I don’t have to show ID for my prescriptions, either. However, last time I was at the hospital I had to show ID to receive treatment. Heck, about ten years ago, I had to show ID in order to gain access as a visitor to another patient.
Election ink doesn’t seem like it can be used as evidence that you voted as yourself and not as your neighbor.
I just want to add one more anecdote:
My mother would not have been able to vote in the 2008 election if California (where she lived at the time) had required valid photo ID.
She had had a driver license for many years, but let it lapse after she gave up driving and sold her car. She had been receiving Social Security for many years by then, so didn’t need any valid photo ID for that. She kept her expired license in her wallet and used that whenever she needed to show ID. Apparently those circumstances were few and far between, and the person looking at the ID didn’t care if it was expired.
When my husband and I discovered while visiting her for Thanksgiving in 2008 that she didn’t have a valid ID, we insisted on driving her to the DMV to get an official state ID. Our point was that if she needed to fly she wouldn’t be able to.
It took us most of the afternoon to get to the DMV (which was across town from her home and would have required two bus rides) and get her signed up for the ID. She admitted later she would never have been able to manage on her own – between her spinal stenosis and hearing issues, this would have been such an ordeal for her she would have given up after the first half-hour of wait.
I don’t remember what ID she had to present other than her expired driver license, but I do know that it took the state of California six weeks to get her ID to her. I thought this was interesting, because new drivers left with their license that day.
You know, it’s easy to wave a hand and say, “What’s the big deal about getting a photo ID?” All I can say is that for some people it is a big deal.
FWIW, my mom was a naturalized citizen who voted in every presidential election since 1944. I’m pretty sure she voted for McCain in 2008.
The idea would be that it would not be logged anywhere, but would just be a record of who voted, if you did not provide ID at the time of voting. That way, should you not be an ineligible voter, but voted anyway, you cannot make the claim that it was not you that voted.
I will agree that it is a solution in search of a problem, but I feel that way about all voter ID issues. I see this as more of a compromise with those who insist it is important.
The country doesn’t really care who you voted as, so long as you had the legal right to vote, don’t vote twice, and didn’t stop your neighbor from voting.
I do concede that election ink doesn’t stop all, or even most, potential problems. However, since I have yet to be convinced there are any actual problems anyway, I think it’s a reasonable, cheap, and simple way to shut up people who are trying to implement policies intended to disenfranchise people. It’s certainly cheaper and simpler than collecting fingerprints, which would all have to be stored at the very least.
I would say they are the same problems that Canada, Mexico, and a slew of other countries that require some sort of ID think they have. I know there are Canadian people on this board, perhaps they could answer why people need some sort of identification in order to vote in Canada?
In canada, they have a national ID system, which is something that for some reason, doesn’t work here.
Also, in canada, you can use pretty much any form of ID, the list is meant to be as comprehensive as possible, rather than Voter ID in the US, which tends to be as restrictive as possible.
Why does Canada require ANY form of ID? Why can’t Canadians just go to the polling place and vote? What problem is being solved by requiring some sort of identification, even if it is just a phone bill?
There, if someone votes illegally, he gives himself away by apologizing, and is deported to America.
Wait. Are you insinuating that Republicans have a hidden motive? A motive that is not truly aligned with the ideals of egalitarian democracy?
Is that why crappy band Rush is here? I should have known 
You can use a phone bill. Not sure many people would even call it “id”. And part of the need is to make sure you are voting in the right riding/district as much as to show you’re allowed to vote.
Why can’t the voter just tell them their address? Why do they need something to prove it? How do people in the US prove they are voting in the right district without the need to show a phone bill? Canada sure has tough voting laws.
Why would I vote as my neighbor and not myself?
Well, I invite the Republicans to start pushing tough Canadian style voter id laws.
Because your neighbor lives in a different district, and you want to sway the elections in his district and you know he doesn’t vote.
It might be a bad example. I’ll come up with a better one
That’s not my point. You haven’t explained WHY it is necessary to have something in order to vote in Canada What problem is that solving?
The main reason to vote as your neighbor instead of yourself is twofold - you get to vote twice and your neighbor, when he comes in, is decried as a fraud and summarily executed. Or maybe just has to explain himself a little harder before he’s allowed to vote - it may vary by district.
There are a variety of ways you could commit voter fraud if we let you cast your vote without identifying yourself, or by fraudulently identifying yourself. You could double-vote by going to multiple voting places. You could double-vote by also submitting an absentee ballot (possibly multiple absentee ballots). You could vote despite being an illegal immigrant. Russia could ship in thousands of its own people to impersonate americans. So many options!
However, aside from the last one, I don’t think any of this actions occur to any significant degree. That’s why I say I think this is a solution looking for a problem - it’s not that there aren’t numerous potential weaknesses with the current setup; it’s that I think nobody’s bothering to exploit them. (Except maybe the Russians. Putin personally voted for Trump 87 different times I hear.)
Not for nothing, but people use fake IDs to commit fraud against banks almost daily. IDs don’t quite prevent much. Will you be required to show two forms of ID just to make sure that the ID you present isn’t a false one? IF someone is willing to go through the effort to commit voter fraud they probably would also go through the effort of obtaining a fake ID no? I mean I got a fake ID when I was 18 years old. What is there to prevent you stealing your neighbors name and address, posting it on a fake ID and then voting with it? Then if your neighbor goes to vote, its even tougher to figure out if he was a victim of voter fraud because the person who voted used a valid ID.
I did indeed explain one why: to make sure you are voting in the correct riding. That’s why your current address is stressed as a component. Sorry if that reason doesn’t appeal to you. If people pushing for voter ID included:
…do you think the Dems would resist it much?
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