Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Christian Matheson and Marco Longhi

Thursday 17th June 2021 Commons Chamber

[Marco Longhi (Dudley North) (Con)]

What recent discussions the Commission has had with the Government on the introduction of voter ID.

[Christian Matheson (City of Chester)]

The commission has regular discussions with the Cabinet Office at both official and ministerial level, including to provide feedback on the development of the Government’s policy on voter ID. These discussions followed the commission’s independent evaluations of the Government’s voter ID pilot schemes at the local elections in 2018 and 2019. The commission recommended:

“Any ID requirement should deliver clear improvements to current security levels…ensure accessibility for all voters”,

and

“be realistically deliverable, taking into account the resources required to administer it”.

[Marco Longhi]

Does the hon. Member agree with Labour colleagues when they seem to suggest that voter ID is racist or discriminatory, when, actually, most industrialised nations use it?

[Christian Matheson]

It is not a question of what I agree with; it is about what the Electoral Commission agrees with, and I am here to answer questions on behalf of the Electoral Commission. It believes that there is a perception of the potential for fraud and that is what it is seeking to address in the advice that it has given to Government.