Back in May last year, I had my usual election grumble about the lack of secrecy over whom we vote for. Technically it's a secret as long as two lists of numbers are kept apart, however if necessary your voting history can be recovered.
What shocked me at the time was to discover that plans were afoot to have a new mechanism of ID checking, something which had been reported earlier by the Times. I was left with the clearest hint that this would mean our voluntary ID cards.
Of course, if the contractors involved in the ID cards fiasco keep on losing other peoples data then I might well find myself turning up to the booth to discover I've already voted. At least they will be able to tell me whom I voted for.
Now continuing on that point, I recently heard of a political reform idea which brings idiocy to a whole new level. The idea is that "companies should have the right to vote". There is quite enough gerrymandering going on via lobbyists without extending the right to vote to organisations.
An organisation only exists at the intersection between a mass of activities and people. Without people and activities, organisations don't exist. Since people already vote, there is no reason on earth why random collections of people should be given extra votes. It's bonkers.
Unfortunately so are ID cards, but that hasn't seemed to stop them yet.
