Why is requiring a photo ID to vote even an issue?

I honestly always thought you had to show a photo ID, it just seemed like common sense. If i wanna buy some brews i show an ID, you want cigarettes you show an ID, if I wanted to go to an R rated momvie or get an M-rated game i have to show an ID. Hell i tried to buy white out at Wal-Mart and had to show an ID (which I found out was a new policy that also included buying sharpies ).

I really cant see how anyone doesn't have an ID, you need it for jobs, goods, entertainment, and travel. I know not everyone drives, smokes, drinks etc.. So we are gonna let a small amount of people who chose not to get an ID allow the security of the voting process to be compromised? It is not like they are saying that if you do not have an ID right now you won't be able to get one.

The reason for me to write this thread now is that I was watching Hardball when the issue came up and was curious of what my fellow ATS'ers thought of it. Its obvious to me this is purely a political thing and Im disappointed in seeing that MSNBC is partaking in the practices of FOX news

Because some states like mine issue driver's licenses to illegal aliens.....to be "safer" on the roads.....and legitimizing their vote.

If you lose your ID, most states require you to pay for the replacement. Some states even charge a small fee for obtaining the ID in the first place. By requiring that ID in order to vote, you have just instituted a poll tax. Refer to Amendment 24 of the US Constitution. Otherwise, if you are going to require one, you had better give them away for free, even replacements, no matter how many times someone loses it. And the cost of that would be pretty high.

I have an idea... it's the smartest idea in the world!!!! get ready for it!!!!!

DONT GIVE ILLEGAL ALIENS GOVERNMENT ISSUED IDS... if they are driving illegally then deport them because they shouldn't be here in the first place...

Part 2:

The easiest solution in the world... every drivers license has a magnetic strip that has all of your drivers license info on it.... make a voting booth that you can swipe your card and press the button for whoever you want to vote for... COUNT EVERY VOTE and the person who gets the most votes WINS THE FU@KING election....

OMG PROBLEMS SOLVED....there you go government once again a normal person can easily solve your problems with the voting system... feel free to use the idea and implement it....

OH WAIT... I FORGOT our government does solve problems they just make problems worse

FAIL

reply to post by dc4lifeskater

DONT GIVE ILLEGAL ALIENS GOVERNMENT ISSUED IDS... if they are driving illegally then deport them because they shouldn't be here in the first place...

Stop making sense!

Originally posted by nwdogg1982
If you lose your ID, most states require you to pay for the replacement. Some states even charge a small fee for obtaining the ID in the first place. By requiring that ID in order to vote, you have just instituted a poll tax. Refer to Amendment 24 of the US Constitution. Otherwise, if you are going to require one, you had better give them away for free, even replacements, no matter how many times someone loses it. And the cost of that would be pretty high.

Therein lies the problem.
We NEED to see a photo ID.. otherwise those lunatics that vote for " Bart Simpson" would just go from poll to poll.
Imagine the waste of money THAT would be.

I do believe people should have to have a Photo ID to vote.

I think a limit should be placed on what the state can charge ( cost of printing and distributing only).

In the USA today, if you don't have an ID, it's not because you can't afford it, it's because of your legal status, which is a whole other conspiracy in itself.

Dead people wouldnt be able to vote if i.d had to be shown.. Cant discriminate against one of the major voting groups..

I'm not really sure. Though the person up top talking about it basically being a proxy poll-tax actually makes some sense.

The usual argument I hear is about it being like the Jim Crow days of trying to disenfranchise black voters because having to present an I.D. to vote disproportionately effects the poor...like they're aren't poor white people.

reply to post by BadNinja68


I respectfully disagree. Even though it may be somewhat of a far-fetched situation, this is still entirely possible: Let's say you go to vote on election day, and uh oh, you've lost your wallet. No problem, just go to the DMV and get a new ID. But wait a minute, the DMV and other government offices are closed due to election day. So no vote for you.

That's not a situation that ANYONE should ever have to deal with, no matter how good of an idea it is to require that ID.

IIRC, in North Dakota they don't even have voter registration, you just show up to vote and if the poll worker recognizes you then you can vote. If they don't recognize you, or another poll worker challenges the first, you can vote a provisional ballot and have to provide some kind of documentation as to your identity and residency after the fact.

Originally posted by nwdogg1982
reply to post by BadNinja68

 

I respectfully disagree. Even though it may be somewhat of a far-fetched situation, this is still entirely possible: Let's say you go to vote on election day, and uh oh, you've lost your wallet. No problem, just go to the DMV and get a new ID. But wait a minute, the DMV and other government offices are closed due to election day. So no vote for you.

That's not a situation that ANYONE should ever have to deal with, no matter how good of an idea it is to require that ID.

edit on 19-10-2011 by nwdogg1982 because: (no reason given)

I have an easy answer to that... If you are to stupid to figure out that you do not have your ID ahead of the time that you go to vote then maybe you shouldn't get a vote... just like Darwinism if you are so stupid and you do something that kills you maybe you are better off to be dead then giving off your stupidity to other people....

EVERY state offers people who cannot or do not want a drivers license the option to have a state ID to be used for ID purposes that also has all of your info and a barcode to be scanned...

The costs of ID replacement for most states is the cost of the time/material/ect to get you a new ID they are making profit and if they are who cares if they do make a small profit do you think the DMV runs for free... JESUS its only $10 where I live.. If you go broke spending $10 you have bigger problems to worry about then voting because whoever you vote for wont be giving you any money for your vote and you will still be screwed.

There is no reason why anyone who is a legal citizens shouldn't have an ID you need it to buy alcohol and ciggs you need it to get into clubs you need it to drive... I do not believe you should have to carry it at all times and be subject to cops looking up who you are unless you do something wrong but you pretty much need one... THATS WHY THEY EVEN GIVE THEM TO ILLEGALS BECAUSE YOU NEED ONE!!! even though they shouldn't have one...

Use common sense jeez if more people in this world used common sense it would be a much nicer place to live

"oh damn I'm an idiot I lost my ID but I need to vote tomorrow...well there is always next time be smart don't lose ur shiz and you can vote" the chances of someone losing their ID the day of or so close to the election is so slim that the people who couldn't vote would not make any difference on the winner of the election... That would be like saying if someones car got stolen the day of the election they should get a free cab ride so they can be sure to vote...

reply to post by dc4lifeskater


Seems easy right? But I would argue that the real reason for giving them a legitimate ID.....IS TO ALLOW THEM TO VOTE!!!! Wait....election fraud? Here?! In the US of A....No way!!!!

At least other counties fraud their elections outright....I remember years ago CNN radio reporting the great news that Saddam Hussein was "unanimously" elected...by all the people of Iraq...the lady reporting was amazed.....idiot she was.

Not everybody can get a state issued id. There was an example of a woman who brought all kinds of documentation of utility bills, mortage payments, SS payments and a birth cerificate. They wouldn't give her an ID because she didn't have a wedding certificate to verify the name change of her birth name to her married name.

This is the first time in sooooo many years that she is being denied to vote. I'm sure she's not the only one victimized this way. It costs $$ to get a wedding certificate copy, not to mention the 5 week bureaurcracy/waiting period. That goes for a birth certificate too. Many students, away from home don't have driver licenses, and use out of state ID's, although they meet residency requirements.

I see pros and cons to both ends of the spectrum. On one hand my vote is secret therefore if I use my ID card then I have left the end open for possible reprocussions from political parties seeking votes in their direction or domestic intelligence gathering to label me according to my vote.

On the other hand we have to protect the votes to citizens of this country that are legally voting from illegal votes from LOL "foreign nationals". ( I add the Foreign nationals quip because of the thread I just left a few min ago).

In my eyes its a catch 22. Damned if ya don't and damned if ya do

Originally posted by nwdogg1982
If you lose your ID, most states require you to pay for the replacement. Some states even charge a small fee for obtaining the ID in the first place. By requiring that ID in order to vote, you have just instituted a poll tax. Refer to Amendment 24 of the US Constitution. Otherwise, if you are going to require one, you had better give them away for free, even replacements, no matter how many times someone loses it. And the cost of that would be pretty high.

That's not a poll tax. Are you telling me if you lost your ID, the only time you would get a replacement is to vote? So you don't drive, and don't do anything else that requires an ID? That's completely ridiculous. And how much is $10? Unless your life is totally boned, I'm sure you can fork over that much...

OP, I'm with you. People like making issues out of non-issues though, apparently it's fun.

Originally posted by windword
Not everybody can get a state issued id. There was an example of a woman who brought all kinds of documentation of utility bills, mortage payments, SS payments and a birth cerificate. They wouldn't give her an ID because she didn't have a wedding certificate to verify the name change of her birth name to her married name.

This is the first time in sooooo many years that she is being denied to vote. I'm sure she's not the only one victimized this way. It costs $$ to get a wedding certificate copy, not to mention the 5 week bureaurcracy/waiting period. That goes for a birth certificate too. Many students, away from home don't have driver licenses, and use out of state ID's, although they meet residency requirements.

She should have had a copy of the name change you need that for allot of things I have 4 copies of my birth cert so i dont have that problem...If you live in the town you were birthed or married you can get the certs the same day....

The students should have a state ID card you can get easily and if not they should have a state ID or drivers license from their state.. You are going to tell me students don't have ID's to buy alcohol or go to clubs? I was a student I had my ID...

The point here is obviously I don't mean for this to become standard practice 1 week before the next election so that everyone has to figure out how to get an ID... like I said USE COMMON SENSE so if we put this into effect NOW and when we do the next voting process not the one coming then if 4 years isn't enough time for you to figure your ID situation out then I don't think you deserve to vote...

I work with clubs they have hand held scanners they scan ID's with ALL STATE ISSUED ID/LICENSE have a magnet strip on them like a credit card that has your info on it that is on your ID.... Most fake ID's have this strip but it is blank because if you do the fake strip you can get in allot of trouble compared to making a "novelty" ID that has the printed info that is why clubs use these scanners because if it doesn't scan you don't get in just like if your credit card happens to be worn out and they can't scan it they have to manually do the numbers and if that don't work guess what... you don't get whatever you'r trying to buy so as unfair as that sounds you have to go get a new card oh well...

The very minute amount of people who would not be able to vote for whatever reason either lost ID, can't get ID, ect would represent such a small number of people the votes would not make of break an election poll... I am sure that there are enough reasons aside from that that no one is addressing why should this matter... So what maybe I have to work that day, can you make an extended voting where you give me 2 weeks so that we can make sure everyone that can't make it has a chance... Or maybe my car breaks down, maybe I am in the hospital how can I vote in the hospital? well we better get solving these problems as well maybe a mobile voting kiosk that floats around from person to person asking them "have you voted yet, if not you can vote now!"

Originally posted by nwdogg1982
reply to post by BadNinja68

 

I respectfully disagree. Even though it may be somewhat of a far-fetched situation, this is still entirely possible: Let's say you go to vote on election day, and uh oh, you've lost your wallet. No problem, just go to the DMV and get a new ID. But wait a minute, the DMV and other government offices are closed due to election day. So no vote for you.

That's not a situation that ANYONE should ever have to deal with, no matter how good of an idea it is to require that ID.

edit on 19-10-2011 by nwdogg1982 because: (no reason given)

How many people, who intend to vote, in person, loose their ID and discover that on election day? near zero...so they don't get to vote. It's nothing compared to the election board who purposely do not get voting materials to our military nor count it when it returns, in order to reduce the republican votes. They do not want voter ID since illegals can sneak in and vote for the Democrats.

I agree it's a poll tax. The county in which I live is a vote-by-mail county, that is traditional polling places are no longer used and everything is done via U.S. Mail. Still, they have 6 secure drop-boxes (basically mailboxes but chained into the inside lobbies of libraries and the county records building) throughout the county where people can drop their ballots if they don't want to mail them, otherwise, there would be a de facto 41-cent charge (the price of a stamp) that people would have to pay to vote.

(Which is not to say I'm abject to the idea of requiring ID when voting if a solution to the cost issue could be resolved.)

reply to post by chuckk


While I agree requiring ID as a poll tax I, simultaneously, agree with the last sentence of your post.

reply to post by TheSnowman


For some people, that very well can be true. There are college students who don't have a state-issued ID. I know some elderly who don't bother to get a photo ID, because they don't need one. Believe it or not, there are some people who are legal citizens who may not be able to afford an extra $10 the day before the election. And again, if someone really does lose their ID on election day, for whatever reason, are you going to deny them to vote? That's an inalienable right of a US citizen, you can't take it away for any reason. (At least on election day, the vote can be challenged however.)

There must be other, less repressive means of ensuring that illegal voters aren't participating in the election process. I like the idea of North Dakota a few posts back, that at least ensures that a citizen is not prohibited from voting on election day, and gives them seemingly ample time to provide documentation to prove their citizenship. With that line of thinking, surely this country could come up with a proper system to preserve the fairness of elections, without crossing the line into restricting its own citizens.