Voter ID Laws

[sun rise]

Follow up question that I should have put in the OP itself (and have now included in it),

Do any posters on RF not have Photo ID of some kind or another? How do you cope with dealing with banks or any financial institutions without it? Why can you not get it? Do you care if you get it?

You can't fly without a picture ID in the US. My driver's license has had my picture on it for a long time.

 

[sun rise]

I stand corrected

The internet as we know it has ended. Someone admitted to a mistake online.

 

[dawny0826]

Creatively. Panhandling, handouts and generosity from family and friends, work for cash, work of in-kind. Probably petty theft as well. Communities develop among the homeless, and there's a lot of sharing that goes on.

Story from the front: a young man, one of many living under bridges in Indianapolis, was given a McDonald's gift card so he could get regular meals for awhile (if I recall correctly, it was from a family member). Did he keep it for himself? No, he got as many of the homeless together as he could and they all went and got dollar sandwiches and fries, made a party of it. He shared his bounty because he felt it wouldn't be right if others among his fellows were hungry while he had the means to get food.

How does this relate in any way to what I posted?

 

[YmirGF]

You can't fly without a picture ID in the US. My driver's license has had my picture on it for a long time.

True, but following the narrative put forth in this very thread not too many folks who are homeless "couch surfers" are taking flights from point A to B - or so I would imagine. A long time for the photo on your driver's license? Here in Canukistan it is been a feature for many decades as far back as the 60's, I think. About the only time I didn't have picture ID was when I registered my 10-speed with the local police when I was 15.

 

[YmirGF]

They still send the old one in the mail when it needs replacing. I didn't know there were ID ones.

The new ones hit about 5 years ago in BC. If you are from one of those backwater provinces things may be different, LOL.

 

[beenherebeforeagain]

I will concede that I believe you are correct as far as the big picture goes. But on the subject of raising property taxes, I must stick to my opinion on that. I have seen too often in my area non property tax payers voting to raise property taxes for some non necessity, that if only the people that paid the property taxes were allowed to vote on it, it would never pass. On this subject I think it is too easy to vote to spend others money. So I guess I agree with you about eighty percent.

Here in Illinois, in many places (especially the more wealthy suburbs of Chicago), property tax referenda have historically been pushed through with the support of many wealthy and upper middle-class voters, so they can have the best public schools money can buy for their children. In my community in central Illinois, just outside the state capital, most of the population increase here has been people coming from Chicago to work in state government. Our school tax increases have been pushed through so we can have a state-competition level football, soccer, baseball and swimming complex...oh yeah, with a high school next to it...All the major players who pushed to get the increased passed so we can have our sports complex have all moved on...

 

[beenherebeforeagain]

How does this relate in any way to what I posted?

You asked how do they deal with it. I answered, creatively, and expanded.

 

[Twilight Hue]

I like the solution - the US should adopt Canada's health system. Win-win.

Except for dental care. Lose- lose. Another topic though. :0)

 

[David1967]

Here in Illinois, in many places (especially the more wealthy suburbs of Chicago), property tax referenda have historically been pushed through with the support of many wealthy and upper middle-class voters, so they can have the best public schools money can buy for their children. In my community in central Illinois, just outside the state capital, most of the population increase here has been people coming from Chicago to work in state government. Our school tax increases have been pushed through so we can have a state-competition level football, soccer, baseball and swimming complex...oh yeah, with a high school next to it...All the major players who pushed to get the increased passed so we can have our sports complex have all moved on...

That was kinda my point in regards to property tax. Personally I am opposed to property tax, supporting instead a sales tax to fund such projects. That way everybody pays their part.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

It assures that only people qualified to vote, (non felon, US citizens) are voting and in the right district and only once. I see no problem with it. It doesn't hinder voting, it protects its sanctity.

You generally have to show those things, along with other things like proof of address, just to register to vote. One glaring complaint of voter ID laws is that they are redundant, and if you show up to vote but show up as having already voted, then it's a clear case of voter fraud, but that doesn't happen very often, and easily prevented with things that don't require a physical ID, such as fingerprint/retinal scans, which also would mean you aren't screwed if you loose your ID on election day.

 

[dawny0826]

You asked how do they deal with it. I answered, creatively, and expanded.

Okay. Thanks for clarifying.

 

[averageJOE]

If we could just take everyone who shows up to vote at their word that they're "a citizen, of age, with no felony record.", we wouldn't be having this discussion.

Can you provide evidence that this is a problem that exists?

 

[averageJOE]

You can't fly without a picture ID in the US. My driver's license has had my picture on it for a long time.

Not to nit pick...but yes you can. In the US a person can purchase and board a plan without a picture ID.

 

[sun rise]

Not to nit pick...but yes you can. In the US a person can purchase and board a plan without a picture ID.

Not the major carriers. Every time I've boarded a plane, I've had to show picture ID somewhere along the way at least when passing through security to get to the gate.

 

[columbus]

Not the major carriers. Every time I've boarded a plane, I've had to show picture ID somewhere along the way at least when passing through security to get to the gate.

That is different.
The airline is a private entity providing a service. Nobody needs air travel.
Fly on their planes by their rules, or find your own way to do what you want.
Tom

 

[sun rise]

That is different.
The airline is a private entity providing a service. Nobody needs air travel.
Fly on their planes by their rules, or find your own way to do what you want.
Tom

TSA rules for getting to the gate include showing a picture ID. The airlines have no choice in the matter.

And in some cases people need air travel for survival when they need to get to a specialist hospital for treatment and other modes of travel are too slow.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

That is different.
The airline is a private entity providing a service. Nobody needs air travel.
Fly on their planes by their rules, or find your own way to do what you want.
Tom

Given we live in an ever increasingly global community, why should it be "fly by their rules or find your own way?" And, btw, the TSA sets many rules that these private airlines have no say-so or power over.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

I guess what puzzles me is that one needs ID to cash a government support check (of any kind) at any financial institution, so how do the "disenfranchised" handle that if they don't have ID? Most banking institutions are not keen on accepting Hydro bills or phone bills as proof of who you are... I noticed that Elections Canada, for example, will even accept expired photo ID... whereas banks will not. Like, what happens with these folks if they are ever stopped by the police and asked to produce identification?

It isn't just that they're asking for photo ID; it's that they're asking for types of photo ID from a very restrictive list that poor people aren't likely to have (they'll typically have some photo ID, just not the specific types on the list) and they've eliminated mail-in voting for people who are technically able to vote at a poll.

Eliminating mail-in voting is a big deal because there are some areas where the polls have multi-hour waits to vote or a history of problems... often suspected to be a way to disenfranchise the people in those areas. Mail-in voting has been used as a way to do an end run around these sorts of improper tactics, but these "voter ID" laws take away many people's ability to do this, so they're left having to wait many hours to vote.

... and Americans: correct me if I'm wrong, but employers in your country aren't required to give workers time off to vote like we get here, right?

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

You can't fly without a picture ID in the US. My driver's license has had my picture on it for a long time.

There are many people in the US who can't afford to fly or drive.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

EDIT: Do any posters on RF not have Photo ID of some kind or another?

It isn't just "photo ID of some kind or another". Here's the list of acceptable forms of ID from Texas that just got struck down:

1. State driver's license
2. State ID card
3. a concealed handgun license,
4. a U.S. passport,
5. a military ID card,
6. a U.S citizenship certificate with a photo

That's it.

If you don't drive, don't carry a gun, don't travel internationally, aren't in the military, and didn't immigrate to the US, then you aren't likely to have any ID that meets the requirements as a matter of course.

Texas implemented a voter ID card that people can get, but this "free" ID can have costs associated with it:

http://mediamatters.org/blog/2012/03/14/fox-ignores-significant-costs-that-come-with-fr/184318

Also, if "two pieces of secondary ID" are all that's needed to get the photo ID that will let a person vote, why wouldn't you let someone vote by presenting those same pieces of secondary ID at the poll? What extra level of security is gained by making the person wait in two lines instead of one?