CAMPAIGNERS and civil rights groups urged the government today to drop plans to require voters to show ID, warning that they risk “taking a sledgehammer to political engagement.”

A coalition of 17 groups, including Liberty and Operation Black Vote, called on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to abandon its proposals for proof of identity to be presented before a ballot can be cast, arguing that it would pull up the drawbridge for millions of voters who lack any form of photographic ID.

They estimated that about 3.5 million people presently have no photographic ID and warned that the plans could cost £20 million per general election.

Women, residents of urban areas, people aged under 20 and those over 65 are less likely to have ID, according to the Electoral Commission.

And a Department for Transport survey in 2019 found that 52 per cent of black people had a driving licence, compared with 76 per cent of the white population.

In a joint statement, the groups said: “As the government has often made clear, voting is safe and secure in the UK, making mandatory voter ID a solution in search of a problem.

“Instead, these proposals will turn polling workers into de facto bouncers, a role they do not want to have and which raises its own risks of discretion and discrimination.

“Our democracy is already deeply unequal, with millions missing from the electoral roll and with major gaps in turnout between groups.

“We need to be revitalising our democracy, not taking a sledgehammer to political engagement.

“Rather than inventing bogeymen and scare stories, ministers should focus on the real priorities facing our democracy.”

Shadow democracy minister Cat Smith called on the government to heed the groups’ warnings.

She said: “Voter ID is a total waste of taxpayers’ money. The policy is set to cost millions of pounds at every election. Voting is safe and secure in Britain.

“Ministers should be promoting confidence in our elections, instead of spreading baseless scare stories which threaten our democracy.”

Electoral Reform Society policy and research director Dr Jess Garland warned that the plans “risk disenfranchising a huge swathe of the public” and called for investment in closing the democratic divide and boosting political engagement.

A Cabinet Office spokesman said: “Stealing someone’s vote is stealing their voice and that is why we are bringing forward legislation to stamp out the potential for fraud.”