More problems with Voter ID at polling stations

I blogged earlier this week about why I think making voters show ID at polling stations is a seriously bad idea.

Mark Pack highlights some of the more practical problems it poses:

First, what sort of ID would be acceptable? Once you get beyond passport and driving license (and not everyone has one or the other) you quickly get into either having to set standards that are inconvenient or set standards which make forgery a possibility.

Second, what’s the financial cost? Not only of retraining staff and having to educate voters, many of whom have voted for decades without needing voter ID, but also the possibility of having to introduce a new special form of voter ID that people can apply for if they don’t have one of the approved forms of ID. (This is what had to be done in Northern Ireland.)

Third, what’s the impact on turnout? This is a big unknown and makes such a move a big risk.

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