Forcing voters to show photo ID will hit black people, transgender voters and disabled Brits the hardest, MPs have warned.
The Commons Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee (PACAC) said the divisive checks voter ID checks could remove "crucial" trust in our democracy.
The Government plans to ensure only Brits with photographic ID will be able to vote at polling stations with its Election Bill being pushed through the Commons.
This could give Downing Street even more power over the election watchdog.
The PACAC is urging the Government to stop the bill as more consultations are needed.
The Runnymede Trust raised concerns that introducing a voter ID requirement “would add further barriers to voting for Black and Ethnic Minority groups who are already less likely to be registered to vote and significantly less likely to hold forms of ID such as a driving licence”.
On concerns raised by groups representing LGBTQ+ communities, the report said: “The LGBT Foundation for example raised concerns about transgender voters and non-binary voters being able to access appropriate forms of ID.
“Mermaids told us that they think that the introduction of voter ID would ‘act to indirectly disenfranchise many trans people in the UK’.”
The committee's report noted when the requirement to produce photographic identification at polling stations was introduced in Northern Ireland in 2003, “the turnout at the 2004 Northern Ireland Assembly elections dropped by 2.3% as a direct consequence”.
The Cabinet Office has previously said the bill will ban party campaigners from handling postal votes, "put a stop to postal vote harvesting and make it an offence for a person to attempt to find out or reveal who an absent voter has chosen to vote for."
But there are low levels of election fraud.
There was only one conviction for “personation” fraud, which voter ID is meant to prevent, in the UK in 2019.
Figures show 24% of white people in England do not hold a full driving licence, compared with 39% of people of Asian ethnicity and 47% of black people.
Chair of the committee William Wragg said: “While seeking to secure UK elections from potential voter fraud is a noble cause, we remain unconvinced that the scale of the problem justifies the solutions as they have been put forward.
“We feel that the Elections Bill proposals lack a sufficient evidence base, timely consultation, and transparency, all of which should be addressed before it makes any further progress.
“We cannot risk any reduction of trust in UK elections, which is why the majority of the committee is calling for the Bill to be paused to give time for more work to be done to ensure the measures are fit for purpose.”
A Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities spokesperson said: “We should not be complacent when it comes to ensuring our democratic process remains secure. Our Elections Bill will stamp out the potential for voter fraud, and will bring the rest of the UK in line with Northern Ireland, which has had photo identification to vote in elections since 2003.
“The UK government will be providing additional funding to cover the costs of implementing our reforms, and voters who do not have one of the required forms of photographic identification can apply for a free local Voter Card.”
The Elections Bill is set to return to the House of Commons for the report stage and third reading debates. A date is yet to be confirmed.
