PETITION: Scrap Voter ID!
The numbers are in: nearly 2 million voters - according to the government’s own figures - have been effectively BANNED from taking part in the local elections on May 4th. And these aren’t the final numbers. Between iNews reports of Tory leaflets in Labour areas telling people they don’t need to bring ID, and a Tory minister refusing to tell MPs if records will be even kept of how many people get turned away at the polling stations, we will likely never know how many Britons just lost their right to vote.
We do know those Britons are likely to be the same people already hurt the most by Tory governments: Black and Brown people, LGBTQ people, Muslim women, people with disabilities and people on benefits. Government surveys found all these groups are significantly less likely to have valid photo ID than middle-class white people - the majority of the Tory base.
Rishi Sunak and Suella Braverman have just pulled off the largest single rollback of voting rights in British history. And let’s be clear: their excuses don’t stand up to even minimal scrutiny. The stated reason for Voter ID was impersonation fraud - which is virtually non-existent in our country. Only one person was convicted of election fraud by impersonation following the 2019 general election.
We demand Rishi Sunak and his cabinet scrap this dangerous, deeply damaging law before the next General Election, even if they think this will hurt them at the ballot box. That’s what democracy is supposed to be about.
And if they don't, we demand every other party leader - and every peer, and every MP! - pledge to scrap voter ID as soon as a new parliament is convened.
This petition will be delivered to all party leaders and every member of Parliament.
The numbers are in: nearly 2 million voters - according to the government’s own figures - have been effectively BANNED from taking part in the local elections on May 4th. And these aren’t the final numbers. Between iNews reports of Tory leaflets in Labour areas telling people they don’t need to bring ID, and a Tory minister refusing to tell MPs if records will be even kept of how many people get turned away at the polling stations, we will likely never know how many Britons just lost their right to vote.
We do know those Britons are likely to be the same people already hurt the most by Tory governments: Black and Brown people, LGBTQ people, Muslim women, people with disabilities and people on benefits. Government surveys found all these groups are significantly less likely to have valid photo ID than middle-class white people - the majority of the Tory base.
Rishi Sunak and Suella Braverman have just pulled off the largest single rollback of voting rights in British history. And let’s be clear: their excuses don’t stand up to even minimal scrutiny. The stated reason for Voter ID was impersonation fraud - which is virtually non-existent in our country. Only one person was convicted of election fraud by impersonation following the 2019 general election.
We demand Rishi Sunak and his cabinet scrap this dangerous, deeply damaging law before the next General Election, even if they think this will hurt them at the ballot box. That’s what democracy is supposed to be about.
And if they don't, we demand every other party leader - and every peer, and every MP! - pledge to scrap voter ID as soon as a new parliament is convened.
This petition will be delivered to all party leaders and every member of Parliament.
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