I cannot agree with Andy Beckett’s condemnation of voter ID (After this week’s squalid experiment, see voter ID for what it is: a Tory scam to steal elections, 3 May). The basic principle of voter ID is not objectionable: we all agree that Europe has much more sophisticated political systems and mature political cultures than Britain, and voter ID laws are commonplace across Europe. France, Germany, Finland, the Netherlands, Sweden and Italy all require their electors to present identification when voting. Are all these EU members also enemies of democracy?
Furthermore, it is difficult to square claims that the progressive vote was suppressed with the fact that the Conservative vote collapsed and Labour – and leftwing politics in general – were hugely successful last week. Clearly, the hypothetical fears that the progressive vote would be curtailed were simply not borne out in reality.
Anecdotes of people being turned away for lack of ID are mostly just a small handful of dozy Tories like Boris Johnson forgetting their own laws, which does not make an election-rigging conspiracy.
Voter ID is simple to apply and reinforces confidence in our election security. It demonstrably works well and should stay.
Robert Frazer
Salford, Lancashire
Andy Beckett is right to highlight the “at least 2 million Britons” who have “no acceptable voter ID at all”. As a local election candidate standing on Thursday to retain my seat of Latchford West in Warrington (which I did), I spoke to a handful of people on polling day who were registered to vote but didn’t have the correct photo ID, and so didn’t go out to vote. Given that I only spoke to a small minority of our voters on polling day, it’s hard to know exactly how many other people were affected.
Not everyone is politically engaged enough to plan in advance – voting can be a spur of the moment decision on the day – but for each person, they were denied the right to vote and this won’t form part of any official record.
Maureen McLaughlin
Warrington, Cheshire
As expected, Marina Hyde’s article (Did we really expect Tory MPs who fought for voter ID rules to follow them? Don’t be ridiculous, 3 May) brilliantly shines a light on a jaw-droppingly silly but worryingly nefarious reality, and points the finger at the clowns who are hoisted by their own petard. I imagine that Boris Johnson and Tom Hunt won’t forget their ID for the forthcoming general election.
But taking a step back, I fail to see the problem that Britons have with carrying a national identity card. Most European Economic Area countries (Denmark and Ireland are the exceptions) issue national ID 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 ID card is an absolute identifier; it carries more weight than a passport. Nobody feels that their liberties are being infringed or that they are being spied on by the state.
If everyone carried such a card in Britain, it would resolve the issue of voter ID proof at polling stations. Carrying it is no more onerous than carrying a bank card. It’s a no-brainer.
Nigel Evans
Paris, France
Re Marina Hyde’s article, the Electoral Commission recommended voter ID in 2014.
Peter Bottomley
Worthing, West Sussex