Oral Answers to Questions Debate

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Department: Cabinet Office

Oral Answers to Questions

Alex Norris Excerpts
Wednesday 23rd October 2019

(5 years, 1 month ago)

Commons Chamber
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Kevin Foster Portrait Kevin Foster
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I must say that perhaps it would have been better to ask that supplementary on the next question, but I will just say that in building confidence in our electoral system, it is vital that we tackle a range of issues. If the hon. Gentleman wants to see what happens when people’s democratic rights are stolen via electoral fraud, he should talk to his hon. Friend the Member for Poplar and Limehouse (Jim Fitzpatrick).

Alex Norris Portrait Alex Norris (Nottingham North) (Lab/Co-op)
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2. What assessment the Government have made of the potential effect on the number of enfranchised people of the provisions on voter identification in the proposed legislation on electoral integrity.

Bob Seely Portrait Mr Bob Seely (Isle of Wight) (Con)
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3. What steps the Government are taking to improve the integrity of electoral (a) processes and (b) systems.

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Oliver Dowden Portrait The Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General (Oliver Dowden)
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Voters deserve to have confidence in our democracy, so we will legislate to introduce voter ID, in line with Northern Ireland and many other nations, and to provide greater security for postal and proxy votes. The pilots and the experience in Northern Ireland showed no adverse effect on turnout.

Alex Norris Portrait Alex Norris
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Over the last two years, more than 1,000 people in pilot areas have lost their chance to vote due to ID requirements, which is more than 30 times the number of allegations of polling station fraud across the whole country. Once this pilot is rolled out, thousands upon thousands of people will lose their right to vote—a disproportionate response. Is not the reality that this is just US-style voter suppression?

Oliver Dowden Portrait Oliver Dowden
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My wife is Canadian. When I first went to vote with her, she found it extraordinary that people could turn up at the ballot box without any form of identification. Voter ID is what happens in Canada, Switzerland, France and other advanced democracies.

As to the point about lower turnout. In the pilots we undertook, over 99% of people who wished to vote were able to do so.