Voter ID Laws

[varjohaltia]

I've been listening to news about the controversy regarding Voter ID laws for a while now, and frankly, I'm ready to express my opinion on the matter (rant.)

In a perfect world, people wouldn't need government photo ID, much like things used to be in Great Britain surprisingly recently. We are not living in a perfect world. I need a government photo ID to go to my dentist, to pay with a credit card, to drive a vehicle, to attend the university, to travel by air domestically or in any fashion internationally, to visit the FBI, to homestead my property, to get my own medical records, to open a bank account, to cash a check, to rent a mail box... you probably get the idea.

Requiring a person to prove their identity when voting is common sense. Even requiring a person to have an ID is not unreasonable. I'd rather it wasn't that way, but you cannot function in today's society without one. Mind you, there's a difference between having ID and having to produce ID. There shouldn't be any right for a anyone to require ID unless it is to protect your information or money, or unless there's a real law-enforcement need. Looking or acting suspicious isn't real need.

Yes, the purpose behind a lot of these laws is undoubtedly political, underhanded, and specifically targeted against Democrats. No, there hasn't been any documented abuse that these laws would in fact fix. Yet the end of the day, I find the requirement that voters prove who they are when voting perfectly reasonable. Having an ID is not an undue burden. Quit whining about it, and start spending your energy figuring out what keeps people from getting IDs and improving the system of granting IDs, or at the very least making the rest of the voting system resistant against much more egregious violations.

Comments

[varjohaltia.livejournal.com]

Well, first of, in many places (like Florida) IDs do cost money, even if some states have made a point to offer them for free. That's a bit pedantic, though, because I think even $10 to be a reasonable fee. More specifically though, the arguments presented in the news have been that the documents required to obtain the ID, such as certified birth certificates, can be costly. The argument also goes that many of the poor people don't have transportation to get to the DMV offices, nor the ability to take time off work to do so. And so forth. I'm back to thinking that keeping essential paperwork about yourself in order is your own responsibility. I'm not sure what to think of the size of the affected population -- significant, say the Democrats, insignificant say the Republicans. And yes, this is painting with an artificially broad brush, because there are people in both camps favoring and opposing this thing. Once you toss in the tax subsidies for free cards and education and what not, and try to figure out who put those in the laws, it's just a giant mess.

[elusivetiger.livejournal.com]

I understand that this is coming from other people and not you, it just sounds like a terribly forced argument that wouldn't stand much scrutiny, a function of the, "We need protection for our practice of rounding up bums and riding them into voting centers, giving them a few donuts, and telling them who to vote for" school of American politics, which I witnessed first-hand when my mother worked for a (Democratic, coincidentally, though I'm sure it happens all over) state senator.

As an aside, I think if someone is so apart from society as to not even have an ID, whatever their politics, they have pretty much tossed themselves out of the responsible voter pool anyway. I don't have much faith that someone who simply can't manage the rudimentary societal associations of having an ID is even capable of making an informed vote, but that's me. ;)

[varjohaltia.livejournal.com]

You made the point, so I don't have to ;-)