Why is the Morrison government suddenly worried about voter fraud?

Like the weird uncle who watches too many Tucker Carlson clips on YouTube, the Coalition is suddenly very concerned about voter fraud. 

On Tuesday the joint partyroom approved introducing a bill which would force people to present a driver’s licence, passport, Medicare card or other official identification to be allowed to vote. 

It’s a thought bubble that has been savaged by Labor – Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese called it “Trumpian” and Senator Tim Ayres called it “segregationist Jim Crow legislation”.

And given the Australian Electoral Commission described the problem of multiple voting as “vanishingly small” it seems like a solution in search of a problem — especially when the Morrison government has spent a lot of time this week saying legislation is bad.

So why is it pushing this in the final sitting weeks of the year? It all comes down to a bit of culture war.

Years in the making

The Morrison government’s interest in voter identification laws seems sudden, but it’s actually been years in the making. In late 2018 (also months before an election), the Liberal-dominated Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters recommended voter identification laws be introduced. 

The committee’s chair, Queensland Senator James McGrath, has a bit of an obsession with voting. He’s a fan of replacing compulsory voting with optional voting. And he’s been the biggest pusher of the proposed bill. 

Speaking to the ABC this morning, McGrath said asking for ID was a sensible and non-controversial reform: “The Greens and Labor have been quite hysterical in their response. No one’s going to be excluded from voting. There’s nothing to do with culture wars.”

Culture war never ends

But in the background the culture war is humming along. ID laws are a huge part of the many ways Republicans in the United States restrict voting in ways which progressives say systemically disenfranchises poorer, Black and Latin voters who tend to skew Democrat.

For years, belief in stopping “voter fraud” was widespread among US conservatives. Then Donald Trump’s claim that the 2020 election was rigged turned a conspiracy theory into a full-blown article of faith for the American right. 

McGrath and the Coalition aren’t the only ones interested in voter ID laws. One Nation Senator Malcolm Roberts — the clearest example of the Fox News to Canberra pipeline — has railed against “voter fraud” for some time.

After the US election, he started repeating Trumpian claims about election software being used to rig the result. And earlier this year he introduced an “integrity” bill which included provisions on voter ID.

One unintended consequence of Roberts’ bill was a consultation period, which brought a series of submissions poking holes in the rationale for such laws. 

University of Sydney constitutional law expert Anne Twomey raised concerns about the impact on minorities, and questioned whether there was real evidence of voter fraud.

“In my experience, there is significant public concern about the integrity of elections due to the partisan use of public money to make grants in marginal and targeted seats as a means of influencing the outcome of elections,” she said.

“If the Parliament is concerned about maintaining public confidence in the integrity of elections, this is where it should be directing its attention.”

But while Roberts’ bit of culture warring on voter fraud probably won’t go anywhere, One Nation might get what it wants. Given Labor and the Greens’ opposition, the government needs support from three crossbench senators. The Centre Alliance’s Stirling Griff is reportedly supportive in principle. And with Roberts’ and Pauline Hanson’s votes likely, the next election could look a bit different.