I.D. to vote

[HYHYBT]

If we require ID to vote, we ought *first* (and by several years) make it mandatory and free to have ID in general... complete with provisions for providing some acceptable form for people with no birth certificates, etc.

Also, none of this cheating by closing the DMVs in unfavorable districts.

Bare minimum even to begin CONSIDERING requiring ID to vote as reasonable in the US.

[Nyoibo]

A friend of mine posted this today I was wondering what brought it on, now I know, I kind of agree with her.

Just a few things you need a photo ID for:
- airline travel
- buying cigarettes
- buying liquor
- buying things with your credit card
- buying cough syrup
- buying sudafed
- renting an apartment or buying a house
- opening a bank account
- driving a car
- buying or renting a car
- applying for a job
- cashing a check

[Greenday]

So...what is your feelings on that list? What does it really have to do with anything?

[Anthony K. S.]

I honestly don't see how that list is relevant to this discussion.

None of the things on it are legally, Constitutionally protected rights. Nobody is entitled to travel on an airplane or have a bank account. It does not violate one's rights as a citizen to be refused a pack of cigarettes. And for a lot of people, having access to a car is practically a luxury.

Citizens of legal age are entitled to vote. It does violate people's rights as citizens for the government to impose obstacles that hinder them from voting or make it outright impossible.

[BlaqueKatt]

I honestly don't see how that list is relevant to this discussion.

Also many of the things on that list are middle class luxuries, not life necessities, which the poor and homeless(who still have the right to vote) would never be able to afford or require.

here let's go through that list one by one shall we:


- airline travel
I don't fly unless absolutly necessary, I've been on exactly 3 flights in my 36 years, and I could just as easily taken a bus or train.

- buying cigarettes
I smoke, however I don't need to, and am going to be required to quit as of jan 1st

- buying liquor
I don't drink

- buying things with your credit card
I didn't even have one until a year ago, and how many poor/homeless have them?

- buying cough syrup
I don't buy cough syrup, my friend makes better stuff without alcohol

- buying sudafed
I don't buy that either

- renting an apartment or buying a house
I Have never needed to show ID to rent an apartment, and the homeless-hmm pretty sure this isn't an issue for them.

- opening a bank account
the homeless usually don't have enough money for that.

- driving a car
Medically I am prohibited from doing so, not that I could afford a car on my income.

- buying or renting a car
See above.

- applying for a job
no accepting a job you need documents that prove identity and citizenship, you need nothing but a pen to apply. and the I9 form doesn't require it either(form here), a draft record, or voter registration card and SS card suffices, no ID is necessary.

- cashing a check
I haven't cashed a check in YEARS, seriously last time I had a check I needed to cash, was before I turned 18.

[smileyeagle1021]

Something else that hasn't been mentioned on this page yet. The largest group of disenfranchised voters from voter ID laws: students. Out of state students, at least as per my understanding in 2008 when this still applied to me (I didn't have in state residency yet) may choose to either do an absentee ballot in their home state or register to vote in the precinct that their school is located in. Voter ID laws almost always explicitly reject student IDs as a valid form of ID, and most out of state students aren't/can't get an ID with a local address, because they don't have a permanent address. If when I was at USU I went into the DLD to get a drivers license and I filled out the form telling them that my address was Room 8229 Mountain View Tower, Logan, UT, 84321 they'd turn me away because that was not a permanent address (I know because I tried and they told me exactly that), which would mean having to set up an absentee ballot in Nevada... because, you know, the ballot question about bonds to fund the ReTrac project (the construction of a trench through downtown to grade separate rail traffic) was such an important issue to me when I live in Logan (which ftr, I didn't live in Logan in 2008, I did have a permanent address and ID by then, but that was only because things didn't go according to plan).

[fireheart17]

And this is why I'm glad we have compulsory voting down here. While you don't need ID on the day (from memory), you do need to show ID when you register to vote. If you're over 18, you need to register.

And I should clarify that it's compulsory to turn up on voting day, but not compulsory to vote. Once you get given the ballot papers, if you don't want to vote for any of the candidates, you can easily wander over to the polling station, write "Julia Gillard fucks the House of Representatives" on the paper and drop it in the slot.

There is talk about requiring people to present some form of ID on the day though because of the more recent accusations that people have been showing up and using the ID's of people who don't/can't vote, then hopping from polling place to polling place. Given that most people in my state get a medicare card at age 15, a learner's licence at age sixteen/seventeen and you can get a photo ID at age 18 (non-drivers licence), it shouldn't be an issue.
Also a proof of age card does not cost a huge amount if you're on concession rates and can prove that you're on concession.

[Dreamstalker]

If when I was at USU I went into the DLD to get a drivers license and I filled out the form telling them that my address was Room 8229 Mountain View Tower, Logan, UT, 84321 they'd turn me away because that was not a permanent address (I know because I tried and they told me exactly that)

When I was in college I was able to use my school's address and my postbox number (student union had a post office branch); since I did receive mail there, it was for all intents and purposes a valid address. I suppose if anyone really needed to they could check with the school to make sure I was enrolled, but as far as I'm aware nobody did.

[HYHYBT]

I'm almost never asked for ID at the bank, either, but that may come from this being a small town and my having used the same branch of the same bank for over 20 years.