Off the top of my head, there are at least four categories of people who may be particularly worth checking with to see if they're registered: a) anyone who has moved house in recent years, b) anyone who has turned 18 since the last election, c) students, and d) independence supporters who live abroad but are British citizens. Ex-pats are eligible to vote but are perhaps particularly unlikely to be registered. After they register, they can then either apply for a postal vote or a proxy vote.
For people who want to vote in person on 4th July, registering may only be the first step, because they also need to make sure they have an acceptable type of photo ID and bring it with them on the day. The list of accepted types of ID is as long as your arm, but the crucial point is that not all forms of photo ID are accepted, so people may actually need to check that list. Probably the first thing to ask is whether someone has a passport or a photo driving licence, and if they don't have either, they'll need to dig a bit further. If it turns out they don't have the right sort of ID, send them to this link to apply for a Voter Authority Certificate. The deadline to do that is 5pm on 26th June. (But remember the deadline to register to vote is 18th June!)
The Tories have declared war on democracy by introducing the photo ID requirement. There's no doubt that they will succeed in preventing some people from exercising their right to vote. Our task is to ensure those people are as few in number as possible.
I've always been opposed to complusory ID cards because I don't want to live in a "show us your papers" society. I was opposed to the Fixed Term Parliaments Act because I think five years between general elections is too long, and fixed terms exacerbated that problem. But there's no doubt that in a country without ID cards, it is absolutely bloody outrageous to spring an election on people at just a few weeks' notice and still expect them to have photo ID organised in time. We'll just have to do our best.
I've never had trouble registering to vote as that's done by post, and I've already received my polling card. But being old and digitally semi-literate, if I didn't have my son's help in applying for an acceptable photo-ID card, I'd be in real difficulty. Besides being fundamentally undemocratic and affecting a number of other disadvantaged groups, the policy is clearly ageist.
ReplyDeleteGot a letter saying my postal vote will arrive this coming week. The good thing about a postal vote is you don't need ID and you aren't hostage to fortune on the weather come polling day (although July should be mild and still daylight at 10pm).
ReplyDeleteAs I too am a pensioner I have found out that your bus pass is acceptable as photo-ID so most of us wrinklies should have an id allready ?
ReplyDeleteFatherTedCrilly
One of the big problems is the short period of time between the announcement of the GE and the deadline for registering to vote and for a postal vote. I am trying to get these for an elderly disabled lady who has recently moved house.
ReplyDeleteA friend managed to submit her application for her on line but without a National Insurance number. A week or so later a letter arrived saying there was a problem verifying her identity. There were three lists given. List 1 from which she could provide photo ID, eg a photocopy of a passport or a driving licence. List 2 and List 3 had a number of different things, eg utility bill or bank statement. You have to provide three items from these two lists. We also had to send in a paper copy of the application for a Postal Vote.
Our local library being closed because of concrete problems, I had to take a bus to another library to get the photocopy needed and then get it in the post. All this takes time and if she did not have friends she would not be able to get it done. She still does not have confirmation that she will be able to vote.
How many other people are in a similar situation, not to mention people who are under financial, social, medical or mental pressures? How many people will be deprived of their right to vote? UK democracy? Don't make me laugh.
Grouser
Enjoyable morning watching Trooping the Colour.
ReplyDeleteThis is the kind of thing that makes the majority of us proud to be British.
Was Prince Andrew there?
DeleteThink you are having a giraffe. That or you are a wee old lady with antimacassars on the chairs and a copy of the Daily Heil by your knitting.
DeleteI think Pronce Edward might have been there doing a bit of trooping of a different kind.
DeleteSieg Heil! Little nationalist.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like almost all the comments are from people who got superannuated last century.
ReplyDeleteMy dinner should be delivered to my door by a Bengali. The Aberdeen Royal Infirmary linenoleum should be extensively held together with Duck Tape, and the lift buttons, and the clocks shouldn't work.
ReplyDeleteAs the old saying goes: vote early and vote often, folks.
ReplyDeleteIf only there was a political party which genuinely advocated independence for Scotland then voting for them in this Westminster election would be worthwhile. But there's nae. There's only unionist parties of varying degrees. Tell England and the whole unionist farce to piss off - by abstaining.
ReplyDeleteThat’s what I’m doing. First election in my life I won’t turn up for. Scunnered with the lot of them.
DeleteMy message is for the SNP. What’s the cost of playing Yessers for fools? THIS. Every election until you win us back.
Gosh well down both of you. Now wipe down your keyboard and away and try and get your hole, you silly billies. Get in some marching practice.
DeleteDunno what to tell you, KC. Yessers aren’t property. Neither King nor Kaiser.
DeleteKC's getting worse at this
DeleteThe silly billy brigade are out in force today. K C? Silly billies.
DeleteThe original poster is KC. "But there's nae" is the tell
DeleteYou have to remember that KC speaks the "Dumfries and Galloway" dialect of Scots.
Deletehttps://archive.is/zp7jx
ReplyDelete"John Mason could face 'buffer zone' action, Health Secretary warns"
'The Health Secretary [Neil Gray]: "I can understand, given his [John Mason] longstanding and very public position on these matters, why he has taken that decision. If there is a disciplinary process will be a matter for other people to determine."'
It's this type of persecution of other views and those who hold them, by the extreme conformists in the SNP such as Gray, is the reason so many ordinary people think the SNP are a load of arse holes. Though in fairness the headline is as so often these sad days, twisted.
I'm absolutely totally in favour of the buffer zones; there is a time and place to demonstrate, and it is NOT where vulnerable women go for their problems. Do it outside Holyrood. But people are entitled to their views, though sexist men are not entitled to demand what a woman does with her body and life.
The SNP is a no-go area for people o' independent minds.
Mason’s an arse, but like you I defend his right to be an arse. The thought police in the SNP have to go.
DeleteHi James. Can you put the three links (registering, ID and Certificate) clearly at the top or bottom of your post, please?
ReplyDeleteAt the moment they are buried in the article, and as soon as you click on them the links are marked as used and blend invisibly with the rest of the texts, making them very difficult to find and share with others.
Thanks
As a 78 year old man who has wanted independence for most of my lie.I am disapointed to read the comments by Annon 1:23,Anon 2;09 and Anon 2:43.I can understand their frustration because I have waited a long time for independence.However,it is wrong to blame the SNP for the delay in achieving it.I joined the SNP in 1974 and since then the SNP have done more than any other party to bring independence nearer.Theproblem is not the SNP.it is the unwillingness of the UK government to recognise the democratic rights of Scottish voters,as expressed in numerous elections.
ReplyDeleteNot voting,will not help,since in order to be granted another referendum,it is necessary to win the Westminster election in Scotland.Not voting,will not help with that.That is a problem because the UK government (whether we like it or not) will only allow a referendum if the SNp win the election.The SNP webpage under Independence describes the strategy for achieving independenceJohn Swinney in a recent letter to SNP members stated that:Scotland will only be independent if Scotland votes for it.That is why the SNP manifesto will state on page one,that a vote for the SNP is a vote for Scotland to be an independent country.I do hope that some of the doubters will change their minds,since this elction is critical if we are to make progress towards what all of us want.
.
Anon @ 4:42 PM If you're going to copy and paste the same comment onto multiple blog posts at least add a few paragraph breaks the next time you do it.
DeleteI disagree, I myself will be abstaining at the GE, as the SNP is the only pro Independence Party standing in my constituency and I most certainly won’t be voting for them.
DeleteThe SNP are starting to make positive noises regarding independence, however this is only to get people to vote for them in this election and keep their snouts in the Westminster trough. Once the GE is past they will go back to what they were, with little interest in independence. This needs to be a wake up call for them that people are fed up with the lack of progress towards independence. We can only hope the losses at the GE make them realise they need to change. Let’s hope that change happens before the Holyrood election, and all supporters of independence can get behind them again, but until that happens there is very little point in voting for them. The SNP need to be shown how unhappy people are with them, and until there’s change they won’t be getting my vote.
So you help the Brit Nat parties. Unionist by default. I’m sure the Mail or express are looking for turncoat bloggers.
Delete"In order to be granted..."
ReplyDeleteOkayAnon 4:50,I dont like the idea of The UK having the power to grant a refendum,since Scotland is a nation,and the people are soverign.However the UK road block is the reality we face just now.
DeleteWhile a majority in a referendum is the gold standard for achieving indepence,we will only get a referendum,if the SNP win the election.The SNp strategy in the case of the UK goverment still saying no is to use the next Scottish election as a defacto referendum.I suggest that doubters read the SNP strategy for achieving independence in their website.
To win the next election,we needvotes and a sensitivity to what people are concerned about on the doorstep.Voters are more concerned just now about cost of living,poverty,lack of access to dental care and so on.Voters are more concerned with daily stuggles than how we will gain independence.However,the SNP are attempting to explain the relationship of independence to voters
Daily concerns.That is why they talk a lot about health ,education,environment,jobs etc,and less on how we will achieve independence (process).However,there is a strategy for moving towards independence.People can disgree with the strategy,but they are wrong when they say that the SNP is doing nothing.
Seriously that's word for word copied from the comment section of a previous blog post.
DeleteWhat's the point of having a debate if you just stop responding and then start from the beginning again on the next blog entry?
Like the SNP's strategy on independence I'm tired of a neverending groundhog day.
DeleteIt doesn't help your cause to also have a groundhog debate where you just copy what you've posted previously & disregard everything that was said in response.
@5:39 And if you cant carry the people over to yes who are currently no or dont know, we will never achieve it.
DeleteWhat are your plans to acheive independence, moan from the sidelines?
Endulge me with your solution?
Anon @ 6.20
DeleteSupport for independence has pretty much remained the same for the last decade. The only time polls shifted significantly in our favour was during an actual campaign when there was a realistic possibility of it actually happening.
People say that we need to move on from process for how independence will be achieved but without a viable mechanism it's pointless what level we manage to get independence support to (if anything history has proven that we actually need the mechanism in place first for any campaign to rally around and campaign towards).
What doesn't help is offering pipedreams about Westminster giving in granting us a referendum, sending envoys to the EU or the SNP planning to use the 2026 as a de-facto referendum when the only mention of it is a brief mention on the website to "give consideration" to the idea.
We need to be honest with people about the reality of the situation and if we actually want to move forward that will require all pro-independence parties and organisations to come together to discuss the best way forward (rather than just making demands for some shut up and vote a certain way).
We need that Constitutional Convention and tbh it should have happened after the last Scottish Parliament election like Alba wanted. Imagine how the last 2 years would have been different if all sections of the Yes movement had gotten into a room together, we might actually be heading into this General Election with a unity of purpose rather than having discussions on how many MPs the SNP are expected to lose.
Ano 6:20.I am an SNP member who welcomes the fact that the independence movement is comprised of more parts than the SNP.I do agree that we should be talking to each other.When I talk about the risk of the SNP losing a lot of seats in the coming election,I do so in the context of the implications for independence,for all of us,who are on the same side. It is not a partisan or blaming attempt.
DeleteThe SNP manifesto will state on page one ,line 1,that a vote for independence is a vote for Scotland to become an independent country.John Swinney confirmed that to me.That means that voters know what they are voting for,and should the SNP win a majority,that means that they can demand Westminster to legitamise the process of a referndum.Should the UK government refuse,conference has stated that (you are right) that it would be considered that the next Scottish election would be a defacto referendum.Now I an see that you lack trust about that.However trust is earned by what you do,rather than what you say.I am totally convinced ,as I speak tp people in the SNP, that a defacto referendum is exactly what they would do,since there would not be any other option.There is a strong commitment within the SNP membership to independence.I do believe that John Swinney and Kate Forbes will do everything possible to achieve independence.
I do agree that there is a need to review the process that will achieve independence.Nobody has a monopoly of ideas.However during the coming election,people on the doorstep are far more interested in talking about the cost of living,than how independence can be achieved.I think that in order to refocus them on independence,it is necessary to talk about independence in the context of the cost of living,and any other concerns that voters have,That is what SNP candidates are doing,and I would guess that ALba are doing this as well.
We've been here before though.
DeleteFollowing the Supreme Court ruling in November 2022 Nicola Sturgeon said the following:
*** As for that choice – and for the avoidance of any doubt – I believe today, just as I did yesterday, that a referendum is the best way to determine the issue of independence.
The fact is, the SNP is not abandoning the referendum route.
Westminster is blocking it.
And in that scenario, unless we give up on democracy – which I, for one, am not prepared to do – we must and will find another democratic, lawful and constitutional means by which the Scottish people can express their will.
In my view, that can only be an election.
The next national election scheduled for Scotland is the UK General Election, making it both the first and the most obvious opportunity to seek what I described back in June as a de facto referendum.
As with any proposition in any party manifesto in any election, it is up to the people how they respond. No party can dictate the basis on which people cast their votes.
But a party can be – indeed should be – crystal clear about the purpose for which it is seeking popular support.
In this case, for the SNP, it will be to establish – just as in a referendum – majority support in Scotland for independence, so that we can then achieve independence.
That, then, is the principle.
However, now that the Supreme Court’s ruling is known, and a de facto referendum is no longer hypothetical, it is necessary to agree the precise detail of the proposition we intend to put before the country – for example, the form our manifesto will take, the question we will pose, how we will seek to build support above and beyond the SNP, and what steps we will take to achieve independence if we win. ***
Why has that been completely forgotten about?
At the moment the SNP include a referendum as part of their strategy to achieve independence because of the view that winning a referendum will facilitate international recognition.However they also recognise that there is a need to have a plan B,should a Yes majority in a referendum be ignored.I think that using the Scottish election as a defacto referendum is more likely to succeed than using a Westminster election for that purpose,since the focus is entirely on Scotland.
DeleteThe Supreme Court ruling was the last best opportunity we had to unite the Yes movement.
DeletePeople were rightly outraged when it was proven beyond any reasonable doubt that the UK isn't a voluntary union of equals & that ruling also killed off the Section 30 referendum approach as ever being viable option again.
We finally then had a First Minister who seemed willing to take bold action in response with her speech about using the UK General Election as a de-facto referendum. If that had continued we could have used that outrage and momentum to kick off a unified national campaign and just imagine were we'd be now nearly 19 months later.
Instead nothing happened, Nicola Sturgeon resigned and the strategy changed back to what Nicola Sturgeon said she'd never do again: Go cap in hand to Westminster.
Like Brexit before it another opportunity wasted. I'm not surprised at the large gap between support for independence and support for the SNP as whenever opportunity knocked they always decided to not answer.
So some cretin has burned a union flag at a war memorial.
ReplyDeleteDoes this person or persons really think they’re doing the independence cause any good with this disgraceful behaviour?
Who can say, since we have no idea who did it or what their goal was in doing so
DeleteWho was the protestor?
DeleteIs s/he an independence supporters?
Is s/he an agent provocateur?
You post suggest you know him/her and his/her motives?
Who is s/he?
SNP leading Labour by 7 points in the latest Survation MRP poll.
ReplyDeleteCan't seem to find this poll. Where is it published please anon?
DeleteVery "2011 esq" last minute big swing if that's the numbers.
Regards,
Michael.
I believe it’s been done for the Sunday Times, there was an article up on their site.
Delete