Comment by traceroute66 | Hacker News Reader

Comment by traceroute66 | Hacker News Reader

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> in the UK there is much resistance to needing an ID to vote

Allow me to rephrase that for you....

The voting ID requirement was introduced as a political tactic by the present UK government.

Pure and simple.

Don't believe me ? Look at the ID requirements. They are blatantly centered on the age-group that is known to support the Conservative party, i.e. the elderly.

For example:

Oyster photo-card (RFID travel card with your name and photo on it) .... over 60 ? Yes, you may use it as voting ID. 18–59 ? No, you may not use it as voting ID.

While I do agree that the current government's policy was designed to suppress votes (Rees Mogg basically admitted it), the different treatment of Oyster cards makes sense.

The over 60 card requires that your eligibility is verified before it's issued. This includes checking your name, address, and age.

The cards for younger people have no such verification process.

https://fullfact.org/online/oyster-card-voter-id/

> This includes checking your name, address, and age.

But effectively they could still do that at the point of use if they wanted to!

Recall, before ID was mandated, you would turn up and state your name and address which would be checked against the electoral roll by the officer.

Therefore ...

If someone 18–59 turns up with a photo Oyster card, you could, if you wanted to:

    1. Check their face against the photo on the card
    2. Check their name and date of birth on the card against the name and date of birth on the electoral roll.

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