High Court refuses permission to challenge Voter ID rules

We are sorry to tell you the High Court has refused permission to bring our challenge to the Voter ID rules. 

Our crowdfunding page said:

“Good Law Project has obtained legal advice from a legal team led by a specialist King’s Counsel. That advice identifies that there is a sensible legal challenge to be brought to those rules. The precise prospects of success will depend on evidence that is still emerging. But the importance of the right to vote is such that measures that inhibit it cannot go unchallenged.”

We took advice from two KCs, and a number of leading academics, on how best to formulate our case. And we continue to think this was the right position to adopt.

After we issued our claim, the government offered evidence – evidence it had not provided before – about how it assessed which forms of identification to include, which made our claim exceptionally difficult. That evidence ought to have been provided earlier and we will be asking the court to revise its decision on costs.

We also note that the Judge said, “I consider it is at least arguable that the Defendant’s response to the Electoral Commission is susceptible to judicial review.” We will monitor the government’s response when data emerges about the effects of Voter ID on recent local elections.

We remain determined to pursue all legal avenues to protect the right to vote – a right which the former minister Jacob Rees-Mogg said the government tried to restrict for its electoral advantage.