Barriers to the Ballot: How Voter ID Marginalises Disabled People Who Feel It’s ‘Another Way Their Voice is Suppressed’

The new voter ID rules have posed significant obstacles for many voters, especially disabled people, raising questions about accessibility and fairness in the democratic process.

In a pre-General Election survey conducted by Byline Times, a number of respondents highlighted the barriers that voter ID rules were imposing, which were introduced in the 2022 Elections Act passed by Boris Johnson’s Government.

ID requirements have specifically disconcerted disabled voters, who have been unable to obtain a valid form of identification, thus preventing them from voting.

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Speaking on behalf of their son-in-law, an anonymous survey respondent shared: “The introduction of ID into the voting system has put another hurdle. As my son-in-law is high on the autistic scale this causes him a severe amount of anxiety and stress… he feels that this is another way his voice is suppressed and is resigned to not voting.”

Another respondent voiced similar concerns on behalf of an autistic relative, saying that, despite their relative being politically active, they would not vote in the General Election: “They have voted at every opportunity and have actively sought out and studied the various political parties, claims and policies. Once voter ID came to this country, they found the ID process a challenge.”

The respondent added how even postal voting has its barriers for those with disabilities, writing that “a postal vote seemed appropriate but their vote would’ve been discarded if the signature didn’t match the details given online”.

“Their signature can vary depending on stresses, anxieties and proprioceptive difficulties,” they added. “In frustration with the process, they have, despite encouragement, decided not to vote at all.”

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One Byline Times survey respondent noted that their neighbour, recovering from knee surgery, could not request a postal vote through their council’s webpage because “the link took them to various requests like reporting a pothole, but not for postal votes”.

The Government has said that the introduction of voter ID was necessary to combat voter fraud.

But last May, charity Disability Rights UK warned that many voters could be excluded from participating in elections due to “inaccessible practice”.

Bethany Bale, its policy and campaigns officer, said that disenfranchising around two million disabled voters was a “disproportionate response to a minor issue” – as almost no confirmed cases of in-person voter fraud were prosecuted during the last General Election. She called for a reversal in the policy.

Research by disability charity Scope highlights that one in five disabled people have encountered accessibility issues with politicians and campaigns.

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It flagged that problems like ‘lack of parking’ and ‘unsafe ramps’ at polling stations are common complaints.

Byline Times columnist Penny Pepper – an award-winning author, poet, and disabled activist – noted in the July print edition: “There are still problems with access – a friend recently assisted a mobility-impaired voter across a road and up a flight of stairs to their local polling station, where they were denied their right to vote on the grounds that, by being assisted, their vote was being ‘influenced’.”

Last week, the Electoral Reform Society revealed that more than a million voters risk not having an accepted form of ID when they go to vote on 4 July – with only 57,000 applications having been made for Voter Authority Certificates (VACs).

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It has cited the problems experienced by voters at the 2023 local elections –when at least 14,000 people were prevented from casting their vote – and at this year’s local elections in May, when Byline Times reported that a decorated Afghanistan veteran was unable to use his Veteran’s ID card to vote.

Darren Hughes, chief executive of the Electoral Reform Society, said: “Voting is a fundamental democratic right and one person being stopped from casting their rightful vote is one too many.”

He called the situation “completely unacceptable” and that “it is clear that voter ID rules are having a disproportionate and damaging impact on our elections and should be scrapped by the next government”.