Electoral Fraud (Northern Ireland) Bill
9:30 am
Mr Lembit Öpik (Montgomeryshire, Liberal Democrat)
I beg to move amendment No. 36, in clause 4, page 4, line 35, at end insert—
`(8) The Chief Electoral Officer of Northern Ireland shall use his best endeavours to ensure that—
(a) within 5 years from the commencement of this section two thirds of those appearing on the electoral register hold electoral identity cards; and
(b) within 10 years from the commencement of this section that all those appearing on the electoral register hold electoral identity cards.'.
May I welcome you, Mr. Amess, to your esteemed position as Chair of this fine Committee, however jealous it may make others that I am the first to do so.
Those who were present at the previous sitting will have observed the luddite tendencies of the Minister, who is anxious about introducing some information technology to Northern Ireland too soon. We sympathise with that view, but we have a job to do to convince people that smart-card technology can be used to eliminate electoral fraud in Northern Ireland. That being so, the probing amendment is designed to clarify the Government's expectations regarding the application of an electoral identity card to Northern Ireland elections.
The amendment suggests targets for providing the electorate with identity cards for the purpose of elections. One of the aims of the Bill is to phase out those means of identification currently listed that do not contain a photograph, which will leave only passports, drivers' licences and the electoral identity card as specified documents to present at a polling station. Realistically, not everyone will have access to a driver's licence or passport, particularly the elderly or infirm. We do not want to disfranchise anyone, so we want as many people as possible to take up the alternative of an electoral identity card. We suggest targets rather than quotas in the amendment and use the phrase ``best endeavours'' as we do not want to stipulate that the electoral identity card be compulsory. However, a concerted effort must be made to encourage the electorate at large to use the card.
It may seem a contradiction for a Liberal Democrat to promote the concept of an identity card, as I am on the record as being fiercely opposed to such a card. I am, however, fiercely opposed to identity cards for citizens. I reassure the Minister, who is evidently distressed by the apparent contradiction, that we are not talking about an identity card for citizens in the sense that the state could require its production on demand. It is better to look at the identify card as a passport to democracy rather than as a licence to pry by the state, as there is all the difference in the world between the two.
What we propose would qualify a person to vote by proving that they are who they say they are; it is the same as a passport. It has a specific purpose only in the context of elections in Northern Ireland. If one looks at the identity card as a licence to vote one realises that it is not the concept of the item that is the problem but the terminology used to describe it. With the benefit of hindsight, it should probably have been called the voting licence card or something similar.