Hundreds of thousands could be unable to vote if new ID rules are not delayed until after local elections - senior Tory
Ministers have insisted that the rule change in voting rules is necessary to prevent in-person voter fraud despite the vanishingly low number of cases - there was just one incident which initiated court proceedings across all UK elections last year, according to the Electoral Commission.
"This is an answer to a problem that's not there. Are we actually going to discriminate against the old and the poor in our election system?" A government spokesperson said:"We cannot be complacent when it comes to ensuring our democracy remains secure. Photo identification has been used in Northern Ireland elections since 2003.
"The vast majority of people already have a form of acceptable identification. We're urging anyone who doesn't to apply for a free Voter Authority Certificate as soon as possible and we expect more people to apply over the next few weeks. "We're working closely with the sector to support the rollout and are funding the necessary equipment and staffing for the change in requirements."
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