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funk_monk t1_iu5ke9v wrote

Reply to comment by noclue72 in UK Local Councils forced to buy 40,000 mirrors to put in polling stations as a result of voter ID laws by peretona

Voter fraud does exist in the UK but it's really not a big deal.

In an ideal world there wouldn't be any fraud but you have to look at it from a pragmatic perspective of "how can we get the most representative result?", rather than "we need to completely eliminate election fraud".

The problem with voter ID is that there's high indication that requiring ID will bias the results more than voter impersonation did/does in the first place.

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peretona OP t1_iu5lzsm wrote

> The problem with voter ID is that there's high indication that requiring ID will bias the results

This is the exact aim though. The voter ID is very carefully designed so that most rich people (the kind that go abroad) already have it either as a passport, or in the few cases that don't travel, as a driving license. At the same time, if you don't have one of those it can be almost impossible to get because you have to travel to special centers that are far away and you have to provide documents that are very likely difficult for you to get.

It's something that you have to make a big effort to apply for. If this wasn't meant to bias the results the government would have made it automatic for most people to get sent an ID card if they don't already have one. I

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noclue72 t1_iu5o8j0 wrote

Dude a passport cost about £70 the last time I got one and is very useful in day to day life, not just travel. Not having one is stupid.

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funk_monk t1_iu5vspv wrote

There are multiple points to make here.

  1. The fact that you or I can afford £70 doesn't mean everyone can.
  2. Elections can be called at short notice. Getting ID on short notice is even more expensive (can confirm since I did exactly that last year).
  3. The proposed free workarounds are still more inconvenient for those on lower income.

None of this would be a problem if there wasn't a correlation between difficulty of obtaining ID and voting trends but unfortunately it's true.

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noclue72 t1_iu60hks wrote

People on benefits are going to Majorca n shit I know plenty that do, anyone can get a passport if they are eligible for one

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peretona OP t1_iu6a5ba wrote

>People on benefits are going to Majorca n shit I know plenty that do

That's the cowboy scammers that know how to work round the complicated means tests and stuff the conservatives introduced. They get much more than they deserve because the mess with the rules. Most of the honest people get less than they actually need because the money is spent on enforcement people and appeals processes and so on instead of just giving it to people who need it.

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