4 ms·

It's not really complicated, at least in the US. Nearly everyone has a driver's license, which is accepted as ID in all but the strictest scenarios. If you don'

by pc86 5y ago

It's not really complicated, at least in the US. Nearly everyone has a driver's license, which is accepted as ID in all but the strictest scenarios. If you don't have a driver's license, every state offers a non-driver ID which looks nearly identical. I suppose where it might get complicated is some states require you to identify yourself to a police officer when asked, some do but only when there's articulable suspicion, and some don't require you to ID yourself unless/until you're actually arrested. Even some states that require you to ID yourself when asked, without any suspicion of a crime, allow you to just give your info (name, dob, probably social) if you don't have the physical ID on you. But I think that falls into "knowing the laws of the jurisdiction you're in" more than any complications around a national ID process. The US at least just doesn't need a national ID for anything. Nearly everyone has a birth certificate and social security or other federal ID number. Those who don't would likely not have a national ID in any such system either. Anything achieved by a national ID can be achieved by current documentation.

rndgermandude 5y ago
>Nearly everyone has a driver's license I remember hearing a lot about new "voter id" laws, and how they are supposedly meant to suppress the vote of poorer minorities, who often do not possess a driver's license (or a car) - especially affecting the older generations of poor minority people most likely to vote.
- mcv 5y ago
  I think all sorts of id laws, whether for voting or other purposes, puts a requirement on the government to ensure that everybody has as few obstacles as possible to getting an id. From what I understand, many states with voter id laws didn't do that, and in some cases only accepted forms of id that poor or black voters were less likely to have.
  - YEwSdObPQT 5y ago
    >From what I understand, many states with voter id laws didn't do that, and in some cases only accepted forms of id that poor or black voters were less likely to have. When I was earning minimum wage when stacking shelves I managed to sort out an ID fine. This idea that Black people or poor people can't get ID is just the bigotry of low expectations. I personally think it is extremely racist to assume that Black people aren't capable of filling out the required forms for Identification or being able to front the cost of an ID.

by pc86 5y ago

rndgermandude 5y ago

>Nearly everyone has a driver's license I remember hearing a lot about new "voter id" laws, and how they are supposedly meant to suppress the vote of poorer minorities, who often do not possess a driver's license (or a car) - especially affecting the older generations of poor minority people most likely to vote.

mcv 5y ago
I think all sorts of id laws, whether for voting or other purposes, puts a requirement on the government to ensure that everybody has as few obstacles as possible to getting an id. From what I understand, many states with voter id laws didn't do that, and in some cases only accepted forms of id that poor or black voters were less likely to have.
- YEwSdObPQT 5y ago
  >From what I understand, many states with voter id laws didn't do that, and in some cases only accepted forms of id that poor or black voters were less likely to have. When I was earning minimum wage when stacking shelves I managed to sort out an ID fine. This idea that Black people or poor people can't get ID is just the bigotry of low expectations. I personally think it is extremely racist to assume that Black people aren't capable of filling out the required forms for Identification or being able to front the cost of an ID.