Letter to the Editor: The Elections Act 2022 introduces a requirement for photographic ID when voting in person.

To put this in perspective, 58 million votes were cast in 2019 and there were a mere 34 allegations of in-person voting fraud. 

Fewer than one in a million. So what’s the point? 

The advantage from the Government’s standpoint is that poorer, younger and ethnic-minority people (in other words those groups less likely to vote Conservative) are also less likely to possess acceptable documents or find it inconvenient to acquire them.

So this legislation is a nakedly designed to bias voting towards the Conservatives.

They aren’t even subtle about it. 

Londoners can use a 60-plus Oyster card but its 18-plus equivalent will not be accepted.

 If you live outside London you can use on older person’s bus pass, but not a Student Union card. Credit to our MP, who backed the legislation and also happens to be Transport Minister: at least voting is one thing Forest pensioners can use their bus pass for. 

Good luck finding a bus to use it on.

Vilnis Vesma, Newent