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The 'draconian' Tory crackdown on voter fraud has been branded "one of the stupidest ideas ever" after it emerged it could cost £700,000 for every fraud claim.

The huge cost, buried in analysis slipped onto the government's website, has prompted fresh calls for ministers to drop the national rollout of voter ID checks.

Campaigners and Labour have long warned checking ID at polling stations will disadvantage poorer voters.

They say it is using a "sledgehammer to crack a nut" because there were just 28 allegations of in-person voter fraud in 2017.

Meanwhile 3,981 voters were turned away in just five areas for not having ID during the first pilot of the scheme, the Electoral Reform Society estimated.

Now analysis shows ID checks are expected to cost between £4.3million and £20.4million extra if rolled out nationwide in a general election.

(Image: AFP)

Labour shadow minister for voter engagement Cat Smith said: “Wasting tens of millions of pounds on trying to make it harder for people to vote has got to be one of the most stupid ideas ever.”

Darren Hughes, chief executive of the Electoral Reform Society, told the Independent: "The government’s draconian plan to force voters to prove themselves at the polling station could add as much as £20m to the cost of each election.

"That’s over £700k per allegation of polling station fraud last year – a lot of money to throw at unverified rumours, when we know there are real democratic problems to fix.

"The government should abandon these costly, undemocratic plans and focus on boosting democratic engagement instead.”

(Image: PA)

Officials have piloted three methods of voter ID checks - asking people to show their polling card, asking people to show photographic ID only, or asking for a wider range of ID including non-photographic evidence.

Analysis found the poll card model would cost an extra £4.3m to £20.4m in a UK general election.

The photographic ID model would cost an extra £5.9m to £17.9m.

And the mixed ID model would cost an extra £4.6m to £17.1m.

The extra costs include - for the photographic ID plan - 14 hours' extra admin time per polling station, training staff and providing extra private polling booths.

A Cabinet Office spokesperson said: “Voters deserve to be confident that their vote is protected.

“We already ask that people prove who they are in order to collect a parcel from the post office, rent a car, or travel abroad - and we believe it is right to take the same approach to protect voting rights."