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[NH Apache]

Students who only have a photo ID from another state? Poor people who don't have bank accounts? Lots of people who don't have photo IDs that meet the list of photo IDs



But this doesn't happen. It doesn't happen ever. I want to say that the state of Nebraska found a case of like a dozen possible fraudulent votes in a national election. Its not a problem, period

This is my only problem with not having an id.

Many people say it never happened, but that it happened, as seen in the above quote.

These are the ones that we know about. If people cheating the id system effectively, we're not going to know.

I think every citizen should have an id. They should all have SS #'s, right? Why not use that as the id?

There should be some middle ground that doesn't disenfranchise the potential voters, but the current vagueness is really weird. I could walk up to a voting booth and tell them a name with an address and boom, system cheated.

With some sort of id, it is all negated.

Edit: Oh, great, top of page now everyone reads my rant :/

 

[Leunam]

The process for confirming that a person is eligible to vote is done during the voter registration process. Does that person therefore need to be vetted again when they go to the polls? With another form of identification that wasn't required before? They vote once and that's it. If they try and vote again, people will know. I'm pretty sure you can't just drive down the street and tick another box.

 

[IAmRandom31]

Could just do fingerprints

lol

That wouldn't cost much /s

thing about photo ID is it is just the most convenient method to stop any sort of voter fraud from occuring. It is not about stopping current voter fraud, its just about making sure it doesn't happen in the first place.

 

[IpsoFacto]

Why are democrats so defensive on voter ID?

I mean, voter ID is as common as running water in Europe and nothing really changed before or after.

My only gripe with voter ID is that you can only vote within your own county, if you move to another county or disctrict, you apply for a different voter ID.

Why so progressive on every other issue except this one?

 

[massoluk]

The process for confirming that a person is eligible to vote is done during the voter registration process. Does that person therefore need to be vetted again when they go to the polls? With another form of identification that wasn't required before? They vote once and that's it. If they try and vote again, people will know. I'm pretty sure you can't just drive down the street and tick another box.

Heh, that's what a couple of voter id law supporters tried to do to prove that people can just drive to another poll and tick another box, they got caught and jailed.

Why are democrats so defensive on voter ID?

I mean, voter ID is as common as running water in Europe and nothing really changed before or after.

My only gripe with voter ID is that you can only vote within your own county, if you move to another county or disctrict, you apply for a different voter ID.

Why so progressive on every other issue except this one?

Hey, dude. If the USA issues mandatory national ID numbers at Birth or at the adult age like Europe and Asian countries, go for it. It doesn't work like that in US, the infrastructure is not in place right now, and every attempt to do so has been labelled Federal Government overreach.

 

[Vestal]

Why are democrats so defensive on voter ID?

I mean, voter ID is as common as running water in Europe and nothing really changed before or after.

My only gripe with voter ID is that you can only vote within your own county, if you move to another county or disctrict, you apply for a different voter ID.

Why so progressive on every other issue except this one?

It's the way its trying to be implemented. If they put a process in were the state pays for the IDs and puts a 4 year rollout of such law in place I don't think there would be such an uproar.

The real issue is trying to force a voterid law to be effective immediately.

 

[numble]

This is my only problem with not having an id.

Many people say it never happened, but that it happened, as seen in the above quote.

These are the ones that we know about. If people cheating the id system effectively, we're not going to know.

I think every citizen should have an id. They should all have SS #'s, right? Why not use that as the id?

There should be some middle ground that doesn't disenfranchise the potential voters, but the current vagueness is really weird. I could walk up to a voting booth and tell them a name with an address and boom, system cheated.

With some sort of id, it is all negated.

Edit: Oh, great, top of page now everyone reads my rant :/

Local registrars should be in charge of voter registration and determining local eligibility to vote, as they do so already. I don't think there should be a federal bureaucracy that determines eligibility to vote in school district elections or bond measures to build a rail overpass in a certain part of town or whatever.

 

[numble]

Proof about what? That polls are not always correct?

Hell just look at the majority of polls prior to the last 2 elections. And that was with a sample size that was FARRRR beyond any poll like the ones mentioned would use. And those were still off by a good clip. Noone expected the blowouts that occured because everyone was going off polling data that had been used till then. Was usually just a few percentage points away from each other, both times. Not the what, 6-7% it ended up being.

Sources and data please. I am not going to take what random guy 31 says as biblical proof.

 

[shadowsdarknes]

Why are democrats so defensive on voter ID?

I mean, voter ID is as common as running water in Europe and nothing really changed before or after.

My only gripe with voter ID is that you can only vote within your own county, if you move to another county or disctrict, you apply for a different voter ID.

Why so progressive on every other issue except this one?

How is this progressive? Europe doing something doesn't automatically = progressive.
People oppose these laws because they are only designed to drive people away from the polls. Nothing progressive about it.

 

[Squirrel Killer]

Why are democrats so defensive on voter ID?

Because voter ID hurts them politiically by making it harder for people who tend to vote Democratic to vote. Just as Republicans have such a hard on for it because it makes it harder for people to tend to not vote Republican to vote.

If voter ID helped/hurt both parties equally, this would be a complete non-issue. The debate would be two minutes and the bill would fail for not being cost effective.

 

[PrimaNocta]

I believe the GOP knows most people who do not have ID's are minorities and the poor so it'll benefit them if they don't vote. But I also believe that something as simple as a state ID to make sure the right person is voting is not that unreasonable.

I live in Florida and got my current state ID for $25 in 2012. It expires in 2020. Your telling the poor can't take 2-3 hrs of their time and spend $25 every 8 years to make sure they are who they say they are? I understand that every state had different fees but I believe most are in the $10-$20. So its not a ridiculous request.

 

[Squirrel Killer]

Your telling the poor can't take 2-3 hrs of their time and spend $25 every 8 years to make sure they are who they say they are? I understand that every state had different fees but I believe most are in the $10-$20. So its not a ridiculous request.

That would be a de facto poll tax and thus unconstitutional. This is settled law.

 

[wildfire]

This is my only problem with not having an id.


Edit: Oh, great, top of page now everyone reads my rant :/

Why are democrats so defensive on voter ID?

I mean, voter ID is as common as running water in Europe and nothing really changed before or after.

I'll just repeat myself.

This is about photo ids. When you become a registered voter you need to use your voting registration card already.

Since poor people are unlikely to drive cars and travel abroad it will be for practical reasons impossible for them to get picture IDs. That's how sinister the Republican agenda is.

They want to create an underclass that can legally work without a photo ID but not be able to exercise their basic rights as citizens.

 

[wildfire]

That would be a de facto poll tax and thus unconstitutional. This is settled law.

This

 

[IpsoFacto]

I'll just repeat myself.

This is about photo ids. When you become a registered voter you need to use your voting registration card already.

Since poor people are unlikely to drive cars and travel abroad it will be for practical reasons impossible for them to get picture IDs. That's how sinister the Republican agenda is.

We live in the age of digital photography, is it that difficult to get photos?

 

[Paskil]

Yeah. I think the US is just about alone among democracies in the world in that we don't have a voter ID law. It's pretty embarrassing actually.
The easy solution is to have a National ID card. But nobody wants it.

I never really understood the animosity towards the national ID. I would be OK with it so long as it was painless to get, and cost no money to the citizen. Is it a "666" "Mark of the Beast" thing, or something else? I typically vote liberal since they represent my core issues. I've never really had a problem with it.

Also, I see Voter ID as nearly inevitable at this point, although I strongly oppose it. So long as it's implemented fairly and so that it is easy and painless to obtain (free and mail/internet/phone), I would be totally OK with it. It's when you start making poor people travel long distances for DMVs only opern one day a week for three hours, 50 miles from their house that I take issue.

 

[KHarvey16]

We live in the age of digital photography, is it that difficult to get photos?

"How difficult can it be to get food?" Look I just disproved hunger!

 

[PhoenixDark]

Requiring voter IDs isn't an inherently bad idea, IF the IDs are readily available and free. But that's not the case. In fact, republican state governments have shut down DMVs in various inner city areas to make sure...certain types of voters can't easily gain access to proper IDs. If you can't see this is a politically motivated scam - especially given the near nonexistent level of voter fraud within the system - you're willfully blind.

 

[Bulbo Urethral Baggins]

I never really understood the animosity towards the national ID. I would be OK with it so long as it was painless to get, and cost no money to the citizen. Is it a "666" "Mark of the Beast" thing, or something else? I typically vote liberal since they represent my core issues. I've never really had a problem with it.

Also, I see Voter ID as nearly inevitable at this point, although I strongly oppose it. So long as it's implemented fairly and so that it is easy and painless to obtain (free and mail/internet/phone), I would be totally OK with it. It's when you start making poor people travel long distances for DMVs only opern one day a week for three hours, 50 miles from their house that I take issue.

100% agree. It's the easy, ultimate solution but nobody seems to want it.
Also, issuing a photo ID could actually be very helpful for lower class, poor people who otherwise may not have one.

 

[Sir Abacus]

I mean, voter ID is as common as running water in Europe and nothing really changed before or after.

Voter ID is common in Europe because most Europeans have a national identity card issued basically throughout their entire life. Americans are highly allergic to a national ID card so there's not a piece of identification that everyone has like in most of Europe.

Even in countries that don't have a national ID but still require ID to be shown on demand, (i.e. Ireland) they have the loosest possible requirements for showing ID. You can show a damn chequebook and still be able to vote so long as it has your address on it.

I think Iceland is the only country that is both without a national ID card and asks for photo ID at a polling place.

 

[Leunam]

We live in the age of digital photography, is it that difficult to get photos?

What are you suggesting exactly?

 

[Vestal]

I believe the GOP knows most people who do not have ID's are minorities and the poor so it'll benefit them if they don't vote. But I also believe that something as simple as a state ID to make sure the right person is voting is not that unreasonable.

I live in Florida and got my current state ID for $25 in 2012. It expires in 2020. Your telling the poor can't take 2-3 hrs of their time and spend $25 every 8 years to make sure they are who they say they are? I understand that every state had different fees but I believe most are in the $10-$20. So its not a ridiculous request.

Why charge for it at all? Give it to your constituents for Free. It is every persons right to vote, and it is the job of the state to bend over backwards to ensure you can vote.

I am originally from Puerto Rico. In Puerto Rico we have voted ID, and 85% voter participation.

How did we accomplish this?
Simple.

1. Voter ID is paid for by the state
2. Every year after an election, the state starts to visit schools and getting kids eligible to vote in the following election registered.
3. Registration drives are held through out the 3 years for ID renewals or lost IDs etc.
4. Election day is a Holiday.

 

[Wyndstryker]

Well, using the upcoming toronto mayoral election as an example, over here you just need some sort of ID and the voter card that will be mailed to you if you registered.

And as forms of ID, here's what can be considered as valid.

List of valid ID

Having specifically photo ID is pretty extreme but just some sort of ID should work if people are so scared of voter fraud. I do admit though just being registered isn't enough.

 

[KHarvey16]

Asking everyone to fund IDs and the infrastructure required to distribute and maintain them is stupid given the fact they wouldn't actually solve any problem we're experiencing.

 

[wildfire]

We live in the age of digital photography, is it that difficult to get photos?

This is a cultural and bureaucratic issue not a technological one.

For example we love crying about immigrants taking our jobs and that children should be a protected class that shouldn't be exploited, yet within our own borders we actually do exploit the children of illegal immigrants to work for us.

Many of us know how our country works and don't want hypocritical outcomes like these becoming the norm with actual citizens. So stop suggesting European answers for American problems [edit] ( a problem that actually is too minor to be worth addressing in the first place), if you aren't going to take into account the differences .

 

[Konka]

Because voter ID hurts them politiically by making it harder for people who tend to vote Democratic to vote. Just as Republicans have such a hard on for it because it makes it harder for people to tend to not vote Republican to vote.

If voter ID helped/hurt both parties equally, this would be a complete non-issue. The debate would be two minutes and the bill would fail for not being cost effective.

I can guarantee you that there would be no issue if they passed a voter ID law that provided free ID to everybody in a convenient way and ensure a period of years before implementation and the requirement of having ID to vote.

Instead what we've gotten is Republicans passing voter ID laws in the years of big elections and expecting everyone to get down to the DMV that same year to get an ID and then you have things like the House Majority Leader in PA.

“Pro-Second Amendment? The Castle Doctrine, it’s done. First pro-life legislation – abortion facility regulations – in 22 years, done. Voter ID, which is gonna allow Governor Romney to win the state of Pennsylvania, done."

They're not even attempting to hide what that actual purpose of these laws are.

The point is going through all this ridiculous stuff to try to prevent something that is practically nonexistent is just a waste of everyones time and money.

 

[numble]

Why charge for it at all? Give it to your constituents for Free. It is every persons right to vote, and it is the job of the state to bend over backwards to ensure you can vote.

I am originally from Puerto Rico. In Puerto Rico we have voted ID, and 85% voter participation.

How did we accomplish this?
Simple.

1. Voter ID is paid for by the state
2. Every year after an election, the state starts to visit schools and getting kids eligible to vote in the following election registered.
3. Registration drives are held through out the 3 years for ID renewals or lost IDs etc.
4. Election day is a Holiday.

Australia has over 90% voter turnout without photo ID requirements, imagine how much better Puerto Rico could be if they just copied Australia.

 

[alstein]

I believe the GOP knows most people who do not have ID's are minorities and the poor so it'll benefit them if they don't vote. But I also believe that something as simple as a state ID to make sure the right person is voting is not that unreasonable.

I live in Florida and got my current state ID for $25 in 2012. It expires in 2020. Your telling the poor can't take 2-3 hrs of their time and spend $25 every 8 years to make sure they are who they say they are? I understand that every state had different fees but I believe most are in the $10-$20. So its not a ridiculous request.

I think these laws hurt the Republicans more than they helped. What they did was anger minority voters into showing up- as Dems could play the "they're bringing back Jim Crow" card effectively.

This rings more true when certain forms of ID, such as gun licenses, get accepted, and certain forms, like student ID, do not. That shows a clear political bias.

 

[Armaros]

Well, using the upcoming toronto mayoral election as an example, over here you just need some sort of ID and the voter card that will be mailed to you if you registered.

And as forms of ID, here's what can be considered as valid.

List of valid ID

Having specifically photo ID is pretty extreme but just some sort of ID should work if people are so scared of voter fraud. I do admit though just being registered isn't enough.

Its not just photo ID, its very specific photo IDs for these types of laws.

A legal driver's license from another state would not count, neither would a state issued ID from a State University.

But some of these laws allow a gun license or a hunting license to count. Why the obvious discrepancy?

It just goes on.

 

[Wyndstryker]

Its not just photo ID, its very specific photo IDs for these types of laws.

A legal driver's license from another state would not count, neither would a state issued ID from a State University.

But some of these laws allow a gun license or a hunting license to count. Why the obvious discrepancy?

It just goes on.

If it's a specific type of ID just for voting then it's crazy. That does sound something republicans would do. ID's from another state should be valid since it's government issued.

 

[DataStream]

I'm still at a loss as to why the DNC doesn't attempt absentee ballot drives during non presidential years. Seems like it eliminates this stupid problem and gets those who are unlikely to vote to submit early.

 

[NH Apache]

Local registrars should be in charge of voter registration and determining local eligibility to vote, as they do so already. I don't think there should be a federal bureaucracy that determines eligibility to vote in school district elections or bond measures to build a rail overpass in a certain part of town or whatever.

I wasn't going for that route. I was solely talking about showing some sort of id when voting. My suggestion is the SS card. No additional bureaucracy.

I'll just repeat myself.

This is about photo ids. When you become a registered voter you need to use your voting registration card already.

Since poor people are unlikely to drive cars and travel abroad it will be for practical reasons impossible for them to get picture IDs. That's how sinister the Republican agenda is.

They want to create an underclass that can legally work without a photo ID but not be able to exercise their basic rights as citizens.

Uh, you don't need a card to vote. Last time I voted, I just told them my name and address.

If it's a specific type of ID just for voting then it's crazy. That does sound something republicans would do. ID's from another state should be valid since it's government issued.

But if you had an ID from another state, that implies you live in another state and should vote there or absentee.

 

[Squirrel Killer]

I can guarantee you that there would be no issue if they passed a voter ID law that provided free ID to everybody in a convenient way and ensure a period of years before implementation and the requirement of having ID to vote.

Right, because with those steps, voter ID is politically neutral. Even with those precautions, however, I think there would still be some groups on both sides that would still be interested in voter ID, but just not enough to make it a prominent issue.

The point is going through all this ridiculous stuff to try to prevent something that is practically nonexistent is just a waste of everyones time and money.

Exactly.

 

[jwhit28]

Why charge for it at all? Give it to your constituents for Free. It is every persons right to vote, and it is the job of the state to bend over backwards to ensure you can vote.

I am originally from Puerto Rico. In Puerto Rico we have voted ID, and 85% voter participation.

How did we accomplish this?
Simple.

1. Voter ID is paid for by the state
2. Every year after an election, the state starts to visit schools and getting kids eligible to vote in the following election registered.
3. Registration drives are held through out the 3 years for ID renewals or lost IDs etc.
4. Election day is a Holiday.

The Voter ID law that Republicans passed in NC actually killed a program that helped High School students register, even if they weren't quite 18. They couldn't vote but unless they moved to a different voting district they would be ready and registered as soon as they hit 18.

The new law requires voters to show government-issued ID cards, with polling places not allowed to accept college ID cards or out-of-state driver’s licenses. The law also shortens early voting by a week; eliminates same-day voter registration; allows any registered voter to challenge another voter’s eligibility; and ends popular preregistration for high school students.

Republicans have said the law will combat voter fraud and restore integrity to voting, but they have offered no evidence of voter fraud in the state. Civil rights groups and many independent analysts say the law is a blatant attempt to curb voting by blacks, students, the poor and other groups that tend to vote Democratic.

http://articles.latimes.com/2013/aug/12/nation/la-na-nn-north-carolina-voter-id-law-20130812

 

[CrazyDogg77]

Do Democrats really believe there is no truth at all to the Republican argument that undocumented workers/illegal citizens (who do not have the right to vote as far as I know) will vote for Democrats en masse and that could (probably already is) giving the Democratic party an unfair advantage in certain states? Seems to me that Dems politicize the issue saying Republicans just don't want poor, black, illegal whatever people to vote yet Republicans are raising a genuine concern regarding voter fraud. Of course, the issue becomes about class, race on the left and the entire subject can't be discussed rationally at that point.

Voter fraud is such a small issue the amount of people who would be disenfranchised by voter ID laws will outnumber voter fraud by millions. Does that seem like a prudent course of action for our country?

 

[GaimeGuy]

One thing to ask liberals. Why would someone not have a photo ID in the first place?

Did they conveniently lose it right before voting?

Come on now.

There are very few people in the country who legitimately CANT get an ID. I can't think of anyone at the moment, maybe a homeless person. Other then that?

There are 25,000 cases of theft and burglary per day in the US. How many of those do you think involve people having their IDs stolen (IE: Their wallets)? Are you able to get the hundreds of thousands of victims of theft and burglary in the days and weeks leading up to the election replacement IDs in time? Are you able to do it without inconveniencing them further?

 

[jwhit28]

One thing to ask liberals. Why would someone not have a photo ID in the first place?

Did they conveniently lose it right before voting?

Come on now.

There are very few people in the country who legitimately CANT get an ID. I can't think of anyone at the moment, maybe a homeless person. Other then that?

Lets just say that everyone can agree on having a photo ID to vote, why then do you kill the high school reach out program, not allow out of state or photo college IDs (especially in a state like NC with Fort Bragg and schools like Duke and UNC), shorten early voting, not allow any 3rd party poll monitoring (wouldn't this ensure less fraud?), and eliminate same day registration for early voters even if they have a state ID?

 

[Armaros]

Lets just say that everyone can agree on having a photo ID to vote, why then do you kill the high school reach out program, not allow out of state or photo college IDs (especially in a state like NC with Fort Bragg and schools like Duke and UNC), shorten early voting, not allow any 3rd party poll monitoring (wouldn't this ensure less fraud?), and eliminate same day registration for early voters even if they have a state ID?

Reduce Early Voting days, shorten voting hours at many locations and just plain close voting booths down.

All evidence of deep concern for the voting system and eliminating problems like voting fraud and making it easy for everyone to exercise their constitutional right to vote. /s Not political at all

 

[BigWeather]

Yeah, what the NC Republicans have been up to since gaining both houses has been so disgustingly transparent. Like the legislature being able to represent the state when the AG won't -- as is happening now with SSM. Cooper (a Democrat) won't defend the reprehensible Amendment One so *bugles blaring* it's Tillis to the rescue!

 

[operon]

Denmark, Australia, and the United Kingdom, to name three other nations that don't require Voter ID.

Wrong UK requires a photo I'd to vote.

 

[dLMN8R]

Lewis Black on voter suppression:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xWaO2jYrLs&feature=share

 

[Htown]

thing about photo ID is it is just the most convenient method to stop any sort of voter fraud from occuring. It is not about stopping current voter fraud, its just about making sure it doesn't happen in the first place.

Voter fraud is not a problem that needs solving. It just isn't.

You are preventing a huge number of people who SHOULD be voting from exercising their right to vote (note: right, not privilege) in exchange for keeping a NEGLIGIBLE FRACTION of people who shouldn't be voting from getting to the polls.

But since those people who wouldn't get to vote tend to vote Democrat, it's all good, right?

The Republican party has been surprisingly open about the fact that their intention with these voter ID laws is to prevent democratic votes.

 

[SigmasonicX]

People asking why voter ID is such a bad thing need to remember that this is a specific implementation that has the following factors:
* You can only get valid IDs at certain places, such as DMVs.
* There are intentionally few DMVs in areas with a lot of poor people and minorities, and those DMVs tend to be understaffed and have short working hours, often being closed on weekends.
* The times when these DMVs are open tend to overlap with when people are working, so in order to register, people would have to skip work for a day, which could deprive them of much needed pay or even get them fired.
* Lines at these DMVs can be very long, with wait times up to 4-6 hours.
* $25 to register may not seem like a lot, but it's a huge investment if that's your weekly food budget.

It's all well and good to say that voter ID laws would be fine if they were state-funded and provided to everyone, but they aren't. The voter ID laws that this topic are about are deliberately designed to prevent poor and minority voters from voting, thus netting less votes for Democrats.

 

[GaimeGuy]

People asking why voter ID is such a bad thing need to remember that this is a specific implementation that has the following factors:
* You can only get valid IDs at certain places, such as DMVs.
* There are intentionally few DMVs in areas with a lot of poor people and minorities, and those DMVs tend to be understaffed and have short working hours, often being closed on weekends.
* The times when these DMVs are open tend to overlap with when people are working, so in order to register, people would have to skip work for a day, which could deprive them of much needed pay or even get them fired.
* Lines at these DMVs can be very long, with wait times up to 4-6 hours.
* $25 to register may not seem like a lot, but it's a huge investment if that's your weekly food budget.

It's all well and good to say that voter ID laws would be fine if they were state-funded and provided to everyone, but they aren't. The voter ID laws that this topic are about are deliberately designed to prevent poor and minority voters from voting, thus netting less votes for Democrats.

Yeah, it's not the voter ID that's so much the issue (Though I disagree with it fundamentally, as voting is a right, not a privilege), it's the blatant attempts at voter suppression under the guise of an ID to protect the integrity of an election. Not just in intent, but in design.

 

[Squirrel Killer]

People asking why voter ID is such a bad thing need to remember that this is a specific implementation that has the following factors:
* You can only get valid IDs at certain places, such as DMVs.
* There are intentionally few DMVs in areas with a lot of poor people and minorities, and those DMVs tend to be understaffed and have short working hours, often being closed on weekends.
* The times when these DMVs are open tend to overlap with when people are working, so in order to register, people would have to skip work for a day, which could deprive them of much needed pay or even get them fired.
* Lines at these DMVs can be very long, with wait times up to 4-6 hours.
* $25 to register may not seem like a lot, but it's a huge investment if that's your weekly food budget.

It's all well and good to say that voter ID laws would be fine if they were state-funded and provided to everyone, but they aren't. The voter ID laws that this topic are about are deliberately designed to prevent poor and minority voters from voting, thus netting less votes for Democrats.

If you're talking about this "specific implementation," (i.e. the WI voter ID law that was halted by the SCOTUS) then you should note that the last point is not correct. The mustache twirling Republican villains adapted after requiring a non-free ID was found unconstitutional. Indeed, I am not aware of any voter ID initiatives that don't have a free ID option (although I am certainly not an exhaustive source.)

 

[Sho_Nuff82]

I'd normally selectively paste the choice bits, but the entire first half of this article is must-read for this topic:

LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS—In a small one-story house filled with knickknacks and stuffed animals, Joy Dunn sat at her dining room table going over her absentee ballot. Turning the pages with long fingernails painted fire engine red, she said she wanted to make sure she had everything in order, as the vote she cast in March’s special election was never counted.

“I got a letter saying my vote wasn’t counted because I didn’t have ID. But I’ve been voting in this state since 1954 and I never had to have ID,” she told ThinkProgress. “I didn’t know I was supposed to send in an ID this time. Nobody told me.”

Dunn, who just turned 79, has several forms of valid ID, but says she was never notified that she had to include a copy of it with her absentee ballot. Arkansas is one of a tiny handful of state to require copies of ID from absentee voters, and the only state in the nation to make those over age 65 do. The only exceptions to this rule are for active duty service members and their spouses and residents of long-term care or residential care facilities.

This time, Joy is aware of the requirement, but it hasn’t been easy for her to meet it. Because of a foot injury that left her unable to drive, she had to ask a neighbor to take her drivers’ license to the library and bring her back a photocopy to include with her ballot. “I had to depend on somebody to go do it for me and that’s a hardship on me,” she said. “And most people don’t even have that kind of help! I think it’s unfair for a lot of us older people.”

She said this hardship reminded her of the very first time she cast a ballot, in Little Rock in 1954. She was forced to pay a $2 poll tax, which she said was “not much more” than people made working a full day’s shift. “It was a little white slip, looked like a rent receipt,” she said. “You had to have that slip to vote.”

Echoing comments made by the US Attorney General, members of Congress, and a federal district judge, Dunn said voter ID laws are the modern day equivalent of those poll taxes. “This is to do anything they can to stop some folks from voting,” she said.

Dunn is one of hundreds of eligible voters who have had their votes disqualified since the state implemented its voter ID law in January. Representing four of those voters, the American Civil Liberties Union sued Arkansas earlier this year, saying the law violates the state’s constitution and asking for it to be enjoined. A ruling from the Arkansas Supreme Court is expected any day now.

The confusion was exacerbated because the voter ID law itself included no plan and no budget whatsoever for reaching out and educating voters like Joy. While other states have spent millions just to raise public awareness of voter ID laws, Arkansas budgeted only $300,000 for the entire implementation of the ID law in all 75 counties, including machines to print new IDs.

 

[Squirrel Killer]

I'd normally selectively paste the choice bits, but the entire first half of this article is must-read for this topic:

For the security risks alone, requiring a copy of your ID to be sent with your absentee ballot an incredibly bad idea. How does it even protect against fraud? Who says, "Well, I stole Granny Smith's ballot, but I wouldn't want to grab the ID out of her purse to make a copy because that would just be wrong."?

 

[Kodeman]

It's always seemed odd to me that you don't need to present ID to vote.

 

[itxaka]

Interesting posts guys, didnt know there was no ID requirement in the US, neither that you could vote without an ID. That is pretty novel.

Even more novel is the idea of someone not having a bank accounts, that is wonderfull! How or where do they cash their checks? Do all jobs allow to be paid on checks? The ones cashing it, what do they get? Do they get a percentage?


EDIT: Related to the voter fraud, if there is gonna be fraud there is nothing you can avoid with IDs, the fraud will just go higher on the chain. It happens here and you need an Id to vote, so they just change ballots or "lose" some of them.

 

[Vice]

Why are democrats so defensive on voter ID?

I mean, voter ID is as common as running water in Europe and nothing really changed before or after.

My only gripe with voter ID is that you can only vote within your own county, if you move to another county or disctrict, you apply for a different voter ID.

Why so progressive on every other issue except this one?

A long history of using requirements for voting as a way to keep the disenfranchised from having a say ion the way their cities, states and country is run.