# Voter ID law with 9+ year's notice in advance **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [October 21, 2014, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voter-id-law-with-9-years-notice-in-advance/702066 "2014-10-21T19:41:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voter-id-law-with-9-years-notice-in-advance/702066/21 "2014-10-21T21:18:32Z")
A percentage of voters don’t have ID now. ID is generally advantageous, but their lives have happened in such a way, as to not currently possess it. Nine years from now, will the forces that act upon society be so different that there still won’t be a percentage of voters without ID? If you’re poor, don’t have a bank account, and don’t drive, at get by without an ID now, why would that be different in nine years? Will some people be so motivated as to take the effort to get an ID just to vote? Sure, but given how humanity works, many wont. If you want to institute voter ID, I think you should do your very best to assure that everyone gets an ID. The trouble with that is 30% of of population is batshit crazy and would fight a universal ID with rifles if need be. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voter-id-law-with-9-years-notice-in-advance/702066/22 "2014-10-21T21:26:42Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Then how do US states that do have such laws, keep them? The political power of the Right. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voter-id-law-with-9-years-notice-in-advance/702066/23 "2014-10-21T21:29:50Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > If you want to institute voter ID, I think you should do your very best to assure that everyone gets an ID. The trouble with that is 30% of of population is batshit crazy and would fight a universal ID with rifles if need be. Such people sound more likely to vote conservative than liberal. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voter-id-law-with-9-years-notice-in-advance/702066/24 "2014-10-21T21:37:02Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Then how do US states that do have such laws, keep them? The same way that the states with “separate but equal” laws kept them between 1896 and 1954. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voter-id-law-with-9-years-notice-in-advance/702066/25 "2014-10-21T21:37:52Z")
> [@CJJ](#): > > Does this future law resemble the [SB 14 law in Texas](http://www.nationalmemo.com/texas-voter-id-law-rejects-student-ids-accepts-gun-permits/), which rejects Social Security, Medicaid, and student ID cards as valid forms of voter ID, but accepts concealed handgun permits? > > If so, I can’t support it no matter what the timing. And I suspect just about any implementation of such a law will be tuned to favor whatever party is calling for it. That’s it’s real purpose: To disenfranchise the opposition. Evidently the reason for this is that the handgun permits include the person’s address, whereas the others don’t. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voter-id-law-with-9-years-notice-in-advance/702066/26 "2014-10-21T21:49:33Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Such people sound more likely to vote conservative than liberal. Possibly, but it’s also the same group that is convinced elections are thrown by legions of bogus voters, since “no one really votes for [Democrats].” (I’ve heard that straight from otherwise sober and respectable types, explaining that their guy really won, once you discount all the bogus and irrelevant votes.) ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voter-id-law-with-9-years-notice-in-advance/702066/27 "2014-10-21T22:02:02Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Such people sound more likely to vote conservative than liberal. Yeah, probably. Although, I’m sure there are liberals who would be against it on privacy grounds. The trouble is, if mostly conservatives are against a universal ID, and they are the ones gaining electoral advantage from its lack, I don’t see a lot of chance of it happening. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voter-id-law-with-9-years-notice-in-advance/702066/28 "2014-10-21T22:12:34Z")
Other. It’s a poll tax. Don’t require a voter to show an ID that they have to pay for. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voter-id-law-with-9-years-notice-in-advance/702066/29 "2014-10-22T02:16:01Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Other. It’s a poll tax. Don’t require a voter to show an ID that they have to pay for. How about if it was free? ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voter-id-law-with-9-years-notice-in-advance/702066/30 "2014-10-22T02:39:03Z")
How about if you can’t get it anyway? ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voter-id-law-with-9-years-notice-in-advance/702066/31 "2014-10-22T04:02:41Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > How about if you can’t get it anyway? I asked a question. If you’d like to answer it, by all means, please do so. If you then would like to ask me something, feel free. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voter-id-law-with-9-years-notice-in-advance/702066/32 "2014-10-22T04:16:28Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > How about if it was free? I’m curious who will pay for free IDs. Will the county clerk hire new staff and buy vehicles to drive people who cannot afford to travel to wherever they need to go to get their IDs, to the place that issues IDs? Or will staff be sent to the homes of these people to do the paperwork and take the photos there? If someone doesn’t have a phone, will the county auditor send canvassers to see if people need ID? Any way you cut it, it will be expensive. Will taxes be raised to cover the expense? Maybe take the money from the fire department or judicial system? And what if someone has a religious objection to government-issued ID? Number of the Beast, and all that? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voter-id-law-with-9-years-notice-in-advance/702066/33 "2014-10-22T04:17:53Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Say the law was passed in 2015 but doesn’t take effect until the 2024 presidential elections. In \*\*nine year’s time, \*\*is there really any voter in America who could not get the time or money or transportation to get a photo ID? This assumes the program will be honestly and impartially administrated. I don’t any justification for that assumption. The purpose of creating these programs was to create opportunities to manipulate the vote. Why would the people who went to great effort to create an opportunity to manipulate votes choose to not use that opportunity? ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voter-id-law-with-9-years-notice-in-advance/702066/34 "2014-10-22T04:52:41Z")
In nine years, the eldest likely voter will have been born in about 1920. How many people born in the 20s lacked a birth certificate as an infant and have never acquired one since? I assume it’s a non-zero percentage, but even so, in nine years we could probably solve that one. I oppose voter ID requirements as a back-door effort to disenfranchise voters, but not in absolute terms. Here in Canada there’s a voter ID requirement with a workaround (you can have someone with an ID vouch for you). It doesn’t seem to be the giant stink the issue is in America, where it’s a left / right issue and thus an intractable problem which can never be solved. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voter-id-law-with-9-years-notice-in-advance/702066/35 "2014-10-22T11:52:42Z")
The only “problem” that voter ID fixes is that of minorities voting in ways that displease Republicans. The purpose of voter ID is to steal elections for Republicans by suppressing likely Democratic voters. There may be some individuals who believe there actually is a problem that voter ID would solve but the driving force behind this evil movement are Republicans trying to rig elections. I don’t care how “free” you claim your ID scheme is. First of all, you need a birth certificate. Maybe you were born 60 years ago across the country. You may not even know what county you were born in. So you have to figure out who to contact at the state level and have them research where you were born so they can either get you a copy or refer you to the right county. Then of course you have to write a check, assuming you have a checking account. Once you’ve done all that legwork, prepare to have to figure out where to get your state ID. Maybe you don’t have a car and there’s no public transportation or your job happens to coincide with the agency’s office hours. Gonna take a day off, lose a day’s pay, maybe even get fired to get that “free” ID? And how are going to even get there? The truth is, you’re going to make a hard choice of giving up your right to vote or going through a financial hardship, in some cases a very significant hardship. It also sometimes requires the ability to do the legwork to figure out who to contact and where to go. It may require sending money across the country, money you may not have and you may not even have a checking account. So for that “free” ID, you may have to find a way to get to a place that sells money orders, not to mention find the money to send. All of this bullshit to solve a problem that doesn’t exist. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voter-id-law-with-9-years-notice-in-advance/702066/36 "2014-10-22T13:37:40Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > In nine years, the eldest likely voter will have been born in about 1920. How many people born in the 20s lacked a birth certificate as an infant and have never acquired one since? I assume it’s a non-zero percentage, but even so, in nine years we could probably solve that one. Sure, right after we solve the racism issue, the abortion issue, extreme partisanship, the immigration issue - nine years should be enough time, yah? ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voter-id-law-with-9-years-notice-in-advance/702066/37 "2014-10-22T13:47:01Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > I asked a question. If you’d like to answer it, by all means, please do so. Bearing in mind this isn’t the Pit, the answer is No. :rolleyes: One \*might \*have thought that obvious. > [@](#): > > If you then would like to ask me something, feel free. Okay. What would this proposed law accomplish? What problem can you identify as real would it solve? How have you determined that this is an appropriate way to solve it? What other problems can be identified as real that would continue to exist? How would this law strengthen democracy instead of weakening it? Does that even matter? ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voter-id-law-with-9-years-notice-in-advance/702066/38 "2014-10-22T13:48:13Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > All of this bullshit to solve a problem that doesn’t exist. Still a bit too long for a bumpersticker. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voter-id-law-with-9-years-notice-in-advance/702066/39 "2014-10-22T13:56:19Z")
How about “Cut The Shit”, then? Too vague? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voter-id-law-with-9-years-notice-in-advance/702066/40 "2014-10-22T14:29:06Z")
Not only would this law have all the same problems as any other voter ID law, but who passes laws to take effect nine years later? By then, the Presidency is guaranteed to have turned over, and a great many other offices are likely to. A state can turn from solid red to solid blue, or vice-versa, in that time. There would be legal voters when the law took effect who were in third grade when the law was passed. Nine years is, in short, an eternity in politics. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voter-id-law-with-9-years-notice-in-advance/702066.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voter-id-law-with-9-years-notice-in-advance/702066.md?page=3)