There were no reports of widespread denial of voting by recently implemented voter identification (ID) requirements in England’s local elections this week, despite left-wing scaremongering, The National Pulse can report.
The decision to introduce voter ID laws follow the practice of an increasing majority of developed nations. Before Britain introduced voter ID, it was the only nation in Europe that did not have any requirements upon entering the voting booth.
Disenfranchisement.
Prior to the elections on Thursday May 4th, far-left organizations warned of “millions” of voters being disenfranchised by the move to secure Britain’s elections.
“It doesn’t matter how the government tries to dress it up, these plans will make it harder for working-class, older and black, Asian and minority ethnic Britons to vote,” said the Labour Party’s Cat Smith.
As of Thursday night, however, the goal-posts had shifted significantly, with the leftist Electoral Reform Society’s Jess Garland claiming: “One voter turned away is one voter too many. The Government must take lessons from the problems we’re seeing today at polling stations across the country and face up to the fact that these new rules damage our elections more than they protect them.”
But by and large, there don’t appear to have been “problems… across the country”. In fact, the few people who reported forgetting to bring identification with them were turned around, only to return a few minutes later with the requisite information, per Sky News.
“In 40 minutes at another nearby polling station, 16 people came to vote – with two people turned away. [Voters who gave the names] Lal and Man had photographs of their passports but were told they needed hard copies. But 10 minutes after being turned away, they were back – proudly brandishing their IDs and keen to vote.”
The ousted, left-wing Member of Parliament Tom Brake claimed in a press release to legacy media that “thousands” had been denied their right to vote, though failed to cite any sources reflecting this. Even so, against a backdrop of millions of votes cast, the number of people turned away for refusing to bring valid identification to the polling booth is unlikely to work exceed the usual number of rejected or spoiled ballots commonly experienced in elections. Even the far-left ‘Byline Times‘ could only muster up the claims of a few dozen people to undergird their claims of mass disenfranchisement – a far cry from the “millions” campaigners warned of months ahead of the vote.
In Fact, A Success.
Peter Stanyon, the Chief Executive of the Association of Electoral Administrators, actually confirmed to the Guardian that there were “no reported incidents of major concern.” “I’ve been to a couple of polling stations today and it’s going through all very smoothly. There were two voters who had forgotten their ID and were coming back later, but that’s the only two they were aware of,” he said. “Everyone else is coming to the station with ID ready to show staff. There is no major issues we’re aware of at this stage.” There were 22 forms of valid ID that met the eligibility criteria; if someone did not possess one of those 22, they could apply for a free voter authority certificate or even send a postal vote.
Race Grifting. Just as in the United States, the claim has been consistently made that minorities would be disenfranchised by the new rules. This race-baiting claim was put to rest in so-called “super diverse”, English city of Leicester, where more than 59 percent of residents have a minority background. One of Leicester Council’s spokesman said of the rules: “[T]he majority of people turning up appear to be aware of the new rules and have brought the right forms of photo ID.” Shazad Khan, a Labour voter, told The Financial Times that the consensus among the British voters was “that it’s better because obviously then there can’t be any dodgy votes or anything like that.” He added that the only problem was that some people forgot to bring ID.
Coming to America. In comparison to most other developed nations, the United States lags behind in securing its elections from both outside interference, and domestic fraud. It remains one of a mere handful of countries that does not demand some form of voter ID. At the end of April, the North Carolinian Supreme Court voted 5-2 in favor of enforcing a mandatory photo ID for the 2024 elections, despite claims that voter ID was “racially discriminatory.”
A statement issued by the North Carolina Republican Party argues, “[a] strong majority of North Carolina voters voted to replace those judicial activists last fall, just like they voted to adopt Voter ID requirements. For the last decade, Democrats have obstructed the Will of the People, but now North Carolina will be among the three dozen states requiring some form of ID to vote.”
Against a backdrop of continued skepticism of America’s 2020 election results, it appears only a matter of time before the U.S. follows the international push towards ensuring election integrity. An April 2023 poll revealed a whopping 60 percent of U.S. voters think cheating affected America’s 2022 mid-term elections.
John Pullinger, the chairman of Britain’s Electoral Commission said his organization would provide a “really detailed full report in September that will have recommendations on what we need to do about any challenges that people faced.”