UK Voter Suppression

When the political party in power realizes it’s about to be displaced at the top, sometimes it steps down gracefully in accordance with democratic ideals. But not always. If you are a British voter, don’t wait for the general election to prepare. Shenanigans are on for the local elections in May, and then more for the general election.

It’s abundantly clear that the UK’s Conservatives are spiraling into the electoral ground. They’d like to find some way to turn that around.

Some parliamentary constituencies (including mine) will have new boundaries, but gerrymandering here is not the extreme sport that it has become in the USA. Our hindrances have more to do with making it hard for people to cast ballots.

The poll tax is a bygone, so other ways are in play.

Near the top of the list are new requirements to show identification at the polls. Multiple studies in more than one country have shown that requiring identification documents prevents a small but significant slice of people from voting. This has been in force long enough for some people to be turned away from voting once. Click here to check whether you have a form of identification the government says poll workers will accept. Then see whether you have at least one more of them. Take with you as many as you have in case the first one you present is rejected. If you don’t have any, get at least one as quickly as you can.

If you wear face masks at indoor public places, be aware that you may be ordered to remove your face mask long enough for your face to be compared with your identification. Use a mask you can quickly put back into place. I use two types of FFP3 (N99) respirators. One of them fits better, but getting it situated is fiddly. For travel, I always wear the other one so I can take it off, let an official take a good look, and put it back on while holding my breath.

If you are a university student, be aware the government is positioning itself to call the general election in October when you will be at the campus but local authorities are likely not to get you processed onto the local Electoral Roll in time. Plan ahead and take steps to make sure you will be able to vote. Can you request a postal ballot? Can you travel back to where you came from to vote? Can you move to your student housing early enough to make sure you will be eligible to vote there? Find out what is most likely to work and do it.

The harder it is being made for you to cast your ballot, the stronger the signal that the party in power is up to no good and the more important it is for you to find a way to legitimately vote. Please make sure you can cast your ballot.