# Are voter ID policies (and their supporters) racist? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 15, 2016, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-voter-id-policies-and-their-supporters-racist/772039 "2016-11-15T04:38:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-voter-id-policies-and-their-supporters-racist/772039/101 "2016-11-16T18:50:05Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > It’s not a “Tu quoque”, but I don’t know what the latin phrase for, “The other side does it, and is kicking our ass with it, so we have to do it too.” _Te ipso auctore_ (you yourself being the author, i.e. I’ll use your own argument to defeat you). I see this thread has a few “side” references, i.e. what “side” someone is on, and I presume it’s breaking along a Republican side versus a Democrat side. If there’s a side for the _voters_, that’s where I’d be. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-voter-id-policies-and-their-supporters-racist/772039/102 "2016-11-16T18:56:40Z")
\*\*Are voter ID policies (and their supporters) racist? \*\* In a nutshell, no. However, claiming that they are racist…is racist in its own right. In the real world, people have to show ID to do damn near anything these days. And yet, the anti-voter id folks are whining about how minorities can’t get IDs and it’s just soooo hard on them. We know well in advance when there is going to be an election. The anti-voter id folks are saying, in effect, that minorities are incapable of getting an id in that length of time. That sounds pretty racist to me. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-voter-id-policies-and-their-supporters-racist/772039/103 "2016-11-16T19:05:47Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > _Te ipso auctore_ (you yourself being the author, i.e. I’ll use your own argument to defeat you). Thanks, I’ll need to use that. > [@](#): > > I see this thread has a few “side” references, i.e. what “side” someone is on, and I presume it’s breaking along a Republican side versus a Democrat side. If there’s a side for the _voters_, that’s where I’d be. But, the thing is, is that losing while defending a noble cause doesn’t do the noble cause, nor myself any good. A week ago, I would’ve been completely against what I now propose, but now propose this only out of pragmatism. As that is where all of the voter fraud happens, in quantities that are provably orders of magnitude greater than in person voting fraud, it does seem a no-brainer to get the public behind this on the guise of increasing voter confidence. The fact that it would kill republican’s chances to retain or ever regain political control is just a happy accident. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-voter-id-policies-and-their-supporters-racist/772039/104 "2016-11-16T19:11:57Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > Yes, that’s what all of us have been saying all along. We just disagree with what is considered to be onerous. There are people on this very message board who believe that requiring any ID, no matter how easy to get, is immoral and shouldn’t be done. And if you truly believe what you are saying, then all the current ID requirement arguments going on can change to “Is this process to obtain an ID too onerous” instead of VOTER ID LAWS ARE RACIST!!! > [@DrDeth](#): > > No, they dont. When you are registered, they send out a a card, more or less how in CA you get a sample ballot. It’s not a ID card. It just shows you are registered, and if you name is on the list you dont need it. > > If you are\* not\* registered, then you can vote by showing ID.\* If your name is not listed in the National Register of Electors on election day, you must show proof of identity and residence:\* > [A Guide to Voting in the Canadian Federal Election](http://settlement.org/ontario/immigration-citizenship/canadian-government/voting/a-guide-to-voting-in-the-canadian-federal-election/) I don’t believe you’ve adequately described the voting process in Canada, especially considering your next post (quoted below) > [@DrDeth](#): > > “Canada permits any voter who lacks one of the allowed forms of photo identification to present two of forty-five other forms of identification or documentation that have the voter’s name and address on at least one. Acceptable documents include leases, student transcripts, and utility bills.” Seems to me that people DO in fact need some sort of identification in order to vote. They can’t simply walk up to the polls, say “Hey, I’m DrDeth” and then go and vote. So you are wrong. > [@](#): > > So, your efforts to show “other nations do it” has not only failed, but backfired. When I see the term “ID” used to describe what is needed to vote, I tend to believe that it means the voter needs to have some form of ID. You may read it differently. Unless you HONESTLY want to state that NO OTHER COUNTRY IN THE ENTIRE WORLD requires some sort of identification in order to vote. You are not really saying that are you? > [@Grey](#): > > [Per Elections Canada](http://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=vot&dir=ids&document=index&lang=e) > > You’ll note the 3 methods > > 1 piece of specific ID. > 2 pieces of a wider variety of ID where 1 has your current address (e.g. Utility bill, prescription label) > 2 pieces of ID with no address + 1 person to vouch for you Strange, each one of those methods uses the term “ID”. Huh, and after DrDeth went to all that trouble to show that Canada DOESN’T require an ID to vote :rolleyes: So, are all 3 of those methods racist? What if someone can’t get any of those 3? ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Economist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c89c15/32.png) [@Evil\_Economist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Economist)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-voter-id-policies-and-their-supporters-racist/772039/105 "2016-11-16T19:19:13Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Yes, I have an excellent reason: it’s a proposal that doesn’t command any support from our elected legislators, and doesn’t represent the will of the people. Once we’ve gotten it passed, those people won’t be voting against it. So _fait accompli_, I think. Honestly, eliminating absentee ballots would be pretty shitty behavior, but it would probably lock in a Democratic president for the next couple of generations. And no state that ever removed absentee voting would ever have enough Republican legislators to ever reverse the decision. It would act like a ratchet, gradually turning every state in America blue. Other people seem to have no problem supporting shitty ideas if it helps “their side” win elections. Wonder how strong my moral compass is… ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Economist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c89c15/32.png) [@Evil\_Economist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Economist)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-voter-id-policies-and-their-supporters-racist/772039/106 "2016-11-16T19:21:18Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > There are people on this very message board who believe that requiring any ID, no matter how easy to get, is immoral and shouldn’t be done. Name them, please. > [@](#): > > Strange, each one of those methods uses the term “ID”. Huh, and after DrDeth went to all that trouble to show that Canada DOESN’T require an ID to vote :rolleyes: Could you please cite a voter ID law that’s contested by Democrats that doesn’t require a \*\*\*picture \*\*\*ID? ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-voter-id-policies-and-their-supporters-racist/772039/107 "2016-11-16T19:30:29Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > f those methods uses the term “ID”. Huh, and after DrDeth went to all that trouble to show that Canada DOESN’T require an ID to vote I’m not sure prescription label with address really falls within the ID discussion you’re having. But then we have nonpartisan organizations that administer elections which removes the temptation for political parties to skew the process to their advantage. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-voter-id-policies-and-their-supporters-racist/772039/108 "2016-11-16T19:33:48Z")
> [@slash2k](#): > > If I do expend effort but still don’t have the piece of paper (cf. my five-month wait mentioned above), does that still count as a “refusal”? or is my ability to vote blocked by law? A refusal to file Form RCD (Request for Consideration of U.S. Citizenship Documents by State Election Board of Kansas). > [@](#): > > I’m lucky–I HAVE a birth certificate on file. What should I do if I’m Dominique Freeman (whose story is linked above)? Did she “refuse” to obtain that piece of paper? What is her culpability? None. As a Californian, she has multiple options as described in the link, and can vote during the intervening time. > [@](#): > > Yes, you can. The Election Board (three partisan elected officials) will decide if they like you and your evidence, based on purely arbitrary and unwritten criteria. (No potential for abuse there, of course.) It’s not true that their decision is arbitrary; that would be an abuse of discretion and challenged in court. And since there is potential for abuse in each and every voting scheme in the nation, it’s not relevant to complain that there is potential for abuse here. Do you have any instances of actual abuse? > [@](#): > > Consider the case of [Dale Weber](http://cjonline.com/news-local-state-government/2016-11-01/kansas-election-board-affirms-wichita-man-s-citizenship-right); the election board approved his application primarily on his ability to “recite the birth dates of his parents, his mother’s maiden name and location of his birth in Germany.” If that’s good enough, what’s the point of the law? I have answered this question quite a few times: to ensure confidence in the results of an ultra-close election. Here we have a guy who made a specific effort to validate his identity. That’s all that’s needed. If he turns out to be an alien, of a felon, he can’t claim that it wasn’t him trying to register to vote; too many people remember how he could recite the bith dates of his parents. And notice how you shift gears: you hint that the Board will capriciously refuse to act, and then complain when they act on very simple evidence. But that’s the point: simple evidence should be fine in that context. And it was. > [@](#): > > I’m not arguing that every single member must feel that way; I’m arguing that if Group A feels more confident and Group B feels less confident, the **average** level of confidence across the population hasn’t changed. The only change is that parts of Group B can’t vote anymore. No, no – that’s not the way we do things in a representative democracy. Your assertions about confidence balancing out are not independently weighed by some super-legislature. I don’t agree with your match, by the way – I think the number of people that like Voter ID is higher than those who don’t, so the scale goes to my side. But the way we determine that is by repealing the law, democratically. > [@](#): > > Consider an analogy. In the 1950s, a majority of white Southerners “felt better” about elections when blacks could not vote. Did their feelings of confidence justify the consequences for those members of the public who didn’t have a voice? No… but there was a reason that their feelings of confidence did not carry the day. There feelings of confidence carried the presumption of local law, to be sure, but local law must give way to the federal constitution. And the way we determine who wins that argument is the courts. The courts decided that the voting schemes of that time were violative of the Fourteenth Amendment. And so the will of the people prevailed there too: the supermajority of states that adopted the Constititution spoke to, and settled, the issue. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-voter-id-policies-and-their-supporters-racist/772039/109 "2016-11-16T19:35:29Z")
Canada does require an ID, but it’s within a system not being run by people who occasionally try to fuck us over for a goddamn percentage. The registration process is deliberately made as efficient as possible, voter rolls are maintained constantly (and from the typical voter’s perspective, invisibly) instead of it being varying degrees of clusterfuckery before each election. What it comes down is that Canadians generally have a good solid basis for trusting our election officials to behave ethically, while American election officials and the people overseeing them seem occasionally determined to not only make that trust impossible, but take that trust out to the desert and make it dig its own grave while taunting it with threats against the trust’s family. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-voter-id-policies-and-their-supporters-racist/772039/110 "2016-11-16T19:41:55Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > There are people on this very message board who believe that requiring any ID, no matter how easy to get, is immoral and shouldn’t be done. I have not come across such. I don’t read every thread,however. If you would like to point them out, I will agree that they are in the wrong. > [@](#): > > And if you truly believe what you are saying, then all the current ID requirement arguments going on can change to “Is this process to obtain an ID too onerous” instead of VOTER ID LAWS ARE RACIST!!! If you read or participated in the threads, you would see that that is exactly the argument that is made. Now, the literal argument is that they are placing an onerous burden upon an already marginalized population, which is either racist, or cynically playing to race. > [@](#): > > I don’t believe you’ve adequately described the voting process in Canada, especially considering your next post (quoted below) > > Seems to me that people DO in fact need some sort of identification in order to vote. They can’t simply walk up to the polls, say “Hey, I’m DrDeth” and then go and vote. So you are wrong. If you look at the list of accepted documents in Canada, you would see that there is a difference in the permissiveness of them. In the US, under the voter ID laws that are being objected, it is intentional that the accepted forms of ID are the ones that are less likely to be had by the poor. In Canada, it is pretty unlikely that any citizen wouldn’t have one of the permitted forms of ID laying around. ('Cause mail is ID) > [@Evil\_Economist](#): > > Once we’ve gotten it passed, those people won’t be voting against it. So _fait accompli_, I think. > > Honestly, eliminating absentee ballots would be pretty shitty behavior, but it would probably lock in a Democratic president for the next couple of generations. And no state that ever removed absentee voting would ever have enough Republican legislators to ever reverse the decision. It would act like a ratchet, gradually turning every state in America blue. > > Other people seem to have no problem supporting shitty ideas if it helps “their side” win elections. Wonder how strong my moral compass is… I find that reading Bricker’s posts allows me to demagnetize, and maybe even re-polarize my moral compass. Combine that with the fact that my moral compass is not leading me on the most practical path to my goals, and I find it wavering on things like this. ---
**Author:** ![slash2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@slash2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slash2k)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-voter-id-policies-and-their-supporters-racist/772039/111 "2016-11-16T19:48:06Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > \*\*In the real world, people have to show ID to do damn near anything these days. No, you don’t. That’s kinda the point. Now if you are living a nice safe conventional middle-class existence, where you regularly fly on airplanes for business or vacation, buy wine at the liquor store, deal in largish financial transactions, and so forth, then yes, you probably do need ID. Not everybody lives a nice safe conventional middle-class existence. There are a surprisingly high number of people who have never been out of their state of birth, never mind flying off to Cabo for the weekend. If they don’t smoke or drink (or are old enough not to get carded), don’t own a car, get most of their medical care from the free clinic, don’t have a bank account but cash any checks at the high-fee/no-ID-required check cashing establishments, and so forth, what EXACTLY do they need this ID for, other than voting? Now realize that nine million American households, as of 2015, did not have a household member who possessed a checking or savings account. That’s 15 million adults who will never show their ID at the bank, because they don’t have a bank. ([cite](https://www.fdic.gov/householdsurvey/2015/2015execsumm.pdf)) As of 2003, nearly one in five American adults had never flown on an airplane in their life, never mind recently enough that their ID from that trip was still valid. ([cite](http://www.rita.dot.gov/bts/sites/rita.dot.gov.bts/files/publications/omnistats/volume_03_issue_03/pdf/entire.pdf)) Possession of a driver’s licenses is on the decline, and for younger adults (aged 16 to 44), has been decreasing for three decades. ([cite](http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2016/01/the-decline-of-the-drivers-license/425169/)) ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-voter-id-policies-and-their-supporters-racist/772039/112 "2016-11-16T20:06:31Z")
> [@Evil\_Economist](#): > > Name them, please. [Here’s one](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=19257609#post19257609) From the linked post, the user is Trinopus: “Voter ID laws are immoral…and constitutionally invalid also” That’s just a quick one because I remember seeing it before in the 1000 page long ID thread in the Pit. (apologizing for the quote format, I don’t know how to quote a post in another thread) ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-voter-id-policies-and-their-supporters-racist/772039/113 "2016-11-16T20:08:52Z")
> [@Evil\_Economist](#): > > Could you please cite a voter ID law that’s contested by Democrats that doesn’t require a \*\*\*picture \*\*\*ID? I think I would answer that if the title of this thread was “Are Voter ID policies that require a picture (and their supporters) racist?” But it isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-voter-id-policies-and-their-supporters-racist/772039/114 "2016-11-16T20:11:09Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > Just an empirical observation from debating the “progressives” on a myriad of subjects completely unrelated to race and still seeing “that’s racist!” as a rebuttal. Fine. Here is a cite from [John Oliver](https://youtu.be/5a9hnOk9AG4?t=25) from 3 months ago. I’d like to state for the record that, in the absence of affirmative data to the contrary, John Oliver does not know you, does not know OF you, and cannot measure definitively, like a barometer, just how racist you may happen to be. Good Day, Sir. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-voter-id-policies-and-their-supporters-racist/772039/115 "2016-11-16T20:12:52Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Canada does require an ID So, either the policies in Canada that require an ID are racist, or there exists voter ID policies that are NOT racist. Perhaps everyone in this thread and the Pit thread who are arguing against voter ID policies can read the Canada voter ID policies and then state clearly whether or not a) They support such policies in the US and b) Whether or not they consider those policies racist. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-voter-id-policies-and-their-supporters-racist/772039/116 "2016-11-16T20:22:47Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > So, either the policies in Canada that require an ID are racist, or there exists voter ID policies that are NOT racist. > > Perhaps everyone in this thread and the Pit thread who are arguing against voter ID policies can read the Canada voter ID policies and then state clearly whether or not a) They support such policies in the US and b) Whether or not they consider those policies racist. I think that you need to meander into that thread. Your quote from Trinopus, if you actually read that post, and the one following, you would see that he said “as they are currently written”. You are not bringing up any points that have not been brought up, and explained, numerous times. But, if you are asking, then I, and pretty much everyone else in this thread, would be perfectly fine with Canada style voter ID law. Does that end your questions? ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-voter-id-policies-and-their-supporters-racist/772039/117 "2016-11-16T20:38:19Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > I think that you need to meander into that thread. Your quote from Trinopus, if you actually read that post, and the one following, you would see that he said “as they are currently written”. Sorry, but in the post I quoted, he did NOT say “as they are currently written” > [@](#): > > You are not bringing up any points that have not been brought up, and explained, numerous times. If that is the case, what is the need for this thread? If they have been brought up and explained numerous times, the answer to this thread title is a clear NO. Because ALL voter ID polices (and their supporters) are not racist. I submit Canada as my example. And I submit a policy that allows voters to use their thumbprint as identification is likewise NOT racist, nor are the people racist who support using a thumbprint as an ID. > [@](#): > > But, if you are asking, then I, and pretty much everyone else in this thread, would be perfectly fine with Canada style voter ID law. I would suspect that some people may find the Canada style voter ID law a bit to lenient, but maybe I’m wrong. In any event, a more appropriate discussion would be whether or not specific policies were too onerous, instead of, again, PEOPLE WHO WANT VOTER ID ARE RACISTS! ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Economist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c89c15/32.png) [@Evil\_Economist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Economist)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-voter-id-policies-and-their-supporters-racist/772039/118 "2016-11-16T20:45:49Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Sorry, but in the post I quoted, he did NOT say “as they are currently written” Here you go: > [@I Pit the ID-demanding GOP vote-suppressors (Part 1)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/9076): > > Grin! I think they are, as they are currently written, because they have the intent of discriminating against groups of people on the basis of their statistical partisan alignment. Jim Crow laws were also immoral. This was in the very next post, and is a demonstration of why reading in context is important. > [@](#): > > In any event, a more appropriate discussion would be whether or not specific policies were too onerous, instead of, again, PEOPLE WHO WANT VOTER ID ARE RACISTS! Cite the people who have said that, please. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-voter-id-policies-and-their-supporters-racist/772039/119 "2016-11-16T20:47:24Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > So, either the policies in Canada that require an ID are racist, or there exists voter ID policies that are NOT racist. > > Perhaps everyone in this thread and the Pit thread who are arguing against voter ID policies can read the Canada voter ID policies and then state clearly whether or not a) They support such policies in the US and b) Whether or not they consider those policies racist. The policies are about election manipulation. Since the U.S. is a pretty racist country, the policies occasionally take on a racist aspect. Further, it’s easier to challenge a voter ID law if there’s a plausible racial angle because for some reason, the idea of hassling voters because of their probable politics is relatively tolerable. It’s like one of those double-effect consequences that Catholics are big on - you think the leaning-Democrat voters in the sixth ward are being deliberately inconvenienced, but that’s a hard sell so you point out that the sixth ward has a large black population (which may be irrelevant) and a judge supports you on that basis. I liken it to wanting to get an abortion but not being able to say that, so one goes in for a different procedure that has the unfortunate double effect of causing the abortion. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Economist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c89c15/32.png) [@Evil\_Economist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Economist)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-voter-id-policies-and-their-supporters-racist/772039/120 "2016-11-16T20:48:09Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > I think I would answer that if the title of this thread was “Are Voter ID policies that require a picture (and their supporters) racist?” > > But it isn’t. So you can’t actually name a law that’s opposed by Democrats that doesn’t require a picture ID? How about naming a single law that we’ve actually discussed that someone in the thread has actually opposed that doesn’t require a picture ID. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-voter-id-policies-and-their-supporters-racist/772039.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-voter-id-policies-and-their-supporters-racist/772039.md?page=7)