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Those are halfway there. The problem is they're out-of-reach financially to many people ($145~) and they can't be used with a database to determine the person'

Those are halfway there. The problem is they're out-of-reach financially to many people ($145~) and they can't be used with a database to determine the person's local residence. I am thinking of something akin to the Chinese Resident Identity Card, which does track enough info to determine voter eligibility, I think.

romwell 7y ago
I mean, the cost is not inherent to the ID itself: a piece of paper doesn't have to cost anything. We also have passport cards, which is the credit-card sized version of the passport, and only works for travel to Mexico/Canada (but is still a national ID). >they can't be used with a database to determine the person's local residence. You know, I can Google my name and get my current address out of public databases (TruePeopleSearch, etc). I can also see my current address on the voter record from the website by entering the VoterID number. The passports have numbers. These can be used to pull/check the address from a voter record database. It's less than trivial. The address itself doesn't have to be on the ID. TL;DR: issue passport cards for free to all citizens, force the states to let anyone with such a card to vote with a federal law.
- crispyambulance 7y ago
  > It's less than trivial. It's doable, but it's certainly not trivial. And no, it's not just "a slip of paper" it's far more than that when you consider all the human, bureaucratic and technical infrastructure, systems and support that would have to be behind it. Sure, there are trashy and unreliable online aggregators like mylife and their ilk that can provide all kinds of dubious info. I am talking about something much more rigorous and reliable. There are steps in the right direction occuring now (like Real ID) but even these half-measures have been years in the making and have years to go.
  - romwell 7y ago
    >It's doable, but it's certainly not trivial. And no, it's not just "a slip of paper" it's far more than that when you consider all the human, bureaucratic and technical infrastructure, systems and support that would have to be behind it. I've considered that, and nope, still trivial SELECT address FROM voter_addresses WHERE passport_number = {number} The concept of "pulling up a record" perhaps was non-trivial in the 1950's, but not in 2019. If you were referring to the cost of the passport itself - yes, it requires infrastructure, and this is exactly what the taxes are for. It's an essential component of being a citizen, the extra fees are highway robbery.
    - crispyambulance 7y ago
      > I've considered that, and nope, still trivial > SELECT address FROM voter_addresses WHERE passport_number = {number} Dude, there's a lot of stuff to do before getting to that select statement!

romwell 7y ago

I mean, the cost is not inherent to the ID itself: a piece of paper doesn't have to cost anything. We also have passport cards, which is the credit-card sized version of the passport, and only works for travel to Mexico/Canada (but is still a national ID). >they can't be used with a database to determine the person's local residence. You know, I can Google my name and get my current address out of public databases (TruePeopleSearch, etc). I can also see my current address on the voter record from the website by entering the VoterID number. The passports have numbers. These can be used to pull/check the address from a voter record database. It's less than trivial. The address itself doesn't have to be on the ID. TL;DR: issue passport cards for free to all citizens, force the states to let anyone with such a card to vote with a federal law.

crispyambulance 7y ago
> It's less than trivial. It's doable, but it's certainly not trivial. And no, it's not just "a slip of paper" it's far more than that when you consider all the human, bureaucratic and technical infrastructure, systems and support that would have to be behind it. Sure, there are trashy and unreliable online aggregators like mylife and their ilk that can provide all kinds of dubious info. I am talking about something much more rigorous and reliable. There are steps in the right direction occuring now (like Real ID) but even these half-measures have been years in the making and have years to go.
- romwell 7y ago
  >It's doable, but it's certainly not trivial. And no, it's not just "a slip of paper" it's far more than that when you consider all the human, bureaucratic and technical infrastructure, systems and support that would have to be behind it. I've considered that, and nope, still trivial SELECT address FROM voter_addresses WHERE passport_number = {number} The concept of "pulling up a record" perhaps was non-trivial in the 1950's, but not in 2019. If you were referring to the cost of the passport itself - yes, it requires infrastructure, and this is exactly what the taxes are for. It's an essential component of being a citizen, the extra fees are highway robbery.
  - crispyambulance 7y ago
    > I've considered that, and nope, still trivial > SELECT address FROM voter_addresses WHERE passport_number = {number} Dude, there's a lot of stuff to do before getting to that select statement!