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The issue US left-leaning people have with voter ID laws is threefold: there's no documented problem with voter fraud that needs to be fixed through ID requirem

The issue US left-leaning people have with voter ID laws is threefold: there's no documented problem with voter fraud that needs to be fixed through ID requirements, two, ID requirements are often imposed with the explicit intention of reducing voter turnout among the poor, and three, that there is allegedly a large swath of Americans who don't have valid identification and can't get it easily. Realize that in some states, the offices which produce identity documents for people who don't drive might only be open twelve days a year and are located in areas that are not accessible by public transit. For people at the bottom of the American income inequality pyramid, getting documentation might be something they can't afford, in terms of the time off work, taxi fares, and the costs of possible legal assistance. Seems to me the good faith solution is just to make sure everyone can get identification easily. However, the foundational issue is that voter ID requirements, combined with hard-to-get documentation, is a bad faith policy intended to keep poorer people from voting. Fix the 'bad faith' problem and everything else is trivial to put into place.

pc86 6y ago
I'm against voter ID legislation but almost all these arguments are terrible. > there's no documented problem with voter fraud that needs to be fixed through ID requirements Maybe not, but that's not an argument against voter ID, it's an argument against one of the arguments for it. Slightly different. > ID requirements are often imposed with the explicit intention of reducing voter turnout among the poor Implicit, maybe, but do we have anyone on record saying they want voter ID to raise the median income of the average voter? Or that they don't want poor people to vote so we're going to make you bring in a driver's license? I buy that this is a side effect/consequence of voter ID, but not that it's explicit. > there is allegedly a large swath of Americans who don't have valid identification and can't get it easily Maybe, but like someone else said in many European jurisdictions you are required to show ID, it costs you money to get it, and you have a process to get it that takes time. > the offices which produce identity documents for people who don't drive might only be open twelve days a year and are located in areas that are not accessible by public transit I'm definitely calling BS on only being able to get a non-driver state ID one day every month, and most of the US is not accessible by public transit. We are not as densely populated as Europe and expecting a nationwide public transit network that reaches 100% (or even 50%, honestly) of our citizens is unrealistic. > For people at the bottom of the American income inequality pyramid, getting documentation might be something they can't afford This I actually agree with, and this[0; PDF] is actually a great breakdown of costs associated with getting an ID. It's absolutely a biased source the number are accurate and you can ignore the politicizing narrative. I agree that the good faith solution is making identification free for anyone who can actually prove their identity and needs the financial assistance. It's hard to argue against VID if anyone who can prove their identity gets an ID if they want it. [0] http://sharedprosperityphila.org/documents/Revised-ID-Waiver-Appendices-5.15.15.pdf http://sharedprosperityphila.org/documents/Revised-ID-Waiver...
- quantified 6y ago
  If a state ID is required for voting, it should relatively free. Citizens should not be required to pay to vote.

pc86 6y ago

I'm against voter ID legislation but almost all these arguments are terrible. > there's no documented problem with voter fraud that needs to be fixed through ID requirements Maybe not, but that's not an argument against voter ID, it's an argument against one of the arguments for it. Slightly different. > ID requirements are often imposed with the explicit intention of reducing voter turnout among the poor Implicit, maybe, but do we have anyone on record saying they want voter ID to raise the median income of the average voter? Or that they don't want poor people to vote so we're going to make you bring in a driver's license? I buy that this is a side effect/consequence of voter ID, but not that it's explicit. > there is allegedly a large swath of Americans who don't have valid identification and can't get it easily Maybe, but like someone else said in many European jurisdictions you are required to show ID, it costs you money to get it, and you have a process to get it that takes time. > the offices which produce identity documents for people who don't drive might only be open twelve days a year and are located in areas that are not accessible by public transit I'm definitely calling BS on only being able to get a non-driver state ID one day every month, and most of the US is not accessible by public transit. We are not as densely populated as Europe and expecting a nationwide public transit network that reaches 100% (or even 50%, honestly) of our citizens is unrealistic. > For people at the bottom of the American income inequality pyramid, getting documentation might be something they can't afford This I actually agree with, and this[0; PDF] is actually a great breakdown of costs associated with getting an ID. It's absolutely a biased source the number are accurate and you can ignore the politicizing narrative. I agree that the good faith solution is making identification free for anyone who can actually prove their identity and needs the financial assistance. It's hard to argue against VID if anyone who can prove their identity gets an ID if they want it. [0] http://sharedprosperityphila.org/documents/Revised-ID-Waiver-Appendices-5.15.15.pdf http://sharedprosperityphila.org/documents/Revised-ID-Waiver...

quantified 6y ago
If a state ID is required for voting, it should relatively free. Citizens should not be required to pay to vote.