Voter Fraud?

Sonic67

Postal voting 'unviable' says judge

In January, the Electoral Commission said it was particularly concerned about 16 council areas in England.

In some of those areas, the BBC has heard allegations that political activists are pressuring families into voting for their candidate, or taking ballot papers away to fill them in, which is illegal.

'Convenience'
BBC Radio 4's File on 4 spoke to a man in Derby who said his mother had her postal vote cast for her by activists who turned up at her house and pressurised her into letting them fill in her ballot paper.

He said: "Campaigners came to the house and they asked my mum to vote for them and actually my mum, not being able to read English, she didn't know where to put the cross, so one of the people put the cross in the box for her and said, 'There you go now you can just sign it and we will take it off you.'

"Your votes are supposed to be anonymous but when people come to your house and are literally doing it for you that is not you voting is it? That is them voting for you and voting for themselves."

Mr Mawrey, a deputy High Court judge and election commissioner, said in one case last year he had come across 14 different ways that postal ballots could be manipulated.

weaviemx5

I think there's little chance of ID cards being introduced in Britain. Think of the arguments about how many genders there are.

IronGiant

I didn’t say it was a solution for the country, I said that particular article was a non-story :0)

Sonic67

A Polling Card and a Birth Certificate were appropriate ID.

domtheone

https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/194719/Proof-of-identity-scheme-updated-March-2016.pdf

1 Why we have developed a proof of identity scheme for polling station voters in Great Britain

1.1 The Electoral Commission is an independent body which reports directly to the UK Parliament. We regulate political party and election finance and set standards for well-run elections. We put voters first by working to support a healthy democracy, where elections and referendums are based on our principles of trust, participation, and no undue influence.

Trust: people should be able to trust the way our elections and our political finance system work.

Participation: it should be straightforward for people to participate in our elections and our political finance system, whether voting or campaigning; and people should be confident that their vote counts.

No undue influence: there should be no undue influence in the way our elections and our political finance system work Electoral fraud vulnerabilities at polling stations. There are currently few checks available at polling stations to prevent someone claiming to be an elector and voting in their name.

1.2 Our review of electoral fraud in the UK, which reported in January 2014, concluded that polling station voting in Great Britain remains vulnerable to personation fraud.

1.3 We are concerned that polling station voting could become more vulnerable to fraud as other processes, including absent voting and electoral registration, have become more secure following recent legislative changes. Those intent on committing fraud may now shift their focus to remaining weaknesses within the system.

1.4 We therefore recommended that there should be a requirement for electors across Great Britain to present an acceptable form of identification prior to being issued with a ballot paper and voting at the polling station. Similar requirements are already in place in Northern Ireland and several other comparable democracies. This measure would almost entirely remove the opportunity for personation at polling stations. We recommended that a proof of identity scheme should be in place to be used by no later than for the 2019 European Parliamentary and English local government elections.

Voter ID used in the trial:

Voter ID pilot - Voter ID pilot - London Borough of Bromley

What ID can I bring?

To vote at a polling station in London Borough Bromley on 3 May 2018 you must take either one of the following:
a passport issued by the United Kingdom, a Commonwealth country or a member state of the European Uniona photocard driving licence (including a provisional licence) issued in the United Kingdom or by a Crown Dependency, or by a member State of the European Unionan electoral identity card issued under section 13C (electoral identity card: Northern Ireland) of the Representation of the People Act 1983a biometric immigration document issued in the United Kingdom in accordance with regulations made under section 5 of the UK Borders Act 2007an identity card issued in the European Economic Areaan Oyster 60  London Passa Freedom Pass (London)a PASS scheme card (national proof of age standards scheme)Or two of the following (one of which must show your registered address):
a valid bank or building society debit card or credit carda poll card for the poll a driving licence (including a provisional licence) which is not in the form of a photocard.a birth certificatea marriage or civil partnership certificatean adoption certificatea firearms certificate granted under the Firearms Act 1968the record of a decision on bail made in respect of the voter in accordance with section 5(1) of the Bail Act 1976a bank or building society cheque booka mortgage statement dated within 3 months of the date of the polla bank or building society statement dated within 3 months of the date of the polla credit card statement dated within 3 months of the date of the polla utility bill dated within 3 months of the date of the polla council tax demand letter or statement dated within 12 months of the date of the polla Form P45 or Form P60 dated within 12 months of the date of the pollWhat if I cannot provide any of the ID listed above?
You can apply for a postal vote or proxy vote or you can apply for a Certificate of Identity.

To apply for a Certificate of Identity you will need to complete an application form.

Download the Certificate of Identity application form. Alternatively copies are available at Main Reception, Civic Centre, Stockwell Close, Bromley BR1 3UH.

Applications must be made in writing and include:
the applicants full namethe applicants registered addressconfirmation that the applicant would not be able to provide any of the documents listed abovethe date of the applicationa declaration by the applicant that the information provided in the application is true

Greg Hook

In this day and age, I find that statement absolutely ridiculous.

Everyone should have something.  A mobile phone bill.  Sky bill.  Other utility.  

Quite frankly, if someone has absolutely nothing they can provide, voting is probably not at the top of their agenda anyway

Sonic67

Agree. To say people won’t have ID is utter nonsense.

Enki

I am reminded of this.

Tories in new race row over identity checks for elections

First off it blames the toorreess.

Tories in new race row over identity checks for elections

It's the electoral commission doing this.

This bit:

Asking for voters IDs as a policy certainly has echoes of the strategy aimed at making society an uncomfortable place for illegal migrants.”

Why should this country be a comfortable place for illegal activity? How does someone here illegally vote at all?

Corbyn:

Reacting to the news, the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said: “Forcing voters at election time to prove their identity at polling stations by producing official documents would have a disproportionate impact on people from black and ethnic minority communities.

“It is the same hostile environment all over again, shutting our fellow citizens out of public life, treating communities who made Britain their home as second-class citizens. It’s disgraceful and it must be brought to an end.”

All voters are being asked to prove who they are. Why does that affect a black guy anymore than a white one?

Sonic67

Not if you have gone paperless, you can print off at home, however, all Banks Department of Work and Pensions and Local Authorities (LAs) in my daily experience won’t except these as appropriate ID, needs to be proper headed paper posted.  And as many staff at polling stations tend to be LAs staff, could see problems.

domtheone

So at some point you might have to call into a bank and get them to print off a statement. Same if you want accommodation. If you are renting etc you would need to prove who you are.

In the past I did DBS checks, some of those working with kids didn't drive or have a passport so I sent them on a five minute walk to the High street so they could get the bank to print off a statement. That, a utility bill and a full birth certificate would be enough.

Still used to get bills from a catalogue or something brought in.

Amusingly I also used to see utility bills with stuff like, you are in arrears, pay up, we'll take you to court etc, and I was amazed they were happy to show that to a stranger like me.