JOANNA Cherry has slammed Tory Voter ID plans as a “deterrent” during BBC coverage of the Queen’s Speech.
The Edinburgh South West MP was taking part in the broadcaster's annual show as the UK Government set out its post-pandemic priorities and the laws it intends to pass over the parliamentary session.
One of the policies that caused a hot debate on the BBC was the possibility that voters will be required to carry photo ID to polling stations as the UK Government announced plans to “ensure the integrity of elections”.
Around a quarter of voters, often younger ones, do not have a passport or driving licence.
It comes as Cherry pointed out that this is more likely to deter voters and that Scotland just had a record turnout after extending the right to vote to refugees, 16 and 17 year olds, and international voters.
Tory minister Gillian Keegan was quizzed by Huw Edwards on why this issue has become a priority for the UK government, and whether there was evidence of widespread voter fraud.
Keegan said: “I think it's an obvious hole in the system, it's just a hole in the system, it's an individual right as Thangham said, we all have a right to vote but that’s an individual right for being part of a franchise and you have to register and you have to be on the electoral roll, and the only thing is that last part when you actually go to exercise that vote, that you just prove that you’re you.
“From my perspective when you look at designing systems, that actually is a better design of the system so it would make sure that there wasn’t any voter fraud. I mean there has been talk about there being some, and that would close the loophole, it's important to have trust in the system.”
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As Keegan tried to point to the issue as a “design flaw”, Cherry jumped in to add that the UK Government hadn’t provided any proof that this is an issue.
Cherry said: “We’ve just had a record turnout in Scotland, people are embracing democracy, this is a way or potential route to them stopping democracy. What the government needs to do is produce evidence that there’s a problem.
“In Northern Ireland people have had to do this for a long time because there was widespread evidence of voter fraud and voter abuse to do with particular circumstances there, which don’t thankfully exist in Scotland, England or Wales.
“It’s astonishing to see the Government putting so much effort into a new system for which they are unable to point to any evidence that it is required. If there was evidence of a significant mischief here then yes I think all responsible politicians would need to sit down and look at what we do about it, but we know from other countries such as the United States of America that this can be a deterrent.”
The UK Government has previously said that people would be able to apply for a voting ID card from their local council, if they cannot afford a passport or driving licence, although this would have to be done before polling day.
In 2019 during a trial of the scheme in England, nearly 800 voters were turned away from the polls.
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