The Government’s plans to make all UK voters prove their identity at the polls will “disproportionately” discriminate against ethnic minorities and the working class, Jeremy Corbyn has claimed.
Proposals were announced in the Queen's Speech yesterday to require voters in England, Scotland and Wales to bring photo ID to polling stations in order to cast their vote. Northern Ireland already requires voter identification.
The Government says the plans are designed to help give the public confidence that elections are “secure and fit for the 21st century”.
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A Cabinet Office spokesman added: “Showing ID to vote is a reasonable and proportionate way to protect our elections - it is something people already do in everyday life and voters in Northern Ireland have been doing it with ease for decades.”
However, the Labour leader said the plans were an attempt to “suppress voters” and “rig” the next general election, the BBC reports.
Speaking at a rally after the Queen's Speech, Corbyn said the plans were a “blatant attempt” to “deny people their democratic rights”.
He added: “The people that the Tories are trying to stop voting will be disproportionately from ethnic minority backgrounds, and they will disproportionately be working class voters of all ethnicities.”
The Electoral Commission found in 2015 that about 3.5 million citizens, or 7.5% of the electorate, did not have access to any approved photo ID.
The independent body found that women are significantly less likely than men, and black people significantly less likely than white people, to have a driving licence. Gypsies and Irish Travellers are also much less likely than the average to have a passport.
The Electoral Reform Society has expressed concern about the plans. Chief executive Darren Hughes said: “When millions of people lack photo ID, these mooted plans risk raising the drawbridge to huge numbers of marginalised voters - including many elderly and BAME (black, Asian and minority ethnic) voters.”
Left-wing news website Spiked said that the move would “damage democracy,” adding: “If politicians get into the habit of doubting the validity of votes cast by black and brown citizens, that will have a markedly corrosive effect on the political process.”
The Government says it will to offset the risk of people missing out on voting by introducing a new form of identity document which voters can apply for free of charge.
Conservative Party chairman James Cleverly accused Corbyn of “sowing the seeds of division”. He added: “If anything, tougher checks against electoral fraud will protect the democratic rights of all communities.”
In 2016, former communities secretary Sir Eric Pickles accused the authorities of turning a blind eye to electoral corruption because of “over-sensitivities about ethnicity and religion”. He called for voters to provide proof of identity at polling stations.
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