Britons and some Irish head to the polls

[beschizza]

Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2024/07/04/britons-and-some-irish-head-to-the-polls.html

…

[timd]

@beschizza

Guess who forgot to bring his today? Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, responsible for the rule change and turned away by election workers.

That was in May, in a round of local elections. Of course, there is every chance he will forget again.

@beschizza

For the first time voters must bring photo ID

For the first time, in a general election, voters must bring photo ID.

@beschizza

counting begins immediately thereafter

Cue race between Newcastle and Sunderland. I don’t know

I voted first thing this morning, short queue, no forgotten IDs

Ben Jennings on the end of 14 years of dysfunctional Tory rule – cartoon

[GagHalfrunt]

@timd

I voted first thing this morning, short queue, no forgotten IDs

Unlike in the US, voting arrangements are not designed to be a test of endurance. Queueing for hours is not normal here.

[Purplecat]

@timd

For the first time, in a general election, voters must bring photo ID.

For the first time, in a general election,outside Northern Ireland voters must bring photo ID.

@beschizza

If the ruling Conservatives had an idea of who would be hidden behind that weasel-worded “some groups,”

Oh, they knew all right- Haunted pencil and MP for the 18th Century Jacob Rees-Mogg let the cat out of the bag when ID was used at previous English local elections:

Local elections 2023: Voter ID backfired on Tories, says Rees-Mogg

EDIT-

@beschizza

Polls being open until late at night means the traditional national practice of staying up to catch the results—counting tends to go quickly—is more gruelling than in times past.

Huh? Polls have closed at 10PM for as long as I can remember.

[ZamboniWogglebug]

I hope Labour wins big – and I hope it gives them the courage to fix some real problems and differentiate themselves more from the Tories.

[beschizza]

@Purplecat

Huh? Polls have closed at 10PM for as long as I can remember.

Sorry, I got confused between England and Alaska, my bad.

[beschizza]

I guess it has gone off the “45%+” boil since the election campaign began and extreme outcomes (like Lib Dems as official opposition) no longer seem likely.

[RickMycroft]

@beschizza

head to the polls

Oh. Thought it was heads on polls. Sorry.

[GilbertWham]

You need dragging back to Knifecrime Island for reeducation, innit bruv?

[beschizza]

Every time I’m back in New Cross I stare nostalgically at the location formerly occupied by Alaska Fried Chicken.

UPDATE: Still in business! They moved to Cheadle!

[euansmith]

Cheadle?! Splitters!

[FGD135]

@GagHalfrunt

Queueing for hours is not normal here.

But you guys are so good at it!

[the_borderer]

@ZamboniWogglebug

and I hope it gives them the courage to fix some real problems and differentiate themselves more from the Tories.

bad news

Labour are the real conservatives, says Starmer as he promises to protect...

Drill into the policy, ignore the puffery: this is a Starmer manifesto more...

Labour isn’t a progressive party, they are a party with progressives in it.

[smulder]

@beschizza

and “pre-load” with a caffeine hit just before you sleep

 

[failquail]

Must say this has been the least exciting GE in my lifetime…

It should be the best: Tories finally being decimated! Yay!
But with the primary opposition being infiltrated by Tories, i expect almost nothing of note to change…

We’re going to swap Tory politicians implementing Tory policies with Labour politicians implementing Tory policies… yay…

That said, i’ll be VERY happy to be proven wrong here.

Edit: typo

[KathyPartdeux]

[bluehenbear]

Election Special. 5: Labour

One Last Tory Interview (with Rosie Holt MP)

[Kilkrazy]

I voted during my lunchtime walk. I had a minute’s queue for my second ballot, which happened because I had to do a proxy vote first, then get back in line for my own paper.

The UK has normally made voting very accessible. I’ve never lived more than a 15 minute walk from my local polling station, and I’ve never had to queue for more than a couple of minutes. There’s an average of 61 stations per constituency, which is roughly one for every 1,200 hundred voters.

I’m not wildly against voter ID except it’s clearly been introduced to solve a problem which doesn’t exist, with the objective of reducing left-wing voting from the young. If the Conservatives were actually interested in democracy they would pass a law to enrol all 18 year-olds onto the electoral register during their last year of school, and also introduce a free national ID card system. The UK and USA are just about the only nations left on Earth which don’t have one.

[Jesse13927]

Fuck, it looks like Farage is going to be an MP…

[Jesse13927]

This is why I love the UK.