Voter ID last night and got an email from the local council this morning, my application has been accepted so get it in 5 days. I can finally go to the Poll station and vote. Apparatly Cash Converters are accepting Voter ID for people selling items and people buying  and fags are using cos you have to be over 18 to vote. If it has a photo on it, it will usually be accepted as ID, no matter what Government says, I might apply for a CitizenCard which are valid ID, but cost £15.

Good to know they come through relatively quickly and I'd be so interested to hear if you do get it within the 5 days if you'd be happy to update?

I think my issue is the CitizenCard or even the Voter ID, while some shops might accept them etc, it won't count for the things that are really important. 
Bank accounts, job applications, Gov Gateway etc. They're all increasingly expectant of people having either driving license or passport and there's over 11million adults in the UK without either. 

My local library started doing digital books so I tried to sign up for a library card online. The only options for proving ID were uploading photo of driving license or passport and something else with proof of address. I emailed and said I don't have either and they said there was no alternative but they'd be happy to accept an expired passport if I had that (as well as proof of address) 
When you can't even get a library card it's quite worrying. 

Apparently CitizenCards should be accepted by all organizations as official ID, as they are endorsed as such by the Police, Government etc. My sister used her CitizenCard as ID for claiming UC and a new bank account. I will update when I receive my Voter ID card.

From my understanding they're accepted as proof of age for buying alcohol etc but not from banks or most Gov official things. Interesting to read about UC accepting it! 

They should be accepted by banks because they are classed as official ID, my sister used one to open a bank account. The issue is some organisations don't know what they are, and don't realise they can accept them. The DWP have apparantly always accepted them. There is a blog on the internet of accepted ID for benefits and a CitizenCard is accepted as long as you have seperate ID for proof of address but that the case even with passports especially banks.

ch3shirecat4

that seems really unfair to only allow passport as a form of ID, i thought provisional/ drivers licenses were allowed too!

JBS2022

Drivers licenses(do they have your address on) can be used as ID but usually you need a secondary form of ID with your address on it, my husband's bank made him use a Passport and a council tax bill in order to open an account a few years ago and that still seems to be the case.

Cartini

JBS2022 said:

Drivers licenses(do they have your address on) can be used as ID but usually you need a secondary form of ID with your address on it, my husband's bank made him use a Passport and a council tax bill in order to open an account a few years ago and that still seems to be the case.

Photo driving licences have your name,  your date of birth and your address on the same side as your photo.