There are multiple ways to get to a polling place, at varying costs. If you can’t afford to get to your polling place you can vote absentee at no charge whatsoever.
Until there are multiple ways of getting the ID needed to vote under the schemes, at varying costs, including free, you’re not making reasonable comparisons.
How about those folks that don’t read up on the candidates and/or issues and just vote their party line?
Its their right to do so, however much I may disapprove.
That one statement makes the entire rant moronic.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with requiring proof of citizenship. We, as a country, should have adopted this decades ago.
Hmm. Well, in regard to voting, I think the problems with the UK system mainly relate to postal ballots. In general, I don’t think large numbers of people show up at polling stations to vote fraudulently.
The uselessness of a national ID card scheme to prevent benefit fraud in the UK is well outside the scope of this thread. But it is an area in which I have some experience. Suffice it to say that the existing HRT and RTR tests that are applied would not be enhanced by a national ID card, and some of us feel that changing the fundamental relationship between the state and the citizen by requiring citizens to carry papers is, well, unnecessary.
What about them? They’ve got a vote and they used it.
This mildly reminds me of a piece of Starship Troopers, or maybe it was Citizen of the Galaxy, which opined that maybe we should only give the vote to those who can solve a simple quadratic equation.
Yeah, and? You do realize I’m not talking about whether or not idiots have the right to vote, right?
Speaking on behalf of mathtards everywhere, over my dead body!
(Fucking crypto-facist Heinlein…)
City people all scoff at obtaining ID because for them it is convenient . In some areas, there is a long trip to get to a available DMV office and more difficult still to get a passport. If you do not have a car, there is plenty on inconvenience and trouble. There are lots of old people who don’t drive any more. There are poor people without cars. For many it is not a half mile trip to the DMV but a huge problem ,with getting someone to drive them there and wait ,for who knows how long.
Of course those people are likely Dem voters. that is why the Repubs want to put obstacles in front of them. Some will not be able to get the proof and will not be able to vote. For political reasons, some citizens will lose their right to vote.
You know what’s moronic about both the quoted line and yours?
Neither of those states actually require an ID to register in fact I’m not aware of any state that requires ID to register though in some states it might make the application easier.
Don’t believe me here’s the applications for Kansas and Alabama
The restrictions being added are requiring ID at the polls they would not effect mail in ballots.
Unnecessary is a long way from dangerous, though, and the “papers, please” objection strongly suggests that the objectors consider that allowing national ID will turn us into Nazis, which is absurd.
I could be persuaded against making the cards compulsory, but anyone who chooses not to have one would be unable to vote, or to obtain benefits or employment, or any government services such as health care.
I should point out that the state already knows who anyone is through their National Insurance number, if they are employed or claim benefits, so there would be no fundamental change. The great benefit would be to the individual, who would need a single for of ID in any situation, rather than a different one, or combination of forms of ID, in various situations.
The government already knows as much as it wants to about us, so there’d be no real change there.
As a more general question, are there any countries where people don’t have to identify themselves on a regular basis, either to state or private organisations?
Eleven percent of voters don’t have IDs. Most are seniors, people of color, disabled and poor people. Why is it a good idea to take their right to vote away? Voter fraud is practically non existent. This is a solution to a problem which does not exist. It will result in them losing their right to vote. This whole movement is simply wrong and is a wet dream of the Republican party.
I’m unclear on what your point is, I guess. A Republican voter has as equal a right to vote a party line as a Democrat does.
If it’s unnecessary, then why bother? It is up to you and yours over here on this side of the Atlantic to prove that even though it’s unnecessary, it’s needed. I’ve seen no such proof.
Certainly there’s no indication that requiring a national ID will turn either of our governments into Nazis, or even fascists; certainly there is every reason to believe that if such a government becomes possible, that a national ID will ease its path.
Sort of like the way the Second Amendmentists over here freak out over registration of firearms.
Well, unnecessary laws do waste taxpayers’ money. I see that as a reason not to pass them. In general, if illiberal laws are to be passed, I’d like to see a clear and specific justification for them.
It’s not meaningful to call any ID card scheme “voluntary” if you need the card to vote, claim benefits, get a job or seek health care. Such a system is, to all intents and purposes, compulsory.
And it’s not correct, in the UK, to say that the state knows who you are because of your NINO. I, as a benefit processor, could find out some information about you - what benefit claims you’d made in the past, the last address you used to claim benefits, even your current salary. But I couldn’t find out your immigration status or criminal record, because those things are not linked to your NINO.
Makes sense. It was none of my business. Of course, it’s possible for state investigators to find out pretty much anything they need to know, but they have to provide a reason why they need to know, and I’d like it to stay that way.
No one is “taking their right to vote away.” That’s a ludicrous assertion.
The Constitution ensures that people have a right to vote. It doesn’t say anything about making sure that people don’t have to spend any of their own money in order to do so. What’s next? Gas, mileage and salary reimbursements? People have to spend money to do things in life. Elections only happen every two to four years. There’s no reason why anyone, no matter how poor they are, shouldn’t be able to save up $10 to $25 over a two to four year period in order to pay for the ID they need in order to vote.
You say that voter fraud is practically nonexistent. Assuming you’re correct (and I seem to recall endless whinging around here about hanging chads and Diebold voting machines during the GWB era), how long do you think it would stay that way if people could vote willy nilly without having to register beforehand and prove who they are when they vote? What would prevent prevent illegal immigrants, convicted felons*, minors and anyone else from voting illegally? And most importantly, what would prevent people (including Republicans!) from voting mulitiple times?
There are perfectly good reasons why people have to register to vote beforehand and show their eligibility at the polling booth, and I have little doubt that if your party stood to lose rather than gain by blowing them off, you’d be screaming bloody murder for those very same reasons.
*I agree that convicted felons should be able to vote legally once they’ve satisfied the terms of their sentences.
Of course they do, but neither is an intelligent way to vote.
It’s a non-issue. For instance, some states (gasp!) require a photo ID if you’re receiving government subsidies like food stamps. The horror.
So all of these supposedly poor downtrodden folks who are getting the help they need, have already had to prove who they are.
These nice folks who help out the poor, require a photo ID too!
You read the trouble I had getting a replacement ID, correct?
If so good, you know it was much more of a hardship than “$25”, and required over a hundred miles of transportation. Surely you’re not too stupid to see not everyone has transportation for such a project, especially in rural America.
I guess however you want a return to the good old days of poll taxes.
No, like almost everyone else who makes politically motivated claims about what I allegedly want to return to, you are way wrong.
And no, I don’t think we should blow off making sure that people don’t vote mulitiple times or otherwise vote illegally because you had a hard time getting a replacement ID.