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What prevents the US from having a Voter ID card like India does? A unique ID that is required to vote. That way, you only qualify to vote if you have a Voter I

What prevents the US from having a Voter ID card like India does? A unique ID that is required to vote. That way, you only qualify to vote if you have a Voter ID, and once you turn the age of voting, you must get a Voter ID, like you got your SSN. For those who vote by mail, include a copy of your Voter ID with the ballot. That will significantly reduce, if not eliminate, most of the fraud and put this argument to rest.

ceejayoz 4y ago
> What prevents the US from having a Voter ID card like India does? Religious conspiracy theories ("Mark of the Beast"), the uniquely American concept of "freedom", etc.
- deeg 4y ago
  It can also be used to disenfranchise minority voters.
  - amflare 4y ago
    Despite being repeated ad nauseum, this has been patently false for the better part of a century and has no relationship with reality.
    - ethanbond 4y ago
      What? Millions of Americans don’t have any government ID, and that group is disproportionately racial minorities and poor folks. Make IDs universally available (I.e. free federal IDs handed out proactively by driving offices out to rural areas and workplaces) and I don’t think you’d see much resistance to this. The problem is that the “you need to have ID to vote” folks would never support such an idea. Complete mystery as to why!
      - AustinDev 4y ago
        How many millions? What % of the voting age population?
        ethanbond 4y ago
        According to the Brennan Center for Justice, “up to 11% of the eligible voting population.” Is your position that it’s alright if we just disenfranchise a few people?
    - deeg 4y ago
      I am cautiously pro-id but I disagree with you. The ACLU opposes voter IDs because they have been used to restrict access: https://www.aclu.org/fact-sheet/oppose-voter-id-legislation-fact-sheet https://www.aclu.org/fact-sheet/oppose-voter-id-legislation-...
- mcny 4y ago
  > conspiracy theories No, it is none of those. Show me the money. A voter id card required to vote is akin to a poll tax. If we have a voter id requirement, we have to have all voters have a place to go get this ID. Seven days a week, at least ten hours a day. Who will pay for this? Wealthy people refuse to pay their fair share of the tax. I can't afford to pay any more tax. Something has to give. What government services will you cut to fund this noise?
  - mc32 4y ago
    There is almost no adult who can navigate adulthood and responsibilities without some form of identification. Tertiary School, Alcohol, Dispensaries, Job, Phone, CC card, Military Draft, etc.
    - tzs 4y ago
      Irrelevant. What is relevant is if they have a form of ID that is acceptable for voter ID in their state. Around 10% of eligible voters in the US do not.
      - mc32 4y ago
        Yes it is. It means that adults have a state issued ID. What eligible voters do not have IDs, where are you getting 10%. If it's the elderly, I'm sure they can organize to have an ID drive. It's not a problem. There may be a lack of desire, but if even actual poor countries can accomplish this modest feat, surely the US can.
        ceejayoz 4y ago
        The lack of desire is intentional. The politicians pushing voter ID are well aware of the demographics of that 10%, and have little interest in addressing their access challenges because of them.
        tzs 4y ago
        > where are you getting 10% https://www.aclu.org/fact-sheet/oppose-voter-id-legislation-fact-sheet https://www.aclu.org/fact-sheet/oppose-voter-id-legislation-...
- mrguyorama 4y ago
  And a worry from progressives that any "Voter ID" system is being manipulated to disenfranchise black people and poor people, as has happened in the past.
  - ceejayoz 4y ago
    I agree, and the only fix to those concerns would be a free, universally issued ID from the Federal government rather than letting states set up a mismash of confusing and difficult to access systems. No one complains much about drivers' licenses, but national ID tends to bring out the crazies.
    - _-david-_ 4y ago
      It still wouldn't work. People will complain that either they are not properly checking people are who they say they are or they will say it is too difficult to get an id and it will disenfranchise the poor/minorities.
      - AustinDev 4y ago
        Ive never met a poor or ‘minority’ person that didn’t have an ID unless they were homeless. The later argument of progressives is extremely demeaning to minorities to the point where it borders on explicit racism.
        autoexec 4y ago
        > Ive never met a poor or ‘minority’ person that didn’t have an ID unless they were homeless. It's a good thing we don't have to depend on your limited experience to make policy decisions. There are millions of Americans without any ID. One survey in 2006 put the number at 21 million. > the later argument of progressives is extremely demeaning to minorities to the point where it borders on explicit racism. You should probably tell that to the minorities themselves, like the Congressional Black Caucus (https://www.ibtimes.com/alabama-voting-rights-congressional-black-caucus-blasts-states-dmv-office-closures-2125471 https://www.ibtimes.com/alabama-voting-rights-congressional-...) for example, since they don't seem to have any issue with making that same argument or speaking out against voter suppression. It can absolutely be a burden to get a state ID or drivers license and it can cost money that people don't have to spend. There's nothing "demeaning" about acknowledging that fact. The problems are real, and they don't even only impact minorities anyway.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
tzs 4y ago
The problem with that in the US is that we have no form of ID that almost anyone who is eligible can obtain for free or very low cost. We mostly use driver's licenses, and for people who don't drive states also offer IDs that look a lot like driver's licenses but are only for ID and are issued by the same agency that issues driver's licenses. In many states they have closed many of the licensing offices, and cut back the hours licenses are issued at others. The closures happen disproportionately in poorer areas with a higher percentage of non-drivers. The reduced hours often leave office issuing licenses and IDs on weekdays in the middle of the day. This can result in having to take a long trip on public transit to reach an office, and a long trip back, taking up much of your day. For many poor working people that can mean a day's wages lost. The lost wages, transportation costs, and fees for the license or ID can come to over $100 which is a lot for many poorer people. If we introduced an ID that is given to every citizen when they become old enough to vote, at no cost to them, and that can be obtained easily locally there would be little objection to requiring that to vote. But most of the politicians pushing for voter ID are the ones that most benefit when poorer people cannot vote, and so tend to also be opposed to making the ID cheap and easy for eligible voters to obtain (and are also the ones closing license offices and reducing hours).
- willcipriano 4y ago
  > The problem with that in the US is that we have no form of ID that almost anyone who is eligible can obtain for free or very low cost. We do in every state where a ID is required to vote.
  - autoexec 4y ago
    It looks like at least a few states that require an ID like Oklahoma and Michigan charge fees (initial and reoccurring) for a state ID at least. What form of accepted ID is free?
    - willcipriano 4y ago
      Oklahoma: https://oklahoma.gov/elections/voters/proof-of-identity.html https://oklahoma.gov/elections/voters/proof-of-identity.html > In addition, voters may use the free voter identification card they received by mail from the County Election Board when they registered to vote. The law allows use of the voter identification card even though it does not include a photograph. Michigan: https://www.michigan.gov/sos/elections/upcoming-election-information/voters/election-day/a-guide-to-voter-id-affidavit-at-the-polls https://www.michigan.gov/sos/elections/upcoming-election-inf... > If you do not have photo ID, you can still cast a ballot simply by signing an affidavit

ceejayoz 4y ago

> What prevents the US from having a Voter ID card like India does? Religious conspiracy theories ("Mark of the Beast"), the uniquely American concept of "freedom", etc.

deeg 4y ago
It can also be used to disenfranchise minority voters.
- amflare 4y ago
  Despite being repeated ad nauseum, this has been patently false for the better part of a century and has no relationship with reality.
  - ethanbond 4y ago
    What? Millions of Americans don’t have any government ID, and that group is disproportionately racial minorities and poor folks. Make IDs universally available (I.e. free federal IDs handed out proactively by driving offices out to rural areas and workplaces) and I don’t think you’d see much resistance to this. The problem is that the “you need to have ID to vote” folks would never support such an idea. Complete mystery as to why!
    - AustinDev 4y ago
      How many millions? What % of the voting age population?
      - ethanbond 4y ago
        According to the Brennan Center for Justice, “up to 11% of the eligible voting population.” Is your position that it’s alright if we just disenfranchise a few people?
  - deeg 4y ago
    I am cautiously pro-id but I disagree with you. The ACLU opposes voter IDs because they have been used to restrict access: https://www.aclu.org/fact-sheet/oppose-voter-id-legislation-fact-sheet https://www.aclu.org/fact-sheet/oppose-voter-id-legislation-...
mcny 4y ago
> conspiracy theories No, it is none of those. Show me the money. A voter id card required to vote is akin to a poll tax. If we have a voter id requirement, we have to have all voters have a place to go get this ID. Seven days a week, at least ten hours a day. Who will pay for this? Wealthy people refuse to pay their fair share of the tax. I can't afford to pay any more tax. Something has to give. What government services will you cut to fund this noise?
- mc32 4y ago
  There is almost no adult who can navigate adulthood and responsibilities without some form of identification. Tertiary School, Alcohol, Dispensaries, Job, Phone, CC card, Military Draft, etc.
  - tzs 4y ago
    Irrelevant. What is relevant is if they have a form of ID that is acceptable for voter ID in their state. Around 10% of eligible voters in the US do not.
    - mc32 4y ago
      Yes it is. It means that adults have a state issued ID. What eligible voters do not have IDs, where are you getting 10%. If it's the elderly, I'm sure they can organize to have an ID drive. It's not a problem. There may be a lack of desire, but if even actual poor countries can accomplish this modest feat, surely the US can.
      - ceejayoz 4y ago
        The lack of desire is intentional. The politicians pushing voter ID are well aware of the demographics of that 10%, and have little interest in addressing their access challenges because of them.
      - tzs 4y ago
        > where are you getting 10% https://www.aclu.org/fact-sheet/oppose-voter-id-legislation-fact-sheet https://www.aclu.org/fact-sheet/oppose-voter-id-legislation-...
mrguyorama 4y ago
And a worry from progressives that any "Voter ID" system is being manipulated to disenfranchise black people and poor people, as has happened in the past.
- ceejayoz 4y ago
  I agree, and the only fix to those concerns would be a free, universally issued ID from the Federal government rather than letting states set up a mismash of confusing and difficult to access systems. No one complains much about drivers' licenses, but national ID tends to bring out the crazies.
  - _-david-_ 4y ago
    It still wouldn't work. People will complain that either they are not properly checking people are who they say they are or they will say it is too difficult to get an id and it will disenfranchise the poor/minorities.
    - AustinDev 4y ago
      Ive never met a poor or ‘minority’ person that didn’t have an ID unless they were homeless. The later argument of progressives is extremely demeaning to minorities to the point where it borders on explicit racism.
      - autoexec 4y ago
        > Ive never met a poor or ‘minority’ person that didn’t have an ID unless they were homeless. It's a good thing we don't have to depend on your limited experience to make policy decisions. There are millions of Americans without any ID. One survey in 2006 put the number at 21 million. > the later argument of progressives is extremely demeaning to minorities to the point where it borders on explicit racism. You should probably tell that to the minorities themselves, like the Congressional Black Caucus (https://www.ibtimes.com/alabama-voting-rights-congressional-black-caucus-blasts-states-dmv-office-closures-2125471 https://www.ibtimes.com/alabama-voting-rights-congressional-...) for example, since they don't seem to have any issue with making that same argument or speaking out against voter suppression. It can absolutely be a burden to get a state ID or drivers license and it can cost money that people don't have to spend. There's nothing "demeaning" about acknowledging that fact. The problems are real, and they don't even only impact minorities anyway.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

tzs 4y ago

The problem with that in the US is that we have no form of ID that almost anyone who is eligible can obtain for free or very low cost. We mostly use driver's licenses, and for people who don't drive states also offer IDs that look a lot like driver's licenses but are only for ID and are issued by the same agency that issues driver's licenses. In many states they have closed many of the licensing offices, and cut back the hours licenses are issued at others. The closures happen disproportionately in poorer areas with a higher percentage of non-drivers. The reduced hours often leave office issuing licenses and IDs on weekdays in the middle of the day. This can result in having to take a long trip on public transit to reach an office, and a long trip back, taking up much of your day. For many poor working people that can mean a day's wages lost. The lost wages, transportation costs, and fees for the license or ID can come to over $100 which is a lot for many poorer people. If we introduced an ID that is given to every citizen when they become old enough to vote, at no cost to them, and that can be obtained easily locally there would be little objection to requiring that to vote. But most of the politicians pushing for voter ID are the ones that most benefit when poorer people cannot vote, and so tend to also be opposed to making the ID cheap and easy for eligible voters to obtain (and are also the ones closing license offices and reducing hours).

willcipriano 4y ago
> The problem with that in the US is that we have no form of ID that almost anyone who is eligible can obtain for free or very low cost. We do in every state where a ID is required to vote.
- autoexec 4y ago
  It looks like at least a few states that require an ID like Oklahoma and Michigan charge fees (initial and reoccurring) for a state ID at least. What form of accepted ID is free?
  - willcipriano 4y ago
    Oklahoma: https://oklahoma.gov/elections/voters/proof-of-identity.html https://oklahoma.gov/elections/voters/proof-of-identity.html > In addition, voters may use the free voter identification card they received by mail from the County Election Board when they registered to vote. The law allows use of the voter identification card even though it does not include a photograph. Michigan: https://www.michigan.gov/sos/elections/upcoming-election-information/voters/election-day/a-guide-to-voter-id-affidavit-at-the-polls https://www.michigan.gov/sos/elections/upcoming-election-inf... > If you do not have photo ID, you can still cast a ballot simply by signing an affidavit