Financial Times 11th November
The US Elections & voter suppression
The Boundary Commission in the UK has just published its latest proposals for redrawing many Parliamentary Constituencies. The principle is a reasonable one. To try and make sure that each constituency has roughly the same number of voters.
The practice of course is less satisfactory. The method used is similar to that used by Britain’s imperial administrators all over the world in the past. Draw lines on a map and if this splits communities, so what?
The end result of the exercise may benefit the Tories (Wales gets 8 less MPs)but that depends on what level the Tories actually poll at in the next Election.
Hence there is also a plan B, legislation to require voters to show ID when casting a vote to tackle the non-existent problem of voter impersonation. The forms of ID which will be accepted are of course far less likely to be held by those who might vote Labour.
The tactics have long been used in the US. The Guardian reporting on the US mid-term elections noted Republican ‘aggressive attempts to redraw electoral boundaries’. Voter suppression in the US in some areas is routine.
However on this occasion it didn’t’ really work. It would appear that the Roe v Wade overturning which threatens legal abortion and the Republicans propensity to run Trump backed far right whacko candidates mobilised (or demobilised) enough voters to mean that a far less than inspiring Joe Biden looked like he had a modest success.
He called it a victory for democracy. Hmmm
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