The misstep was embarrassing for Johnson because the requirement to bring photo ID is a stipulation of the Elections Act which he introduced in 2022 while still in Downing
It’s not the onion, because you can’t make this shit up.
As a person with no horse in the grinder, why is requiring ID a good thing in England/EU a good thing, but bad in the USA?
I’m very confused.
The US (mostly the trending fascist party) does whatever possible to make sure the least amount of people possible get the opportunity to vote and for the people who do vote, make sure their vote does not count as much as possible. It also varies per state.
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not giving out a national identification card, but then requiring an identification card to vote
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voting districts with crazy borders to make absolute certain that the far right gets the most representatives possible https://www.maproomblog.com/xq/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/wapost-gerrymander-1024x687.jpg
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reducing the amount of voting centers every year in areas like major cities that vote more left so that the people would have to travel an hour or more to vote and without a car, it is almost impossible
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Voting is not a public holiday and many states do not allow voting by mail. Combined with the before point removes many poor people’s ability to vote at all
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there is a right wing effort to remove as many left leaning votors as possible from registration for minor errors
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Armed party members at elections recently to intimidate voters, especially if they “look like the left demographic”
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the “electoral college” which can just decide to not cast the vote that actually decides elections for the candidates that the citizens voted for
It is really batshit crazy over there. It seems like the right gets away with all of this crazy stuff and then when the left is back in power, almost nothing is done to change it back with regards to voting.
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Voting ID requirements have not been universally seen as a good thing in the UK, there’s been a lot of opposition to it.
There is no national ID in the UK, instead there is a patchwork of secondary ID systems such as passports, drivers licenses, travel cards etc. In most cases they have a monetary cost or are not universally available.
It’s been seen as an attempt at voter suppression as many poorer British people may not have suitable ID. The rules also reject many forms of ID commonly held by younger voters, while accepting a wider range of ID held be older voters. There is supposed to be a free voting ID available but implantation has been left to local councils and has been criticised as hard to access.
Seriously? They made voting ID a council issue? Northern Ireland has had voting ID for a while and it’s dead easy to get one, only thing I needed to pay was postage on a 2nd class stamp. Pretty good as well as it basically makes a free photographic ID available
So, you had it mailed? Wouldn’t that leave houseless people on the short end of this “dead easy” stick?
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You can get stuff mailed to a sheltered accomodation or homeless shelter
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You generally needed the polling card and an address to register to vote before this system, so I don’t see how it makes a difference.
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Imagine going through the soul crushing hell of being a committed and earnest election worker in a failing 21st century democracy and then the clouds part and in one shining moment you can tell boris you have no idea who he is, but he’ll need ID.
Like seriously consider it. Do you say “on your bike son”? Can you resist flipping him off? The joy he gave that one person might be the single act of good in johnson’s entire life.
On bike? Flipping off? Boris Johnson?
Boris Johnson is a dumb person’s idea of an intelligent person.
I thought he was an intelligent person’s idea of a dumb person.
He has at best an intelligence a bit above average, tough seems to believe he’s some kind of genious.
Like in so many things, there seems to be a sort of Dunning-Krugger Effect when it comes to intelligence, with the “just above average” up to what I call “entry level genious” - i.e. those just about intelligent enough to frequently outsmart most people - often vastly overestimating their own mental capabilities.
(Think Elon Musk if you need another example).
It probably doesn’t help that in the environment he grew up and lives, those who intellectually can run circles around him won’t actually tell it to his face and instead just use him if they can or keep quiet to avoid some kind of negative reprecursions if they’re in a position of less power.
What he does have which is vastly superior to most people is the lack of scruples and of morals: there are definite advantages in terms of outwittting others for those who lie and deceive with the same naturality as breathing. That is however not intelligence, just a mix of sociopathy and public school training.
(Think Elon Musk if you need another example).
I think Johnson and Musk are both great examples of people who have that Used Car Salesman style emotional intelligence needed to sell ice to an eskimo. But they lack the curiosity or self-reflection that one might need to do anything useful.
What he does have which is vastly superior to most people is the lack of scruples and of morals
They’re both failkids who rose upwards from their parents’ petite bourgeois class position. They were surrounded by people who also lacked scruples and morals, but never got to really push pedal to metal by hooking up with an insider like Jeff Epstein or Peter Thiel.
This fucking dingbat. Even if he was just a random citizen, he should know by now that you need to bring ID. And it’s always good to check if you have it when going to your polling station.
Here in the Netherlands, we’re VERY strict on ID. No ID, no vote. I’ve been witness to a fair few elections as a reporter, and it always gets drilled into the people who run the polling stations: even if the King himself walks in, you ask him for his ID and tell him to bugger off if he doesn’t have it. I’ve seen city mayors turned away at polling stations in their own council buildings for failing to produce ID. And they all perfectly understand why those strict controls are necessary.
And they all perfectly understand why those strict controls are necessary
To disenfranchise those without government issued ID
This is only really an issue if it’s not free and convenient to get one, as in huge swaths of the US.
And also, the UK