V. IDENTIFICATION

OBJECTIVE:

·  To initiate a more secure system of identification and verification at the polling station.

ACTION:

·  The introduction of a voluntary photo-ID card (the voter ID card) for use at the polling station

·  The removal of all non-photographic forms of ID on the list of specified documents

·  The use of the date of birth collected at registration as a means of checking the authenticity of the proffered identity document

·  The introduction of a third statutory question permitted to the presiding officer

TIMING:

·  The voter ID card will be issued as soon as the legislation permits.

·  Non-photographic forms of ID will be removed from the list of specified documents once the Government is sure that the alternative voter ID card has been taken up sufficiently widely.

·  The statutory question will be available for use at the first election following the passing of legislation.

Background

  37.  The identification of voters at the polling station in Northern Ireland is already more carefully controlled than elsewhere in the UK. Every voter must present one of a number of specified identity documents at the polling station before he or she is given a ballot paper. This measure was introduced in 1985 to help combat the problem of personation.[5] (A list of the current specified documents is at Appendix B.) Once a voter has identified him- or herself, the presiding officer must issue a ballot paper. If one of the polling agents believes that the voter is not who he or she claims to be, he or she may ask the presiding officer to ask the two statutory questions—`are you x?' and `have you already voted at this election?'. If the voter answers correctly, the ballot paper must be presented unless the polling agent accuses the voter of personation.

  38.  The ease with which identity can be falsified is a cause for concern. Amongst the specified documents, only the passport and driving licence (except old GB licences) contain any photographic identity of the holder. Non-photographic identity documents offer little concrete proof of identity and are known to have been forged on occasion. In addition, the questions that the presiding officer may ask do not offer satisfactory evidence of the voter's identity. Indeed, at present there is no way of verifying the identity of the voter; the only options are to accept the veracity of the voter's documentation or accuse him or her of personation.

The Solution: a) The Voter ID Card

  39.  The Government will introduce a new, voluntary photographic identity card for use at elections in Northern Ireland. The inadequacy of the non-photographic forms of identification has led the Government to believe that what is required is a list of specified documents that is limited to photographic ID. Presiding Officers will thereby be able to determine with greater certainty whether the document presented identifies the holder. However, most forms of photographic identification that voters carry are insufficiently secure for electoral purposes (e.g. travel cards, workplace passes and student cards). The passport and driving licence would remain on the list, but there will always be some people who have neither of these, particularly the elderly and the poor.

  40.  The voter ID card will be issued on behalf of the Electoral Office and will carry a photograph of the holder as well as essential personal data. It will include a number of security features to make it hard to forge and impossible to alter. The voter ID card is not a universal ID card; it will be entirely voluntary, it is expected that no more than 500,000 people will need one to vote, and it will have no purpose except to prove identity at the polling station. This proposal has been widely welcomed by the parties. It is intended that the new voter ID card will be added to the list of specified documents on introduction and that it will eventually replace the non-photographic ID on the list of specified documents.

  41.  An initial issuing programme will be scheduled to begin as soon as there is legislative authority. The voter ID card will be freely and easily available. To that end, the issuing process will be conducted locally, with data- and image-capture units (that is, small teams of clerks with a laptop and a small camera linked to the computer) visiting every neighbourhood. It will operate in conjunction with a high-profile media campaign, including publicity targeted at those groups most likely to need such cards. Permanent issuing stations will subsequently be maintained at local electoral offices.

  42.  The medical card and other non-photographic documents will be removed from the list once the voter ID card has achieved wide acceptance. The Government is determined that no one should be disenfranchised until they have had every reasonable opportunity to acquire photographic ID. Once the Government is certain that it is safe to remove the other documents from the list, the voter ID card, the passport and driving licence will be the only ID acceptable at the polling station.

  43.  It may be possible in time to add other photographic identity documents to the list of specified documents. A more secure form of medical card, or other government-issued card, would, if introduced, be a useful addition to the list.

The Solution: b) An Additional Statutory Question

  44.  What is required in addition is an opportunity to verify the authenticity of the voter's identity document. The simplest solution would be for the Presiding Officer to check the voter's date of birth on his ID against that stored on the electoral database (see above, paragraphs 10-12). The date of birth would have been printed out on the paper copy of the register used at the polling station. (It would be necessary for this information to be kept private, available only to the presiding officer, and it would not be printed on the copies of the register available to public inspection or sold commercially.) Where the date of birth is the same on both documents, the Presiding Officer would be free to hand over a ballot paper. Where the dates of birth are quite clearly different, the Presiding Officer would proceed as if the document was in doubt and allow the voter to produce a different form of identification or accept a tendered ballot paper.

  45.  Errors can be made in entering data and the date of birth on one document may be only one or two digits different from that on another. Where there is reason to suppose that either the date of birth on the Electoral Register or that on the proffered identity document has been entered wrongly, the Presiding Officer would have recourse to an additional statutory question: what is your date of birth? This would allow the voter to clarify the discrepancy if necessary. If the voter gives his or her date of birth as that on the identity document rather than that on the electoral register, this would not constitute a reason for denying a ballot paper. However, if the voter gave his or her date of birth as that on the register and not that on the identity document, this would place the identity document into some doubt. The Presiding Officer would then proceed as before, allowing the voter either to provide an alternative form of ID or to take a tendered ballot paper.

Conclusion

  46.  At present, the ease with which medical cards can be used irregularly is a principal cause for concern in addressing electoral fraud. To require more credible proof of identity at the polling station should cut out a large part of the existing fraud. The introduction of a new form of photographic ID for electoral purposes is a simple and effective solution to this problem. In addition, with greater emphasis being placed upon the authenticity of the identity documents, the traditional task of identifying attempted personation should be reduced. Polling agents will still be required, but the burden of challenging identity will not rest solely with them.