# Why would anyone oppose requiring an ID to vote? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 24, 2004, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-oppose-requiring-an-id-to-vote/265937 "2004-09-24T20:36:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2004, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-oppose-requiring-an-id-to-vote/265937/21 "2004-09-25T21:00:29Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > I see a curious nonsequitur here: Illegal immigrants are some of the poorest workers in the country . . . therefore, they should not be allowed to obtain driver’s licenses. What’s the step in the middle? Deport them. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2004, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-oppose-requiring-an-id-to-vote/265937/22 "2004-09-25T21:10:05Z")
> [@Shayna](#): > > Deport them. You really think that’s an option? As I understand it, if you walked into the kitchen of any randomly selected restaurant in the LA or San Diego metro area and shouted, _La Migra!_ there would be nobody left to cook dinner or wash the dishes. ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2004, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-oppose-requiring-an-id-to-vote/265937/23 "2004-09-25T21:39:46Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > You really think that’s an option? Not wishing to hijack this thread further, I’ll simply say, yes, I not only really think that’s an option, but I think it’s the _only_ option. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2004, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-oppose-requiring-an-id-to-vote/265937/24 "2004-09-25T21:55:04Z")
> [@Shayna](#): > > Not wishing to hijack this thread further, I’ll simply say, yes, I not only really think that’s an option, but I think it’s the _only_ option. Legalizing their residency is also an option, **Shayna.** ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2004, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-oppose-requiring-an-id-to-vote/265937/25 "2004-09-25T22:01:18Z")
> [@BG](#): > > Legalizing their residency is also an option, Shayna. Agreed. -XT ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2004, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-oppose-requiring-an-id-to-vote/265937/26 "2004-09-26T00:28:28Z")
Not in my opinion. We shouldn’t reward people for not obeyng the law. All that serves to do is encourage people to continue to break the law and enter illegally, knowing we’ll just relent and give them a free pass. No. Sorry. Not an option. And I speak as someone who moved TO Mexico and lived there – LEGALLY – for a year and a half, and as someone who has “imported” my spouse and has had to go through all the legal hoops, paperwork, afidavits, interviews and exhorbitant fees in order to comply with the law. Deporting illegal immigrants is the _only_ fair option to all citizens and legal immigrants of this country. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2004, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-oppose-requiring-an-id-to-vote/265937/27 "2004-09-26T06:40:25Z")
> [@emarkp](#): > > Right now a drivers license functions not only as ID but de facto proof of citizenship. Having lived in California for the last 30-some-odd years, I have to say this is news to me. I’ve _never_ seen an instance where a California Driver’s License was taken as “proof of citizenship” by anyone in any official capacity. Given how many times I’ve had to drag out my naturalization papers to prove said citizenship, I think your claim is _bupkis._ ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2004, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-oppose-requiring-an-id-to-vote/265937/28 "2004-09-26T06:47:58Z")
> [@Testride](#): > > What is the likelihood that an adult wouldn’t have SOME kind of official ID? I have an official stated ID. It expired years ago. I haven’t bothered to get another one because- I have no car and no public transportation route will take me to the DMV branch I need to visit. I need to either take a cab, or arrange for a friend to waste a day for me. OTTOMH, it’s $15 for a new card, plus $5 because the last ID expired. They accept no cash, or checks, so I have to stop off and get a money order for the exact amount first. If I forget a fee or add improperly, I’m screwed. > [@](#): > > If someone is too poor to have a driver’s license or a non-driver ID ($20 in my state), isn’t he probably going to have a card from a welfare or food stamp program? Food stamp cards give a name and no other identifying information. You use a PIN , just like with a MAC or credit card. Welfare cards give names and adresses, but still have no photograph. > [@](#): > > Even if his only income is welfare, how does he cash his check? If his money goes straight to a bank via direct deposit, he had to provide ID to open the account and to get an ATM card. That is true. Of course, I opened the account years ago when my ID was valid. I moved into my current apartment at that time. I did need a photographic ID to get the apartment. But, renewal of the lease does not require an ID. > [@](#): > > If he has any kind of legal job, he almost certainly had to provide ID when he was hired. And when he registered to vote in the first place he very likely had to show ID. The only people who wouldn’t have ID are the ones who get paid under the table and live in the cash-only underground economy. Or they could be unemployed. > [@](#): > > If a person isn’t enough of a participant in the society to have an ID do we really want him voting on public issues? Not a participant of society? How am I not a participant of society? Please explain this in detail. Now, explain why this makes me unworthy to vote? > [@](#): > > Obviously various kinds of voting restrictions have been used in the past to discriminate unjustly against minorities and the poor. “Literacy tests” were notorious. But is it entirely wrong to have some minimum requirements for a person to take on the responsibility of voting? Having to prove that you are who you say and that you live in the district where you are voting just doesn’t seem so terrible Four words- de facto poll tax. Requiring voters to have photographic ID, means that they must pay a fee in order to obtain an ID and vote. Requiring voters to pay a fee in order to vote would constitute a poll tax which AFAIK is unconstitutional ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2004, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-oppose-requiring-an-id-to-vote/265937/29 "2004-09-26T08:07:12Z")
Aren’t social security cards free? How about we require at least a SS card to vote? ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2004, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-oppose-requiring-an-id-to-vote/265937/30 "2004-09-26T11:29:29Z")
Please educate a non-Yank: how do American polling stations know that you’re eligible to vote? What’s to stop you voting somewhere you shouldn’t? Here in the U.K., we have a register of electors and you are only eligible to vote at a particular polling station or, by advance request, by postal ballot. When you go to the polling station, you present your polling card or another form of ID. ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2004, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-oppose-requiring-an-id-to-vote/265937/31 "2004-09-26T13:04:22Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Legalizing their residency is also an option, **Shayna.** An _option_? I suppose it is an option, a very bad one at that. ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2004, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-oppose-requiring-an-id-to-vote/265937/32 "2004-09-26T15:14:58Z")
> [@qts](#): > > Please educate a non-Yank: how do American polling stations know that you’re eligible to vote? What’s to stop you voting somewhere you shouldn’t? Here in Chicago, each person is assigned to a polling station according to his/her address (not only for Presidential elections, but a whole host of other, more localized offices, all the way down to city alderman). When I go in to vote, nobody asks me for ID, but they compare my signature to the one from my voter registration application, which is kept in a huge book at the front. The polling place is also staffed by election judges, at least one Democratic and one Republican (sometimes more depending on the size of the polling place - polling places are small, and there is one every couple of blocks here in a heavily populated commercial/residential area - they are usually in semi-public places like churches, nursing homes, community centers, etc.) Both judges have the opportunity to compare the signature to the one in the book. I’ve never seen a disagreement between the election judges, or a case when an illiterate person came to vote, so I don’t know a situation like that would be resolved. My mom has been an election judge a few times, so she might know more. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2004, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-oppose-requiring-an-id-to-vote/265937/33 "2004-09-26T15:16:23Z")
> [@qts](#): > > Please educate a non-Yank: how do American polling stations know that you’re eligible to vote? What’s to stop you voting somewhere you shouldn’t? > > Here in the U.K., we have a register of electors and you are only eligible to vote at a particular polling station or, by advance request, by postal ballot. When you go to the polling station, you present your polling card or another form of ID. I’ve been registered to vote in California, Texas, Pennsylvania (where I live now), Virginia, and Minnesota. Soon after registering, I’ve been sent a card from the elections office to confirm my registration. The cards listed my precinct and polling place. For example, where I live in PA, my local polling place is the church up the street. (We vote in the lobby so as not to violate anyone’s religious beliefs. Also, I’d like to see the public school complex used; it’s a bit closer and would be a good lesson in civics to the high-schoolers who will soon be voting themselves. But it’s too disruptive to the school day.) Each polling place has a list of people who are eligible to vote at that location. If you’re not on that list, you don’t vote there unless you’ve got the card the elections office sent that proves you’re eligible to vote there. That said, I’ve been asked for ID with at least my name on it. I tend to lose my voter’s registration card, so when I’ve voted without it, I’ve just been asked for some photo ID with my name to confirm my identity. It doesn’t bother me, but then, I’ve got three pieces of government-issued photo ID on me at all times. The poll worker has never taken any information down from my ID; all I’ve done is sign as anyone would. So what’s to keep someone from voting more than once? Absolutely nothing, save honesty, competence on the part of the registrar, and now, computer technology. There are stories of people being recruited to vote in multiple precincts on election day. I myself have been registered in two places at once; I’d moved out of state and the registrar in my old county never took me off the rolls until I changed my driver’s license. Being the honest citizen I am, I only voted in my new state. Robin ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2004, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-oppose-requiring-an-id-to-vote/265937/34 "2004-09-26T15:22:27Z")
> [@Eva Luna](#): > > I’ve never seen a disagreement between the election judges, or a case when an illiterate person came to vote, so I don’t know a situation like that would be resolved. My mom has been an election judge a few times, so she might know more. I’ve been a poll worker before, and while we didn’t have any illiterate voters, we had a few who didn’t speak a language for which we had a ballot. IIRC, there was a list of interpreters we could call who would come down and interpret the ballot for the person. Living in a college town helps! Robin ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2004, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-oppose-requiring-an-id-to-vote/265937/35 "2004-09-26T15:48:18Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > Aren’t social security cards free? How about we require at least a SS card to vote? The problem is that SS cards don’t have photographs and aren’t difficult to fake. This is also a problem with voter registration cards. There isn’t really a point in requiring an ID that anybody with a decent scanner, graphics program, printer, and the right kind of cardboard can churn out by the hundreds. **Kimstu** raises a good point. Is this kind of fraud a big enough problem in the US to justify the change? ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2004, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-oppose-requiring-an-id-to-vote/265937/36 "2004-09-26T15:54:55Z")
Firstly, I’ll just say that voting in Canada is pretty much the same as **qts** describes the UK. Additionally, if you didn’t register before voting day you can show up at the closest polling booth with ID showing citizenship and home address to register on the spot. I can’t imagine what requiring ID brings to the production if I’m understanding the current procces:. Only one registration card is sent out per person(loss of this card can be replaced by proper ID), the name is only on the voting list once to be ticked off and there is a signature check. Not Fort Knox but it covers the bases. Seems to me that if required ID disenfranchises anyone (_e.g._ all the people who lost their wallet the week before) then it’s not worth the measly benefits. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2004, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-oppose-requiring-an-id-to-vote/265937/37 "2004-09-26T16:58:49Z")
This thread inspired me to start another, related thread: “Why not have a national ID card?” – [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=277773](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=277773). You might want to check it out. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2004, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-oppose-requiring-an-id-to-vote/265937/38 "2004-09-26T22:50:08Z")
In Hawaii, you must have a picture ID, have your voter registration card/certificate, or be personally vouched for by a voter registration official. ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2004, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-oppose-requiring-an-id-to-vote/265937/39 "2004-09-26T23:08:50Z")
Where I vote in Michigan, you simply fill out and sign a small form, supplying your name and address. This is compared to a list of registered voters. Signatures are not checked on-site. No ID is required unless there is a problem, or a notation about some irregularity has been placed by your name in the registration book supplied by the clerk. People don’t have to show their voter registration card, either. ---
**Author:** ![WhammyAthame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9e8a1a/32.png) [@WhammyAthame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhammyAthame)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2004, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-oppose-requiring-an-id-to-vote/265937/40 "2004-09-26T23:37:58Z")
> [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](#): > > Where I vote in Michigan, you simply fill out and sign a small form, supplying your name and address. This is compared to a list of registered voters. Signatures are not checked on-site. No ID is required unless there is a problem, or a notation about some irregularity has been placed by your name in the registration book supplied by the clerk. People don’t have to show their voter registration card, either. Where I vote in Maryland, you go in and stand in the line which corresponds to the first letter of your last name. You tell them your name and they check the list and mark you off. Of course I can read the entire page of names while they are doing this, but this is a small enough area that if I tried to come back and say I was somebody else they’d probably recognize me. We are handed a ballot, sign some form and we vote. Nobody checks ID or the signature, and we don’t need our voter registration card. I didn’t show ID when I registered, I did it through the mail. But I may have had to send a copy of my drivers license, it was a long time ago. I just looked it up, you do have to send a copy of a photo ID, bill or paystub showing your name and address or you can be required to show ID at the polling place. Also, you have to be registered at least 21 days before election day. We vote in the schools, so school is closed that day. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-oppose-requiring-an-id-to-vote/265937.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-oppose-requiring-an-id-to-vote/265937.md?page=3)