The state Liberal-National Party government said it introduced the law in May to reduce voter fraud. Opponents said it will deprive some of the most marginalised groups, including Indigenous and ethnic communities, of their democratic right. “Voter fraud has been an issue in the past and there does continue to be an issue of people voting multiple times or voting as other people,” said the LNP Stafford candidate Bob Andersen. “It’s not too much to ask just to produce ID and verify who they are and then give their one vote and make it count.” The LNP has presented no evidence of systematic fraud in Queensland elections. “The last time this was thoroughly looked at, the court of Disputed Returns in Chatsworth went through 20,000 votes and the instances they found of double voting were very, very minor,” said Labor’s Queensland state secretary Anthony Chisholm. “So there is no justification for this and they’re just trying to advantage themselves and stop people voting and they’re the people that need a voice the most.”
Queensland’s Anti-Discrimination Commission also opposes the voter ID law.
“The majority of votes that were found to be suspicious is where elderly people may have had a visitor and voted and then the family has taken them out on voting day and they’ve voted,” said commissioner Kevin Cocks.
“I think just recently there were some admissions that people were drunk and they voted more than once.
“We do have concerns particularly for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, people from a non-English speaking background, elderly people, young people, young people; often do feel disenfranchised.”
Voters will have to bring a driver’s licence, passport, benefit card, utility bill, bank statement or letter from the Electoral Commission of Queensland.
If they cannot, they can still vote, after first filling out a declaration swearing to who they are.
Full Article: Compulsory ID a first for Queensland vote | SBS News.