This is populist politics at its worst

The voter registration requirement is just one of a number of ill-conceived measures that the newly elected Labour government should scrap.

Labour was right to allow itself a moment of indulgence on election night. But the festive mood did not last long, and the Starmer government is now making good progress in correcting some of the Conservatives’ most obvious policy mistakes. Progress has been made on public sector pay and pension reform. Cancel the absurd ban on land-based wind farms.

But so far, Labour has had little to say about the ID requirement for Conservative voters. The combination of the potential for harm by limiting turnout, and its narrow reach, makes scrapping the requirement an easy political victory for Labour.

Voter Identification: Solving a Non-Existing Problem

The innocuously named Elections Bill (2022) ostensibly honours the Conservatives Manifesto Commitment 2019 to protect the integrity of our democracy. The Bill itself received Royal Assent in April 2022, having been introduced in Parliament in July the previous year. While not formally part of the campaign to save Boris Johnson that would follow in the coming months, the policy shares several features with the measures introduced as part of Operation Save Big Dog.

Take, for example, the government's policy of managing the crossing of the Channel by small boats by deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda. This policy is supposed to act as a deterrent, but it is a gimmick. It is simply another measure that is not intended to solve the problem, but rather to fan the flames of a right-wing culture war.

The Voter ID Bill works in a similar, if different, way. While with Rwanda’s policy the Tories took a real crisis and invented a solution, with their Voter ID requirements the problem never existed in the first place. Cases of voter fraud are extremely rare. The 2019 UK General Election Only 595 allegations of electoral fraud were recordedand only five of those cases resulted in a conviction. Compared to the actual number of voters in 2019, which was just over 32 million, these voter fraud figures seem not only negligible, but almost nonexistent.

Never let facts get in the way of a good story

If electoral fraud is so rare, why do we need to protect the integrity of British elections? Kemi Badenoch, then Minister of State at the Department of Housing and Communities, seemed unable to answer this most basic of questions. 2022 Guidance DocumentField data on the actual number of cases of voter fraud is scarce, replaced by innuendo and hyperbole. Throughout the article, Badenoch alludes to a nefarious band of usurpers, but cannot quantify their existence.

Fortunately for us, regulators such as the Electoral Commission collect important data on voter fraud as well as the impact of government policy on turnout. The independent watchdog has undertaken an analysis of the impact of voter ID requirements on voter turnout. local elections in May 2023Their findings tell an all-too-familiar story. Nonwhite voters in deprived areas with high unemployment were more likely to be turned away for not having the necessary ID than white voters in more affluent constituencies. 14,000 voters estimated from survey data Among the candidates who failed in last year's local elections, a disproportionate number were from ethnic minorities.

A mirror of America?

The parallels with the United States are often caricatures, but in this case the comparison is important. American state legislatures have the right to draw congressional maps and set voting requirements. This ensures that American democracy is plagued by problems with redistricting (the process of redrawing congressional boundaries in a cynically partisan manner), as well as overly harsh voting restrictions that disproportionately affect ethnic minority voters.

To be clear, the UK does not yet suffer from the partisanship problem in elections to the extent that the US does. Redistricting is not a government matter. Rather, it is delegated. to four separate independent commissions in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. But this independence should not be taken for granted, especially at a time when far-right populist parties in Europe and the Republican Party in the United States are determined to restrict access to the franchise.

Voter ID Fans the Flames of Populism

Political scientist Cas Mudde, a specialist in the far right in Europe and America, argues that the danger posed by far-right populist parties lies not only in the divisive politics they advocate, but also in their rejection of constitutional types of checks and balances Liberal democracies are founded on fundamental values. It would be crude to describe conservatives as belonging to the European radical right, but that does not mean that they have not adopted any of their tendencies.

The introduction of voter ID is populism at its most extreme. One manifestation of populist fervour is the desire to create new frontiers of social conflict, as voter ID data has revealed. Some aspects of political life once existed independently of the rancour that so often characterises parliamentary discourse. Today, under the guise of popular sovereignty, these aspects are being brought into play and seen as legitimate avenues of confrontation. The politics of elections once enjoyed such independence. Today, the sacrosanct act of voting itself is being cynically thrust into the arena of culture war.

And then?

Labour’s landslide victory is welcome. It ends 14 years of Tory rule that, to put it mildly, left much to be desired. It could well be a Pyrrhic victory if Labour fails to resist an emerging threat from the populist right. Reform UK’s five MPs may appear in the House as a small clique of troublemakers, but their message and arguments have influence over a section of the population that dwarfs their relatively small numbers in Parliament. Voter registration is just one of many ill-conceived policies that Keir Starmer’s government has inherited. Labour can begin to fight back against the populist right by abandoning this unnecessary and damaging policy.

We are registered on easyfundraising! 8,000 brands will donate to us for free every time you use it.

It's super quick and easy to SIGN UPand it will never cost you anything at all. It's FREE for you and HUGE for us!