St. Albans' bishop, Alan Smith, raised concerns over the changes in their election laws. It would reportedly have a big impact on the less fortunate and most marginalized members of society.
Bishop Alan Smith's Concerns Over New Election Laws
Christianity Today reported that Alan Smith, the Bishop of St. Albans, has come out against tighter requirements that mandate voters to bring picture identification to the polling stations. The new regulations take effect for the municipal elections that will take place in May.
Bishop Smith is in charge of convening the Church of England bishops now sitting in the House of Lords in the United Kingdom. According to the bishop, evidence suggests that the new rules will have a negative impact on those who are already marginalized and underprivileged people in the community. "We already have a problem getting people to the ballot boxes, so why make it more difficult?" he added.
In response to the modification of the election law, the bishop is pushing all churches to make the modification known to their congregations so that voters are not surprised when they go to the polls.
Moreover, the contentious new regulations were brought in as a response to claims of voter fraud; nevertheless, the numbers that the Electoral Commission gave reveal minimal levels of verified fraud across all sorts of elections.
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Election Fraud in England
As per the House of Commons Library, the Electoral Commission issued a report on electoral fraud in the United Kingdom in 2014. The Commission's investigation did not uncover evidence suggesting widespread or systemic efforts had been made to disrupt or tamper with recent elections through electoral fraud. Based on the report's findings, the lack of a necessity for voters to present identification at voting places was identified as a "real and a perceived weakness" of the electoral system in the UK. It suggested that voters should be asked to present identification at polling locations.
The Conservative Party manifesto from 2015 stated that they would examine "requiring evidence of identification in order to vote." In 2016, Sir Erick Pickles investigated electoral fraud as part of his responsibilities as Anti-Corruption Champion for the newly formed Conservative Government. To combat voter fraud at the polling booths, he suggested that photo identification be required to cast a ballot, among other recommendations.
According to Brennan Center for Justice, as of Jan. 25, legislators in at least 32 states had pre-filed or presented 150 voting restriction proposals. Compared to pre-existing state law, a piece of legislation is considered restrictive if it contains one or more provisions that would make it more difficult for eligible citizens of the United States to register to vote, remain on the voter rolls, or cast a ballot. The introduction of 150 restrictive laws is an increase from the number of restrictive proposed bills at the same time in 2021 and 2022, showing that MPs are employing the same strategy as they did in the previous two years to make it more difficult to vote. It is common for restrictive laws to affect voters of color disproportionately negatively. Research conducted at the Brennan Center has shown that even a single voting provision can significantly and racially discriminatory impact voters.
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