Voter ID could reduce turnout in police elections, warns

There have been warnings that voter turnout could fall when photo ID is made compulsory for the first time in next month’s Welsh elections.

ID cards are required for elections to police and crime commissioners, and British ministers say they help prevent fraud.

But the Electoral Reform Association warns it is unnecessary and harmful.

Voter ID was introduced in the UK for last year’s local elections and will also be used in the next UK general election.

Voters in Northern Ireland have been required to provide photo ID since 2003, but previous polls have shown that many voters believe election fraud is a widespread problem. .

So what are these elections in Wales, what are the arguments for changing the process and how does voter ID work?

Four Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) will be elected in Wales on 2 May, one for each police area of ​​South Wales, Gwent, Dyfed Powys and North Wales.

They oversee and are responsible for local police departments and are responsible for setting the annual budget for their policing area.

They can appoint and dismiss chief constables, but are not responsible for the force’s day-to-day operational decisions.

All four of Wales’ main political parties are fielding candidates in the election.

This is the fourth time such a poll has been conducted, but this election is the first time voters have been asked to prove who they are.

PCC elections are also held in large parts of England.

The Conservative UK government, which controls the election of police and crime commissioners, says this is to prevent people from impersonating others.

However, the Electoral Reform Society (ERS) says the change is unnecessary and argues that elections have gone perfectly well in the past without people having to prove their identity.

Darren Hughes, chief executive of the ERS, told this Sunday’s Welsh Politics program: “Many countries that do this kind of thing have problems with people arriving at the polling station, asking for a ballot and pretending to be someone else. I am doing this because I am burdened with it,” he said. .

“They impersonate another voter to prevent their voter ID from being used. But we have never experienced anything like that in election management in the UK.

“In fact, 2019 was an election year, with local elections, general elections and European Parliament elections.

“Tens of millions of ballots were cast in all these elections, but only two were found guilty of anthropomorphism.”

According to Professor Petra Schreiter of the University of Oxford, this is “significantly” and “consistently” the case, based on evidence from last year’s British elections.

“It’s difficult to say exactly how much because estimates vary slightly depending on which data source you look at, but the best estimates are between 1 and 5.5 percent,” she said.

“We consistently found negative effects on voter turnout…This reform had a significant and negative impact on people’s ability to participate in elections.”

Ministers say it is important that people have confidence in the electoral system.

Before last year’s local elections in England, Chancellor Rishi Sunak said ID checks would ensure elections were a “high integrity process”.

Before ID requirements were trialled in England’s parliament in 2018, the government said they would “ensure the integrity” of the electoral system.

Over the past six weeks, election watchdog the Electoral Commission has been running an awareness campaign reminding voters that they will need a photo ID to vote in May’s election.

The Department for Leveling Up, Housing and Communities said: “Following recommendations from international election monitoring bodies and in line with long-standing arrangements in Northern Ireland, we have introduced the requirement to show a photo ID when voting in person across the UK.” said.

“We are committed to giving everyone a voice in our democracy and the Election Commission will continue to conduct public awareness campaigns ahead of relevant polls.

“In the UK local elections last May, the vast majority of voters at polling stations, 99.75%, cast their votes successfully.”

The main ones are passports and driver’s licenses, but bus passes for disabled and elderly people are also on the list.

You can also use an expired ID as long as the photo looks like you.

If you don’t have either of these, you can apply for a voter certificate or vote by mail.

The deadline to register to vote is Tuesday, April 16th.

The deadline to apply for a voter certificate is April 24th.

In Wales, the last two Police and Crime Commissioner elections, held at the same time as the Senedd poll, had very high turnout.

In 2016, Welsh influence areas had the highest turnout in England and Wales – Dyfed Powys (48.9%), South Wales (46.6%), North Wales (41.6%) and Gwent (39.4%).

The lowest turnout was in Durham (17.4%), Cleveland (19.7%) and Leicestershire (19.8%).

Similarly, the highest turnout in 2021 was in Dyfed Powys (50.6%), North Wales (45.4%), South Wales (43.9%) and Gwent (41%).

But this time, unlike in England, where local elections are held once again, PCC elections in Wales will be held on their own.

This was also the case in the first police commissioner vote in 2012. Voter turnout at that time was just 14.9% across Wales.