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Seems like India does this well and they are the world's largest democracy and much poorer than the average American. Poverty is not an excuse for government in

by Qasaur 6y ago

Seems like India does this well and they are the world's largest democracy and much poorer than the average American. Poverty is not an excuse for government incompetence (or even malice). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voter_ID_(India) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voter_ID_(India)

evan_ 6y ago
Trying to wrap my head around "Poverty is not an excuse for government malice". Poor people are to blame for Republicans trying to disenfranchise them? Certainly those who vote for Republicans I guess... Seems like you aren't in the US so maybe you don't know the history. Basically the US has a very long history of white supremacists protecting their own power and wealth at the expense of non-white people through disenfranchisement. This continues today. I'm arguing from the point of view that this is bad and should not be a basis for policy. It's not that it's impossible for some practical reason, the problem is that the republican party (which still holds a huge amount of power at the federal, state, and local level even when they don't hold the presidency) actively wants to deprive people of their voting privilege because they suspect those people might decide to vote against them.
- evan_ 6y ago
  I said voting privilege here but I should have said "right to vote"
triceratops 6y ago
From your article, it looks like you can apply online for voter ID in India, and mail in identity documents. It is also free to obtain. That's voter ID done right.
heavyset_go 6y ago
In India, it is law that there must be a place to register for an ID every X miles from a village, and that the IDs are free of cost. The government even ended up building tons of registration building up in the mountains where nomadic herders live. In America, when voting license legislation is passed, the government shutdown DMVs making it difficult and expensive to get a voting license. You're comparing apples to oranges.

by Qasaur 6y ago

evan_ 6y ago

Trying to wrap my head around "Poverty is not an excuse for government malice". Poor people are to blame for Republicans trying to disenfranchise them? Certainly those who vote for Republicans I guess... Seems like you aren't in the US so maybe you don't know the history. Basically the US has a very long history of white supremacists protecting their own power and wealth at the expense of non-white people through disenfranchisement. This continues today. I'm arguing from the point of view that this is bad and should not be a basis for policy. It's not that it's impossible for some practical reason, the problem is that the republican party (which still holds a huge amount of power at the federal, state, and local level even when they don't hold the presidency) actively wants to deprive people of their voting privilege because they suspect those people might decide to vote against them.

evan_ 6y ago
I said voting privilege here but I should have said "right to vote"

triceratops 6y ago

From your article, it looks like you can apply online for voter ID in India, and mail in identity documents. It is also free to obtain. That's voter ID done right.

heavyset_go 6y ago

In India, it is law that there must be a place to register for an ID every X miles from a village, and that the IDs are free of cost. The government even ended up building tons of registration building up in the mountains where nomadic herders live. In America, when voting license legislation is passed, the government shutdown DMVs making it difficult and expensive to get a voting license. You're comparing apples to oranges.