According to this mornings news the Electoral Commission are calling for Photo ID to be produced by electors to enable them to vote in future elections. This won’t solve the problem of voter fraud in the most effective manner without major change in other areas. I along with the three other adults in my immediate family vote using a postal ballot in every election and have done for several years. It is an arrangement process that works well for us. I had previously missed out on the opportunity to vote on several occasions because I was away from home on the day of the election. Clearly a postal system cannot include a photo ID element, but I accept that postal votes demand a high level of administration compared to a busy polling station. In my household at least one person currently has no up-to-date passport and has no driving licence which are the only two forms of ID open to them. That suggests that the Electoral Commission idea would disenfranchise at least one member of my family at present. In the days when I used to attend a local polling station in person, I often arrived in the nick of time or was waiting on the steps for the station to open. In both cases the idea of remembering to bring a driving license with me (or passport) when time is already limited might well have led me to miss the opportunity to vote altogether. I suspect I am not alone in not carrying ID with me on a regular basis. This could potentially disenfranchise more people.

As a nation too many of us are already disenfranchised, either through choice, or due to the antiquated nature of our electoral system which usually demands attendance at a polling station between 7am and 10pm on a Thursday, possibly several miles from home and even further away from work. The organisation of a postal ballot is not complex but it does prevent the checks being suggested from being made. I appreciate that No2ID are against this proposal, and whilst I personally do not oppose the idea of a comprehensive ID system, I do not think this is the way or best reason to achieve it. Clearly its use in Northern Ireland is a different matter, where ID is already a part of the culture. So assuming that eliminating electoral fraud is the objective of this proposal, lets find an alternative. If that alternative was one which also made it easier for some people to vote then we would be moving in the right direction, not the wrong one.

My preference is for some form of electronic voting, something that would enable people like me to vote from my place of work, or home or indeed from a mobile device. If this was introduced in a manner that also allowed people who were not able to access technology to vote in a manner that was convenient for them, perhaps by providing terminals at the polling stations, then this might allow the system to prevent the small number of multiple voters that the Photo ID is intended to stop. It might also lead to an increase in votes from people who find that the trip to the polling station on a Thursday inconvenient. In a nation of entrepreneurs, where many of us vote for SCD or X Factor, surely we can find a system that avoids significant fraud, avoids cold church halls, and avoids hanging chads?