All the documents you will need to vote next year as photo ID rules condemned by councillors
Requiring voters to prove their identity before they can put their cross in the box at next year’s local elections risks disadvantaging poorer and less mobile Preston residents, councillors have warned.
“The details of the supposed free scheme to get photo ID for everyone have not fully come out yet…[and] it could be a huge task if [they emerge] any later,” he warned, stressing that town hall staff would nevertheless strive to meet the challenge as they had during previous electoral law changes requiring individual voter registration.
David Borrow, the city’s cabinet member for planning and regulation – and a former South Ribble MP – warned that elderly parts of the population would not be immune from the problems that could be caused by the new ID requirements. “A lot of people have concerns about this, including us. it is unfair and definitely shouldn’t be coming in at this time,” Cllr Whittam told the meeting.
He also warned that there was insufficient time to undertake a proper public awareness campaign of the “despicable” new rules, which he said – when trailed across the UK – saw a third of people not bothering to return with the necessary ID when they were refused a vote on their initial visit to the polling station.
Responding to the issues raised at the Preston City Council meeting, a government spokesperson said: “We cannot be complacent when it comes to ensuring our democracy remains secure.
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