They’ve just unscrapped it 
Before we were limited to voting upto 15 years since leaving the UK, now its a lifetime vote. And again it maintains the links we have with the UK since I imagine a significant number of us plan to return some day.
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Making photo ID compulsory for voting without having introduced ID cards surely won’t help turnout. There must be a few people without driving licences or passports or possibly an internet connection who will be deterred from voting by the faff of trying to get identification in order to vote.
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You can apply for a Voter Authority Certificate if you don’t have any photo ID. Its very common amongst the UK Traveller community.
Whilst many people in the UK are against ID for voting, I find it hard to believe that voting can be not open to abuse without it.
ID cards were introduced around 2009/2010 (I had one), but then immediately scrapped when the conservatives were elected. It wouldn’t help anyway, because those people who don’t have any ID would not shell out for an ID card, unless they were made compulsory and free for those who can’t afford them.
‘Personation’ at the polling station is virtually non-existent.
Most offences around electoral fraud are down to campaigning. Here.
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Which is also logical. In order to really influence election results by impersonation one has to be able to do it on such a massive scale for large countries like England that its virtually impossible to go undetected. Even if there’s the odd case here or there, campaign election fraud is the place to fix, not hypothetical impersonation.
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…which was the purpose. The then government hoped it would reduce the Labour vote.
You also don’t need ID for a postal vote or a proxy vote, so there is that option if you absolutely can’t get ID.
Why the rejection of ID cards btw? Everyone has or should have an ID card! 
Is it only because you have to pay to get one or because you don’t really need it in your daily life? I mean how things can function otherwise - public services, voting etc…very interesting.
It is not British mate or the Government is spying on us and similar nonsense
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Because for some bizarre reason, the Brits are scared of them! 
The Irish also rejected them, until they renamed them passport cards, then they were accepted 
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Slippery slope mate, next they’ll want to tattoo barcodes on us from birth.
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Ironically, it would simplify one of the main gripes of the right-wing windbags: immigration. An ID card scheme would be instantly effective in health, welfare, voting, education.
Don’t know why people are so suspicious of it when they put all their details on social media, everyone in the UK seems to have a doorbell cam, and they’re discussing every element of their lives in the presence of one of those trendy Alexa thingies. But ID cards? Nah, that’s a step too far.
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There is already the habitual residence test for immigrants (with some exceptions e.g. refugees). I think it’s mainly the Brits who can get around without IDs.
I don’t really have any skin in the game, being a UK passport holder but I was just pointing out the irony of the fiercest opponents to ID cards seem to be neatly over-laid to a certain extent with those that are the fiercest opponents to immigration. Those without ID would most likely be illegally be in the UK and therefore wouldn’t be entitled to free healthcare, etc. so, ID cards would help to control/eliminate it.
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So is this like a test if one is a true Brit?
- Show me your ID
- But I don’t have one!
- Aaaaa, a true Brit! Welcome!
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Thank you, I still don’t get it.
(I mean I don’t get why they’re scared )
It’s something like:
"the police have no right to stop me if I’m doing nothing wrong. If I have to have an ID card that gives them the right to stop me and ask for it. We all know that the police will try to fit you up for anything, particularly if you is black, just look at what happened in the 1970s with the Sus laws, this will give them the opportunity to do so. "
(The ‘sus’ laws gave police the right to stop anyone who they thought looked suspicious, and were horribly misused against black people, who in the minds of many racist cops were automatically suspicious and were indeed accused of all sorts of things. See the NTNON sketch for a very accurate parody of what went on.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5dy9URkLFI )
Bear in mind that in practice in the UK you don’t have to carry any form of ID, not even your driving licence when driving, and at its simplest this makes people think they will be forced to carry things around with them all the time, which they deeply resent.
I realise I’m totally failing to explain it rationally, but ultimately it’s not a rational thing, so maybe that’s just not possible.
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