A VOTER has started a legal challenge against a government pilot scheme requiring residents to show ID before they can vote at elections.

Neil Coughlan, from Witham, launched his bid at the High Court on Friday in a attempt to stop the pilots which are set to run in ten local authority areas during the local elections this year.

The 64-year-old fears residents won’t vote in the areas - one of which is the Braintree district - unless the plans are scrapped.

Mr Coughlan says he does not have photographic ID and believes many of his neighbours do not possess the required documents either.

He said: “I have brought this legal case because I know that it is the people in my community and the communities like mine that will be affected by such requirements and end up being unable to vote.

“It will serve to further disenfranchise the poor and vulnerable who already struggle to have their voices heard.

“Ministers and civil servants naively think that everybody has access to identification like passports, driving licences and utility bills.

“However, that is not right.

“The Government should not be wasting time and resources on tackling the non-existent problem of voter fraud by bringing in measures which make it harder for people to vote.

“It should be focusing on ways to increase democratic engagement, on getting people out to vote and persuading them that their vote does count.”

His lawyers argue the decision to implement the pilot will be made using statutory orders - which have no legal need to be published - meaning parliament won’t scrutinise the plans.

Electoral Commission figures show there were 28 alleged cases of voter fraud across the country in 2017 and only one conviction.

A spokesman for the Cabinet Office said: “People must have confidence that our elections are secure and protected from electoral fraud.

“Showing ID is a common sense approach and something that people do everyday when they pick up a parcel from the Post Office, rent a car, or take out a library book. Voters in Northern Ireland have been required to show a form of ID since 1985 without adverse effect on turnout or participation.”