A question of identification

To The Guardian

I cannot agree with Andy Beckett’s condemnation of voter ID. The basic principle of voter ID is not objectionable: voter ID laws are commonplace across Europe. Are all these EU members also enemies of democracy?

Furthermore, it is difficult to square claims that the progressive vote was suppressed with the fact that the Conservative vote collapsed and Labour – and left-wing politics in general – were hugely successful last week. Clearly, the hypothetical fears that the progressive vote would be curtailed were simply not borne out in reality.

Anecdotes of people being turned away for lack of ID are mostly just a small handful of dozy Tories forgetting their own laws, which does not make an election-rigging conspiracy. Voter ID is simple to apply and reinforces confidence in our election security. It demonstrably works well and should stay. Robert Frazer, Salford, Lancashire

To The Guardian

Andy Beckett is right to highlight the “at least two million Britons” who have “no acceptable voter ID at all”. As a local election candidate standing on Thursday to retain my seat, I spoke to a handful of people on polling day who were registered to vote but didn’t have photo ID. Given that I only spoke to a small minority on polling day, it’s hard to know exactly how many other people were affected.

Not everyone is politically engaged enough to plan in advance – voting can be a spur-of-the-moment decision on the day – but for each person, they were denied the right to vote and this won’t form part of any official record. Maureen McLaughlin, Warrington, Cheshire