The elections bill will deter non-Tory supporters from voting and scrap any oversight. Reform is needed more than ever before
Today is the last time you will go to the polls before the government’s shameful and shameless new elections bill becomes law. It was squeezed through parliament late at night last week in the final “wash-up” of bad bills before the end of the session.
The bill’s Trumpish voter suppression is designed to deter poor and young people from voting. Its passing also makes these the last elections to be monitored and scrutinised by a genuinely independent Electoral Commission. This habitually timid outfit tried to stand up for itself: “The independence of the Electoral Commission is vital to the functioning of a healthy democracy,” it said. But, as of now, Boris Johnson and his allies will set their own terms for the commission, including its scrutiny of finance.
Polly Toynbee is a Guardian columnist
