That point has been made, and I looked at it when I visited Northern Ireland, which, for historical reasons and for reasons why it introduced the system ahead of us, requires people to have a form of photo ID when they vote. When that was introduced, it meant that many people were not able to vote, but it is now working smoothly. It has been suggested to us that we should adopt that system. The Government have decided not to do so, but we will listen to the evidence, as it certainly happens in one part of the United Kingdom. As far as I understand—I stand to be corrected—it currently works pretty smoothly, and for those electors who do not have their own form of photo ID, such as a passport or driving licence, there is a specific and very simple electoral ID card, with no database behind it, which they can use to prove their identity—and their age, for all sorts of other interesting purposes that to young people are probably more attractive than being able to vote.
Individual Voter Registration
Proceeding contribution from
Mark Harper
(Conservative)
in the House of Commons on Monday, 16 January 2012.
It occurred during Opposition day on Individual Voter Registration.
Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
538 c490 
Session
2010-12
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Subjects
Librarians' tools
Timestamp
2023-12-15 14:52:17 +0000
URI
http://data.parliament.uk/pimsdata/hansard/CONTRIBUTION_800138
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