The following amendment has been selected: amendment 1 in the name of Darren Millar.

Item 8 is next, the Plaid Cymru debate on the UK Government's Elections Bill, and I call on Rhys ab Owen to move the motion.

Motion NDM7894 Siân Gwenllian

To propose that the Senedd:

1. Recognises the importance of ensuring that elections are fair and accessible for all voters.

2. Condemns the UK Government for introducing the Elections Bill which is set to bring in major changes to reserved elections, including the introduction of compulsory photographic identification to vote.

3. Supports the #HandsOffOurVote campaign that seeks to ensure that no legitimate voter is turned away from the ballot box.

4. Calls on the Welsh Government to oppose and raise concerns regarding the measures brought forward by the Elections Bill at every opportunity with the UK Government.

Motion moved.

Thank you very much, Deputy Llywydd. From the Chartists to the Suffragettes, people have literally given their lives to ensure that we have the right to vote on these islands, and, across the centuries, the great battle was to gain more rights, and that happened again recently in Wales as we extended the franchise to young people of 16 and 17 years old. Any attempt to limit the right to vote undermines all of our rights, undermines our way of life and undermines the democracy that we enjoy today because of the efforts and sacrifices of others.

Voting is the foundation of our democracy, Dirprwy Lywydd. It's where extraordinary possibilities become reality through a mere cross in a box. It has led to the foundation of the national health service, the creation of the welfare state and the establishment of our national parliament, our Senedd. The ballot box is where dreams and aspirations do come true. It's where decisions about the future of our nations are made by their citizens. It is also the most effective tool to hold us politicians to account.

We need very detailed scrutiny before any limitations on the right to vote are introduced, such as the introduction of ID. You need robust evidence that is properly analysed. Certainly, there's no place for ideology in influencing any decisions. The Conservatives will seek to portray this as a reasonable decision, but, in speaking to a jury in a court of law, I would always tell them to look at the evidence in the round.

Look at the evidence as a whole, at the Tory Government's action on the whole. They want to restrict protest, they want to strip people of citizenship without providing any justification. They want to stop our courts from quashing secondary legislation that is incompatible with human rights. They want to tackle so-called 'rights inflation'—that's too much human rights, to you and me. They want to restrict the right to a judicial review of public body decisions. They want to defund the BBC and, through that, our beloved S4C. And they want to make it harder for people to vote. The Conservatives today would still arrest the Chartists and the Suffragettes for being too noisy in their protest. My grandmother would still go to jail for protesting for S4C and Welsh language rights. They would have stopped my father from travelling on his motorbike from Cardiff to create as much mayhem and noise as possible during the shameful opening ceremony of the Tryweryn dam. 

The Llywydd took the Chair.

The Conservative Members here can shake their heads as much as they like. You can argue that the aim of Boris Johnson and his crew is to protect democracy, but I very much hope that you have enough sense and integrity to realise how unnecessary the introduction of voter ID is. The cases of voter fraud are so small.

One conviction of voter impersonation in 2017; zero in 2018; none in 2019. They are willing to disenfranchise millions of our own citizens, their own voters, to stop one account of voter fraud. If ever the overused adage of using a sledgehammer to crack a nut is true, it's true in this case. There is no justification at all for this heavy-handed response. 

The Conservatives will sit here, they'll hold their noses, their supporters will call the Prif Weinidog a tin-pot dictator for introducing COVID passes for a determined period of time during a public health crisis, but, Llywydd, do they not understand the very definition of irony? Ninety-nine Conservative MPs in Westminster—the largest rebellion against this Government—voted against COVID passports. Of that 99, 85 of them voted to introduce a voting ID for an indeterminate period. I don't agree with his position, but at least David Davis MP is consistent to oppose both COVID passes and voter ID. One English Tory MP cited reservations about COVID passes in fear of becoming a 'papers, please' society. Well, what about a 'photo ID, please, to vote' society? 

'I loathe the idea on principle. I never want to be commanded, by any emanation of the British state, to produce evidence of my identity.'

ID cards are

'recipes not just for waste but recipes for tyranny and oppression as well'.

Not my words, Llywydd, but the words of Boris Johnson, the very man that now wants to introduce voter IDs, a man who moves with the wind.

Or, to use the words of Gerallt Lloyd Owen, 'a man who never caught the tide.'

At least the Scottish Conservatives have questioned their leadership in Westminster, but the Welsh Conservatives say nothing. They sit on their hands, no whine, no whimper, and remain totally anonymous and totally irrelevant in the eyes of their masters in Westminster.

This is your opportunity, colleagues, to say, 'Enough is enough.'

Or will you only bark when Boris says, 'Bark'? Forget Dilyn, the No. 10 Downing Street dog, for a moment; it's their leader in the Senedd, that's Johnson's poodle, even though they don't know his name. But at least he had a prize yesterday for being a good boy.

My colleagues Heledd Fychan, Peredur Owen Griffiths and Sioned Williams will discuss the impact of this Bill on the citizens of our nation. I would like to focus on the impact on our Senedd. Although the Bill doesn't directly impact devolved elections, the indirect impact is clear for all to see. First of all, the Bill will mean that ID will be required for police and crime commissioner elections. As we saw last May, different elections can happen on the same day, and it's entirely credible that one could think that voters would leave the polling station without having voted in Senedd and local elections because of a lack of ID—they will see that they need ID, and they will turn away. It makes the situation more complex, it makes the system more complex in a way that's entirely unnecessary.

On top of this, it erodes the independence of the Electoral Commission. Clause 12 sets out the commission needs to follow the strategy and policy statement of the Westminster Government. This sets out priorities on electoral matters and principles that the commission are expected to operate and then have their performance measured against that statement created by the Westminster Government. In fact, the Electoral Commission is funded and formally accountable to all Parliaments on these islands. The Westminster Government should not be able to dictate to the commission what it can and cannot do.

For a party founded on the principles of limited Government, the increasingly encroaching state on public bodies seems to be a fixture of modern Toryism and Johnsonism. I see that the Tory amendment claims that the Electoral Commission is supporting voting ID. That is simply not the case. They are clear that the introduction of a new policy is a matter for Government, not them.

Also, the amendment mentions the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights. Well, let us look at who are members of that office. Twenty eight of the office's participating states are described as not politically free, with some countries having well-known human rights breaches, such as Belarus. Belarus, described as Europe's last dictatorship, Kazakhstan and Russia, these are the people that the Conservative Party in Wales are aligning themselves with.

Experiments with voter ID just show that it leads to fewer people voting. In the Westminster pilot in 2019, of the 1,000 that were rejected because they didn't have ID, 338 of them—a third of them—didn't return. In another pilot, where it was possible to show photographic ID or two other pieces of specific ID without a picture, 2,000 were rejected. This time 750 didn't return. These aren't my figures or the figures of the Electoral Reform Society or any other group; they are the figures of the very Government that wants to introduce voter ID.

At a time when turnout for elections is low, with general elections sitting at around 60 per cent, and with the Senedd struggling to reach 50 per cent, why would we want to limit people and dissuade them from sharing their voices and their opinions with us? Anyone who supports this Bill—and I'm looking at my friends who usually sit opposite me in the Siambr—should never again criticise this Senedd or any other election for that matter for low turnout, if they are supporting, through this, the voter ID that will actively turn people away and discourage voters. Democracies represent the voices of their citizens. A democracy that fails to include all its citizens or stops them from voicing their opinion is not a proper democracy. Diolch yn fawr.

I have selected the amendment to the motion, and I call on Darren Millar to move the amendment tabled in his name. Darren Millar.

Amendment 1—Darren Millar

Delete all after point 1 and replace with:

Welcomes the UK Government’s Elections Bill and its provisions to strengthen the integrity of elections across the United Kingdom.

Notes that the introduction of voter ID has been backed by the Electoral Commission and that the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights has stated that its absence is a security risk.

Calls on the Welsh Government to work collaboratively with the UK Government to improve the integrity of all elections held in Wales.

Amendment 1 moved.

Diolch, Llywydd. I move the amendment tabled on behalf of the Welsh Conservatives in my name.

I have to say, I was a little bit disappointed by the tone of Rhys ab Owen's speech there, and it feels a little bit like groundhog day today, because, of course, we had basically the same debate just a couple of months ago, tabled by the Welsh Government. But, of course, it shouldn't surprise me any more that Plaid, as the—. He was accusing us of being lapdogs of No. 10, but Plaid are the lapdogs, of course, of the Welsh Labour Party. You're in a co-operation agreement with the Welsh Labour Party and, effectively, in coalition. So, it's a bit rich, frankly, Rhys ab Owen, of you to accuse us of being other people's lapdogs, when, quite frankly, we've seen plenty of evidence in the Siambr today, this virtual Siambr, of the fact that that is precisely what you and your colleagues are in terms of the Labour Party.

In spite of the song and dance that you've made about the provisions of the UK Government's Elections Bill, the reality is that most voters out there are astonished at the fact that you're opposing what are perfectly sensible measures to bring forward safeguards against voter fraud that will strengthen the security of our elections across the whole of the UK. And instead of opposing the sorts of provisions that are in this Elections Bill, including voter ID, which I'll come on to in a moment, why on earth would you want to oppose measures against undue influence? Why on earth would you want to oppose measures against the intimidation of voters? Because they're some of the other provisions that you and the Welsh Government are currently opposing in the Bill. We all know that election fraud is a heinous crime of which every single person in this Chamber and this country has been a victim.

Can I just cut across, Darren Millar? Are you willing to accept an intervention from Rhianon Passmore?

I'll take one in a moment, if I may, Llywydd. 

Okay. I'll leave you to tell us when that is.

And the reality is that it is a crime we'll all be victims of again and again if the UK Government and the Welsh Government don't take action to combat it. 

You made reference, Rhys ab Owen, to the relatively few cases of voter fraud that have been identified in recent years, but the fact that more haven't been identified doesn't mean that it's not happening, because of course the nature of fraud means that it very often goes unnoticed, undetected and unrecorded. But where it has been discovered, sometimes it's been on an industrial scale. We've seen terrible cases of fraud in Tower Hamlets, Slough, Birmingham and elsewhere, and it has exposed weaknesses in election arrangements that any responsible Government would want to address. That is what the UK Government is seeking to do with its Elections Bill. 

This is going to stop the theft of people's votes by requiring voters to present photo ID when they turn up to a polling station. It will address weaknesses in the postal and proxy vote arrangements. And with regard to voter ID, I know that you're up in arms about this provision, and so is the Labour Government, but of course it was a Labour Government that brought in voter ID in Northern Ireland, where it works perfectly well, and we know that, very often, in Labour party meetings, I think it's true to say to my Labour colleagues at this virtual Senedd this afternoon, many times you have to produce your membership card in order to vote.

I've now a second intervention request from another Labour Member, Jenny Rathbone. 

Go on, I'll take them both.

Okay, Rhianon Passmore first, and Jenny Rathbone, and then Darren can respond to both. 

Diolch, Llywydd, and thank you for taking the intervention. It's a very simple question, and it goes to the root of some of the points that have been made, Darren Millar. How is it good for democracy if it is harder to register to vote and it is therefore harder to vote?

Jenny Rathbone. 

I note you haven't told us how many there are in Wales. I've never come across it in Wales at all. So, how would you respond to my constituent who said that her parents won't be able to vote because they don't have a passport and they don't drive?

So, voter ID—I'll respond to both of them, because it's effectively the same point—voter ID is not a threat. Ninety-eight per cent of the electorate already have suitable photographic identification that they would be able to use in order to vote, and those who don't currently have that photographic ID will be able to get a free voter ID card that will be available from their local authority. That is the case in Northern Ireland, where this system works perfectly well and doesn't have any problems, and that will be the case also here in Wales and elsewhere in the UK. And in fact, you don't just have to take my word for it, the Electoral Commission have very clearly said, and I quote, that

'Since the introduction of photo ID in Northern Ireland there have been no reported cases of impersonation. Voters' confidence that elections are well-run in Northern Ireland is consistently higher than in Great Britain'.

So, this is not about ideology, this is about sensible measures. The reality is that photo ID is required in most western democracies. Almost everywhere in Europe, people are required to produce photo ID in order to vote. Every single country in Europe, with the exception of Denmark, where you still must provide it if you are requested to do so. So, the UK at the moment is a complete outlier in respect of this.

You mentioned the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights and I was disappointed about your disparaging remarks about that particular office and organisation. It has already identified that the absence of voter ID poses a security risk to our elections. Now, I want to see that security risk addressed, and so should every single Member of this Senedd and anybody else who is elected by the people of Wales. 

Plaid and Labour often argue that they've opposed voter ID because they claim that minorities would be disadvantaged because they're less likely to hold identification. I've heard that rehearsed not by you, Rhys ab Owen, today, but I've heard it rehearsed elsewhere. There's no evidence for this assertion. In fact, data shows that 99 per cent of people from ethnic minorities have a form of photo ID that would enable them to vote, compared to 98 per cent of people who identify as white. So, it is a bit disappointing that some people still make that point. 

You accused us of hypocrisy earlier on, but it's pretty astonishing that both Labour and Plaid persist in their opposition to voter ID when in recent months you've been requiring people to verify their identity in order to access a COVID pass to watch a film at their local cinema. If you're happy to impose ID requirements to watch the latest Spider-Man movie, why do you have a problem with people being required to show their ID in order to vote? People have to show a bus pass with their identification on in order to jump on a passenger bus; why should people not be required to produce some identification in order to partake in the important democratic mandate that we ask them to periodically here in Wales in the elections?

And a quick word, finally, on the Hands Off Our Vote campaign. That is exactly what the Government is trying to do. The UK Government is trying to keep people's hands off votes that don't belong to them. It's trying to protect people's votes from people who want to steal them. And to suggest that the UK Government is some sort of nefarious actor is an appalling misrepresentation of the facts. So, instead of balking about the UK Government Elections Bill, what the Labour-Plaid coalition should be doing instead is to make it a priority to adopt the provisions in this particular Bill and make sure that they apply to all elections that take place in Wales, including those for which the Senedd is responsible, because we need to make sure that voters here can have confidence that when they cast their ballots, they do make a difference and that those elections are free, fair and protected. So, I urge Members to reject the motion and to support the amendment that we've tabled. Thank you. 

I'm very much looking forward to disappointing Darren Millar this evening with my contribution. Let's counter some of his statistics at the start, as I, too, can quote the Electoral Commission. As you know, the UK has no national ID card, compared to other countries, and also 3.5 million registered voters do not possess any form of photo ID, and 11 million do not have a driving licence or passport. So, you may quote these statistics, but there are millions of people who will be disenfranchised by this. 

Ever since plans to introduce compulsory voter ID were introduced, Plaid Cymru has opposed them, and we will continue to oppose them. In 2019, we signed the joint letter from opposition parties urging the UK Government to scrap the policy, and, as we've already heard, we opposed the LCM, sending a strong message from this Senedd to the Westminster Government that we do not support these proposals here in Wales. 

The introduction of compulsory voter ID will disenfranchise particularly younger and black, Asian and minority ethnic voters, who are less likely to have the documents required to vote. The increasing divergence between UK and Welsh devolved elections is also worrying, given that voting rights for Welsh elections have been extended to all those over 16 years of age, including foreign nationals resident in Wales. Whilst Welsh elections are becoming more inclusive and democratic, the same cannot be said of Westminster, which is doing exactly the opposite. 

The UK Government's own figures show that 2 million people, including almost 100,000 people here in Wales, could be deprived of the ability to vote as a result of these plans. The UK Government has received multiple warnings from campaigning groups about the problems of the policy and that it is a huge overreaction to the issue of voter fraud, which happens very rarely. Where are the facts in that regard? Jenny Rathbone was quite right to raise that in the Welsh context. Indeed, analysis by the Electoral Reform Society in 2019 found that, of the 266 allegations investigated by police in the 2018 local elections, only eight involved claims of voter impersonation, which voter ID is intended to reduce. Of the eight cases, no action was taken in seven, and one was resolved locally. In contrast, 140 of the allegations were about campaigning offences. In 2020, the police investigated 15 cases of voter fraud, and only three remain under investigation. 

A truly democratic nation empowers its citizens to engage in democratic processes. In the Senedd election in May, we know that at least 35,000 16 and 17-year-olds hadn't taken the chance to vote for the first time. Fifty-four per cent of this age bracket failed to register. Indeed, the rate of registration for the general population of Wales is 76.4 per cent; we're all duty bound to improve this. According to a report by the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities published in November of last year, 25 per cent of black Britons are not registered to vote. Consider this alongside the Government's own data that 48 per cent of black people do not hold a driver's licence. 

We know that participating in democracy is strongly linked to improved outcomes, and it should therefore be obvious to all that voting reform should focus on inclusion, rather than erecting barriers to voting. You can't put a price on democracy, but these changes would suggest that there is a cost to being a democratic nation, namely £34 if you are applying online, or £43 through the post, which is the cost for a first-time driver's licence, or £75.50 online or £85 through the post for a passport. In Wales, people are facing high energy and fuel prices, cuts to universal credit, higher taxes and rising inflation. Do we really believe that everyone can afford a driver's licence or a passport, particularly if they don't drive or have any plans to go abroad? [Interruption.] Yes, Darren, I'm happy to take—

Heledd, will you take an intervention from Darren Millar? 

Yes, fine. 

Diolch. Thank you, Heledd, for taking the intervention. The photo ID cards that people will be able to access if they don't have a passport or driver licence will be free. So, I'm not sure why you're asserting that there's going to be a financial burden for individuals who may not have photographic ID already. They're provided free of charge in Northern Ireland, and the Bill specifically makes sure that there's no charge for the individual that wants to receive one. 

But there's no clarity in terms of when this will be available, or how. It adds another barrier to participation. There's also a cost for local authorities to deliver this. There is also the point that when the Government tested a voter ID pilot in 2018, more than 1,000 voters were turned away for not having the correct form of ID. And, on average, 338 voters did not return to vote, so 32.6 per cent of those turned away. So, it's not just a matter of having that ID—it's about putting those barriers in place. 

Although UK Ministers have promised a free ID, as I've just mentioned, the details on this aren't in place, and doesn't it place another barrier in the way of voters? 

The UK Government should be tackling the real issues in our politics, and make it easier for everyone to vote and to participate in our democracy. We are not representative as a Senedd, and placing further barriers will stop more people becoming part of this democratic process. Our electoral system is already unequal. The UK Government's plans would exacerbate this. We must do everything possible to stop this from happening here in Wales. 

As I said before in this Chamber, our democracy is built on a foundation of fair, open and accessible elections. Our Senedd function is to empower the people of Wales, and, in turn, we as their elected representatives are empowered by the trust they place in us at the ballot box. I know many Members from across this Chamber will have joined me in taking opportunities to meet school pupils in our constituencies, discussing with them the importance of voting and having their voice heard at election time. We do this because encouraging participation in our democracy is central to our role as elected representatives. A healthy democracy is one with which the electorate feel able to engage, meaning one that is as transparent as possible whilst being free from unnecessary barriers to participation. Whilst we have seen in recent weeks that transparency is not high on the Tory Government's list of priorities, the Elections Bill is proof that neither is encouraging participation in our democratic processes.

The introduction of compulsory photo ID to vote has no evidential basis. It serves to solve a problem that simply does not exist on anything like the scale necessary to influence an election, at an extraordinary price. What we do know, however, is that it will make voting more inaccessible, particularly for those from disadvantaged communities. It's a fact that those most unlikely to possess a form of photographic ID are from poorer households. Putting in place artificial barriers to participation that disproportionately affect certain communities must never be seen as acceptable. It concerns me deeply to hear those from the Conservative benches defending such a move, and I am very grateful that we have a Welsh Labour Government, and in particular a Counsel General who is dedicated to protecting the democratic rights of all people in Wales. I trust he will continue to raise these concerns with the UK Government at every opportunity. I have no doubt that the Elections Bill presents a threat to participation levels for reserved elections in my own region of North Wales. Members here in the Senedd and in Westminster, from all political colours, should focus their energies on inspiring all potential voters to engage in our democracy, rather than creating ways to discourage them. Diolch yn fawr.

I imagine most of us involved in this debate have spent a fair amount of time trudging the streets in our patch, knocking doors, and talking politics to strangers. It's an aspect of being a member of a political party that I genuinely enjoy. Occasionally, it can make you feel a bit despondent when you come across somebody who is not engaged politically. They are completely switched off from voting because they cannot see how politics can affect their lives. At a time when we should be doing all we can to engage with people and get them participating in the democratic process, there arrives something that could make the job a lot harder by depriving hundreds of thousands of people a vote. 

The supposed rationale behind the Bill, the need to curb voter fraud, is at best extremely ill-advised and unwarranted. At worst, it is a blatant attempt to deny a vote to people who perhaps are more likely to vote against the Tories and their policies. Why do I say this Bill is unwarranted? In the last eight years, there have been a grand total of three prosecutions for voter fraud across the whole of the UK. I'll repeat that again: three prosecutions in eight years. Boris Johnson has had more lockdown-busting parties during the pandemic than that. Perhaps we should instead be bringing forward a Bill that curtails the alleged illegal activities of this rogue Prime Minister.

Anyway, as Plaid Cymru spokesperson for older people, I am particularly concerned about the impact this Bill will have on older people. Half of those affected will be over 50, with more than one in 25 people over 50 having not having acceptable forms of ID. The trend for taking services online also applies to identity cards. Age UK found that, in 2016, more than a quarter of people aged 65 to 74 did not regularly use the internet. This rises to almost two thirds of people aged over 75. Digital exclusion amongst older people is a real issue, and now it could see them being deprived of the vote. I hope those in favour of this Bill within this Senedd will reflect carefully on that point before they cast their vote this afternoon. Diolch yn fawr.

Thank you, Rhys, for bringing this important debate forward.

Let's take a step back and think about what this Bill could have been about. It could have been about strengthening our democracy by getting behind efforts to build a better politics with a fairer electoral system. It could have sought to expand the franchise, empower voters and communities, increase voter turnout, and rebuild trust in our electoral system. Instead, Conservative Ministers have voted to make it harder for people to vote, to actively disenfranchise people and to make our electoral system less representative.

I am grateful for the work of campaigners like Maddy Dhesi, leading the Hands Off Our Vote campaign. It's a campaign led by young people to keep elections fair and accessible for all voters. And they make the point very clearly: at a time when voter turnout continues to decline and public apathy continues to rise, measures that make it harder for people to participate undermine our democracy and ultimately our society. Voter ID proposals are not only discriminatory but, as we have heard, a blatant undermining of our democratic rights, and these plans are completely disproportionate.

So, I'm going to finish my brief speech with a political point, disappointing Darren Millar again. This is because this is a debate about values, whether it's this Bill, thinly veiled threats to our national broadcaster or a draconian clampdown on protests, Boris Johnson and his Government are hellbent on ducking and diving from accountability at every turn; hardly surprising, given their recent exploits. So, it comes as no surprise that there is a desire from the Conservatives to entrench themselves within a system that breeds the entitlement and self-serving behaviour that we have seen over the past few weeks. This is a shameful and disproportionate measure to undermine democracy by the Conservatives. Thank you. Diolch yn fawr iawn.

In their contributions to this debate, my fellow Plaid Cymru Members have highlighted concerns that are shared by many organisations, charities and other institutions. The people at most risk of losing their democratic voice as a result of this Bill are those from groups who are already disenfranchised. Yesterday, I spoke in relation to Holocaust Memorial Day about how guarded we must be as politicians and as citizens to safeguard civil rights, particularly in terms of ensuring that legislation doesn't have any sort of disproportionate impact on minorities, an impact that would disadvantage them, which would exclude them from society and silence them, and international evidence proves that steps such as insisting on particular photo ID in order to cast a vote does exactly that. And at a time—thanks to the disgraceful behaviour of the Boris Johnson Government and the numerous scandals—when people's trust in politics is plummeting, we need to empower the voice of electors, not close them out of the democratic system and create more suspicion.

I would like to focus on how the Bill disproportionately impacts on certain groups. LGBTQ+ people are three times more likely than the general population of not having photo ID, with 38 per cent of trans people and 35 per cent of non-binary people saying that they've had problems in getting their ID accepted.

Research by Stonewall has found that among those trans and non-binary people who have had their ID questioned or rejected in the past, 34 per cent cited that the problem was a difference in appearance between photos and appearance. Thirty-two per cent said their ID didn't match their given name. Twenty per cent said that the gender marker didn't match their appearance. Sixteen per cent noted hostility and transphobia. More than half of trans and non-binary voters said they were less likely to vote if they had to present ID.

We cannot on the one hand say that we support the rights of groups such as trans and non-binary people in policy areas such as health and education, but then not allowing them to express their democratic views.

This Bill will also have a disproportionate impact on young people, as we've already heard. All of our efforts here to ensure that young people engage with the democratic process through expanding the franchise to those of 16 and 17 years old by establishing our own Youth Parliament, through the excellent work that the Senedd does in engaging with schools and colleges is all proof of the fact that we understand that we need to nurture and increase the number of young people that are participating in our electoral process, and we heard the statistics from Heledd Fychan that prove this. The ID requirements will do exactly the opposite. One example of how it will do this is that travel cards for those over 60 years of age will be accepted as a legal form of photo ID that can be used to vote, but identity cards for students or travel cards for young people will not be accepted, and young people are far more likely to be without a passport or a driver's licence than older people. And the fact that many young adults are more likely to change address often makes it far more difficult for them to keep their ID documents up to date and therefore acceptable for use in voting.

Blind and partially sighted people experience a unique set of challenges when voting. The practical act of voting, making a cross in a specific location on a piece of paper, is fundamentally a visual exercise. It requires the ability to locate the boxes, read the names of the candidates and make a mark on the paper. Current provisions provided in every polling station to allow blind and partially sighted people to vote are a large-print ballot paper that can be used for reference and a tactile voting device. Although in practice, because of this inability to read the names of candidates on the ballot, the majority of the 350,000 blind and partially sighted people in the UK currently find it impossible to vote without having to share their vote with a companion or presiding officer in the polling station, often finding they have to name the candidate they want to vote for out loud. As a result, despite 2022 marking 150 years since the Ballot Act 1872 guaranteed the right to vote in secret, the vast majority of blind and partially sighted people are unable to exercise this right. But instead of proactively developing a new way to vote independently, this Elections Bill weakens the guarantees for blind and partially sighted people already existing in legislation, allowing for individual returning officers, instead of the Government, to make the decision as to what to provide, creating a postcode lottery of provision.

Nobody's right to vote should be undermined. Everyone who is eligible to vote deserves not only to do so, but they also should be able to expect their Governments encourage them to do so, enable them to do so and take away any barriers that could stop them doing so. The Bill is nothing more than a masked act of aggressive voter suppression; a well-recognised conservatory reactionary tactic to silence debate, to disenfranchise those who might vote for different kinds of representations and policies and the shore-up power of the privileged. We must do everything we can in Wales to stop its implementation. Diolch.

I think I'm a bit like my colleague Darren Millar in experiencing symptoms of déjà vu, because we had this exact debate just a few weeks before the Christmas recess. I know Plaid have a co-operation agreement with the Welsh Government, but I didn't know it meant regurgitating the Government's infrequent debates. Clearly, Plaid and their puppet masters are fresh out of ideas. Our public services are on their knees, and rather than debate ways to solve the crisis, Plaid would, once again, rather debate constitutional or electoral arguments. It seems that voter ID is their new straw man, yet another attempt to spread fear, uncertainty and doubt. Spreading fear that people won't be able to vote, spreading uncertainty about the veracity of future elections, spreading doubt about the need for such changes. These are all spurious arguments, and voter ID is there to prevent fraudulent voters, not legitimate ones. This—

Will you take an intervention from Heledd Fychan, Gareth Davies?

I won't at the moment. I've only just started, so I will make progress.

Okay. Your prerogative. Carry on.

Thank you. These proposals didn't come from Government. It was the Electoral Commission who suggested the need for voter ID, and it's not a Tory plot to deny left-leaning voters from taking part in elections. There is no need for these Machiavellian machinations, because the Labour Party are very good at turning off voters all by themselves. You just need to look at the fall of the red wall in 2019. But in all seriousness, these changes to our voting systems are not only warranted, they are vital if we are to maintain faith in the system. Plaid and Labour believe we don't need change. They claim that there's never been any incidents of voter fraud in Wales, therefore there is no need for voter ID in Welsh elections. But we've never suffered a terrorist attack on the Senedd estate, so why do we bother having security and armed police? And my house has never been burgled, touch wood, so why do I bother locking my doors or having a burglar alarm?

You've generated more requests—in fact, three—for interventions. 

I can imagine I have. [Laughter.]

I'll tell you who they are and you can decide whether you wish to accept them: Rhianon Passmore, Jack Sargeant, Jane Dodds and Heledd Fychan. You're proving very popular, Gareth Davies.

I think it's a bit excessive, so I will carry on. Time's marching on.

Okay, your choice to carry on. You have enough time and I extend the time for interventions, but carry on.

Okay, good to know. Thank you.

We'd put measures in place to deter such attacks and to prevent such attacks. Our voting system here in Wales may not have experienced widespread voting fraud, but we use the exact same system that they do on the other side of Offa's Dyke. And there have been numerous examples of voter fraud in England; I think it's the Tower Hamlets scandal in 2014 that springs to mind. And it was the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights within the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, an organisation that observes elections across the world, who raised concerns about the vulnerabilities to fraud that they've seen in the UK's voting systems. So, yes, we do need the change, and thankfully, the UK Government is implementing change for Westminster elections; they have secured their elections, but we're leaving the door wide open. Sadly, Labour-applied hostility will mean that our elections in Wales remain vulnerable to widespread fraud. And I would urge Members, if they care at all about the security and veracity of future Welsh elections, to support our amendment tonight. Thank you.

I call on the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution to contribute to the debate—Mick Antoniw.

Diolch, Llywydd. The right to vote and participation in voting are fundamental to our democracy, and the Welsh Government is committed to ensuring that elections in Wales are fair, secure and accessible. We believe in expanding the opportunities for people to take part in our democratic processes, and we will resist any and all attempts to undermine elections and to make it harder for people to cast their votes. So, that is why I'm pleased to contribute to this debate today, and I'd like to thank Plaid Cymru for bringing this topic forward.

Llywydd, I have previously expressed my grave concerns about provisions in the UK Government's Elections Bill, which are a shameless attempt at voter suppression. Through the requirement for voter ID, the Conservative Party is brazenly seeking to limit participation in elections and to change the law for partisan advantage. There is an irony in the approach adopted by the Welsh Conservatives in this debate, isn't there? On the one hand, they argue against COVID passes because they think it might gain them some popularity, but if that doesn't work, they support voting passes to limit their unpopularity at the ballot box by making it more difficult for people to actually vote. There's absolutely no evidential base or rationale for its introduction other than voter suppression.

Data from the Electoral Commission demonstrates that, in 2019, as has been said, only one individual was convicted for using someone else's vote at a polling station. And yet, the UK Government is ploughing on regardless and has consistently ignored the legitimate concerns raised by a multitude of civic organisations. The Equality and Human Rights Commission has previously warned that voter ID requirements will have a disproportionate impact on older people, people with disabilities and those from ethnic minority communities—

Can I just cut across the Counsel General? There is a request for an intervention from Darren Millar.

Yes, I'll take an intervention.

Darren Millar.

I'm grateful to you for taking the intervention, Counsel General. Can you tell us—? Many people have accused the Labour Party of trying to game the electoral system in Wales to your advantage on the basis of some of the pilots that you are hoping to get under way at the local elections next year, most of which seem to target the demographics of individuals who you think might be more likely to vote for the Labour Party. Isn't that the case? 

No, it is completely untrue, and that is definitely not the case; it is about other measures taken to do what I've said all along, and that is that this Welsh Government is committed to encouraging anyone and everyone to be able to vote and for their vote to be counted.

Now, I said earlier that the Equality and Human Rights Commission had warned of the impact of voter ID requirements, and, in fact, the former Conservative Attorney General, Dominic Grieve, has said that these new rules threaten to create a two-tier electorate and discourage participation by the least advantaged. And the Conservative chair of the UK Parliament's Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee, William Wragg—he's been in the news recently—summarised his committee's findings, saying,

'We feel that the Elections Bill proposals lack a sufficient evidence base.'

The Welsh Conservative amendment is also an attempt at political sleight of hand, because the OSCE has not endorsed or even commented on the Government's current proposals that are the subject of today's debate. And the Electoral Commission said in its 2018 evaluation of voter ID pilots that there was

'not yet enough evidence to fully address concerns and answer questions about the impact of identification requirements on voters.'

Llywydd, whilst there are some discrete elements of the Bill that we may wish to pursue in our own electoral reform legislation, we have been clear that we will not be introducing voter ID measures in Wales for devolved elections. But we are concerned about the broader implications of its use for reserved elections in Wales and the particular voter confusion that may be caused as a result of the UK Government's proposed legislation. It would be particularly challenging if devolved and non-devolved elections were also to take place on the same day. It's a situation that we therefore wish to avoid in the future, and these are points that I have made to the UK Government Ministers, and I will continue to do so.

There is not even time to consider in full the many other pernicious aspects of this Bill. The attack on free and fair campaigning at elections, as well as the threat it deliberately poses to our democracy by allowing foreign political donations to flood our system. That is just as much part and parcel of what this Elections Bill is actually about.

The Welsh Government's approach is in stark contrast to the UK Government's. We want to make elections as open and accessible as possible, and we want to find new ways to engage with voters, to make sure they have every opportunity to participate in the democratic process. And that is why we supported votes at 16 and for qualifying foreign citizens—people who contribute to our communities and our nation and who deserve to have their voices heard in our democracy.

To support the extension of the franchise, the Welsh Government is working with local authorities, education and third sector partners to deliver a comprehensive campaign of engagement and awareness raising ahead of the local government elections in May. Members will be aware that Wales's first set of electoral pilots will be taking place as part of the elections this May, ahead of a potential national roll-out in the 2026 Senedd elections. These will look at increasing the opportunities for people to vote, reflecting people's busy lives. We have announced details of four advanced voting pilots being taken forward—in Blaenau Gwent, Bridgend, Caerphilly and Torfaen. We have designed the pilots to provide evidence for the different types of advanced voting, whether at an existing polling station or a new central one, and opening these on different days.

Each pilot will be different, helping us to see what works best in Wales, and I'm particularly excited about the voting opportunities at Ebbw Vale Learning Zone and Cynffig Comprehensive School. For the first time in any part of the UK, students at education establishments will be able to vote at that establishment. The pilots provide new flexibilities for the electorate in Wales, and we will encourage people to make use of them, especially those who might not have originally intended to vote. Subject to consultation, the Welsh Government also hopes to work with partners on an amended version of the postal voting statement to trial at the 2022 elections.

The findings from the pilots will inform our work on considering future electoral reform, fit for purpose for the twenty-first century, ensuring that devolved elections in Wales are as inclusive as possible. We will be considering our own proposals for how to achieve this, and I look forward to working with colleagues in the Senedd on this in due course. Diolch yn fawr, Llywydd.

I call on Rhys ab Owen to reply to the debate.

Diolch yn fawr, Llywydd. I think Darren Millar said four times he was disappointed with my contribution. It reminded me of being a four-year-old again, back in the headmistress's office. When it comes to constitutional matters, if I'm disappointing Darren Millar, I think I'm probably doing something right. I certainly wasn't disappointed with your contribution, Darren Millar; I didn't expect anything else from you. In a nutshell, your position is, 'COVID passes for a short period of time to protect people's lives are bad; permanent voting ID to tackle non-existent issues is good.' You mentioned the UK being an outlier compared to Europe. I thought, Darren Millar, you supported this idea of British exceptionalism. We saw Andrew R.T. perpetuating this myth of Britain alone earlier this week. It fits right into your Brexit narrative, doesn't it, Darren Millar?

In your intervention to Heledd Fychan, you said voting ID will be free. Well, somebody has to pay for voting ID, Darren. The pilots themselves cost £3 million, or are you aware of a magic money tree somewhere to pay for voting ID? The amendment in your name, Darren, is incorrect—the Electoral Commission does not support voting ID. Why would anyone vote for your amendment when it's simply incorrect?

Gareth Davies, you mentioned déjà vu, well, we hear you make the same argument week in, week out in the Senedd when it comes to any discussion about the constitution. I didn't hear you say anything about the largest constitutional upheaval in modern days: Brexit. You always go on about public services being on their knees, but Cabinet Office papers say the implementation costs of voting ID will cost between £4.3 million and £20.4 million per election. Is that good value for money when public services are on their knees, Gareth Davies?

Heledd, Peredur and Sioned have clearly set out the facts—the official facts, facts from the Westminster Government's, and clear statistics showing that people will lose their right to vote. I second the comment made by Jane Dodds in praising the work of Maddy and the young group who are battling this Bill and battling for their right to vote.

When people with disabilities are disenfranchised, when ethnic minority voters are disenfranchised, when working class voters are disenfranchised, we need to be worried. That's why this Senedd and every Member should oppose this Bill and oppose any attempt to disenfranchise our citizens. This Senedd should not be a junior partner in the hollowing out of the democratic and human rights of our citizens. It undermines all democratic government, and it undermines us as a people.

Let us finish our argument, our debate today with another Boris Johnson quote:

'I will take that card out of my wallet and physically eat it in the presence of whatever emanation of the state has demanded I produce it.'

Well, Llywydd, Boris is clearly against ID, so I'm sure Darren Millar and his colleagues will join us in supporting the Plaid Cymru motion this evening. Diolch yn fawr iawn.

The proposal is to agree the motion without amendment. Does any Member object? [Objection.] Yes, I see that there is an objection, and we will therefore defer voting on the motion until voting time.

Voting deferred until voting time.

That brings us to voting time, and I will suspend the meeting in order to make technical preparations for the vote. Thank you.

Plenary was suspended at 18:08.

The Senedd reconvened at 18:10, with the Llywydd in the Chair.