# 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:** 7\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2004, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-oppose-requiring-an-id-to-vote/265937/61 "2004-09-28T16:12:02Z")
> [@Hyperelastic](#): > > According to [the elections administrator of Maryland](http://washingtontimes.com/metro/20040823-122247-8912r.htm) , you don’t need the license itself to register to vote; you only need to _apply_ for a license, which anyone can do. Logically, one would expect the list of people who registered through “motor voter” to be checked for illegal aliens, but the federal government refuses to provide the data so states can do it. Apparently the privacy rights of immigrants are more important than having clean voter rolls. That is indeed very strange. As I said, legal resident aliens who are not citizens have always been able to get driver’s licenses. There isn’t even any controversy about this. After all, someone who legally lives and works in California can obtain a driver’s license even if he isn’t a citizen. Otherwise half the people at my company wouldn’t be able to get to work. I can understand using DLs as a form of identification, but in no way does it prove citizenship, nor did it ever. Ed ---
**Author:** ![testride](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a6a055/32.png) [@testride](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/testride)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2004, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-oppose-requiring-an-id-to-vote/265937/62 "2004-10-11T03:07:17Z")
Possibly relevant to this discussion: According to this columnist and sources he cites, as a result of “motor voter” registration and the relaxation of other restrictions, thousands of non-citizens are registered to vote. Eight of the 19 9-11 hijackers were registered to vote in U.S. elections. Many citizens are registered to vote in more than one jurisdiction, which means they can vote by absentee ballot in one state and in person in another. Apparently thousands of hospitalized Alzheimer’s patients are also “receiving assistance” in voting. Maybe proper ID–to register and to vote–wouldn’t be a bad idea. If someone can’t afford ID he should get it free, or very cheap. But there should be some way to protect the electoral process from people who shouldn’t be casting ballots. [http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/op-ed/perkins/20041001-9999-lz1e1perkins.html](http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/op-ed/perkins/20041001-9999-lz1e1perkins.html) ---
**Author:** ![mks57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@mks57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mks57)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2004, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-oppose-requiring-an-id-to-vote/265937/63 "2004-10-11T07:07:24Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > And I thought we put the final nail in its coffin in the '60s, when poll taxes and literacy tests were abolished. I think we would be better off if all prospective voters had to pass the civics and history test given to applicants for naturalized citizenship. See [http://uscis.gov/graphics/exec/natz/natztest.asp](http://uscis.gov/graphics/exec/natz/natztest.asp) for a sample test. If you can’t pass that test, how can you consider yourself a competent citizen? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2004, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-oppose-requiring-an-id-to-vote/265937/64 "2004-10-11T17:47:42Z")
> [@mks57](#): > > I think we would be better off if all prospective voters had to pass the civics and history test given to applicants for naturalized citizenship. > > See [http://uscis.gov/graphics/exec/natz/natztest.asp](http://uscis.gov/graphics/exec/natz/natztest.asp) for a sample test. > > If you can’t pass that test, how can you consider yourself a competent citizen? “Competent citizen”? That’s like asking if you’re a “competent human.” All of us who are not naturalized citizens are simply **born** into this society and have to live with its collective decisions. And our government (in theory) belongs to all of us equally. Why should we have to do anything to earn our right to vote or prove our fitness to vote? I repeat: In a democracy, voters are not allowed to vote so that they can give the body politic the benefit of their wisdom, such as it is. They are allowed to vote to defend their own interests. (Who else can really be trusted to defend their interests?) They are allowed to vote to make their **will** known and, to some limited extent, acted upon by the state. That’s what democracy is **about.** ---
**Author:** ![mks57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@mks57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mks57)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2004, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-oppose-requiring-an-id-to-vote/265937/65 "2004-10-11T21:26:05Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Why should we have to do anything to earn our right to vote or prove our fitness to vote? You do not have an unqualified “right to vote”. The federal constitution gives the states the power to set qualifications for voting. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2004, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-oppose-requiring-an-id-to-vote/265937/66 "2004-10-11T21:31:09Z")
> [@mks57](#): > > You do not have an unqualified “right to vote”. The federal constitution gives the states the power to set qualifications for voting. I know that. I hope it will change, and soon. But I am talking about what political values should guide the states in setting that policy. I repeat: Why should have to do anything to earn the right to vote or prove our fitness to vote? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2004, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-oppose-requiring-an-id-to-vote/265937/67 "2004-10-12T13:14:45Z")
> [@mks57](#): > > You do not have an unqualified “right to vote”. The federal constitution gives the states the power to set qualifications for voting. States do not have unlimited power in this area. For example, they cannot deny the vote on the basis of age (so long as the person is at least 18), gender, or race, and cannot set a financial means test of any kind (e.g., owner of real property, poll tax), or any kind of examination or test. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-oppose-requiring-an-id-to-vote/265937.md?page=3)