Should voters be required to show photo ID?

[crazy canuck]

Yes. And provide an ID that is sufficient for the purpose that everyone can get. $5 with a fee waiver if you can show economic hardship. It's not that hard.

People still need to get to where ever it is that people need to go to get these things.  Not everyone has a car, or access to transit or can get there during the hours that office might be open.

Why would anyone construct a system that would in any way create a disincentive to voting when participation rates is one of the biggest problems in Western Democracies.  Probably because we all know who this will adversely effect the most.

[Caliga]

Yeah... I guess you'd probably vote for the wrong candidates, eh?

I'm actually a Democrat (seriously).
I think that people who aren't capable of basic tasks like getting a driver's license and/or a government ID shouldn't be deciding on the future direction of my country.  Like Max said, it's really not that hard.  Maybe it's really hard in Canada, but it isn't here (and I guess Max would know).  I don't care whether said people are liberal or conservative.  In truth, I doubt that people incapable of obtaining basic government-issued identification care about voting anyway.

[Caliga]

People still need to get to where ever it is that people need to go to get these things.  Not everyone has a car, or access to transit or can get there during the hours that office might be open.

Doesn't it stand to reason that someone who can't figure out a way to get to the DMV also isn't going to be able to figure out a way to get to a voting booth?

[crazy canuck]

People still need to get to where ever it is that people need to go to get these things.  Not everyone has a car, or access to transit or can get there during the hours that office might be open.

Doesn't it stand to reason that someone who can't figure out a way to get to the DMV also isn't going to be able to figure out a way to get to a voting booth?

Why is there any connection between the two.  I asked Yi earlier on whether they would have places to get the ID in every neighbourhood so that people dont actually have to drive.  I asked that question becuase I assumed that in the US you run your elections in such a way that you have polling booths in all neighbourhoods so that distance is not a deterent to voting.

But maybe I am wrong. Maybe you already have built in biases as to who will likely vote and who will not.

Assuming there are polling stations within easy access to every voter then how is an inability to get to a far off DMV during office hours any indication that people cannot get to a polling station in their own neighbourhood after work?

[derspiess]

Then why the hell are Democrats objecting?

What is it you think the Democrats goals are?

To ensure that people who shouldn't be voting (either felons, fictitious names, or dead people) are able to vote, since they tend to vote for Democrat candidates.

But heaven forbid we disenfranchise Donald Duck, who registered here in Ohio a while back with the help of your ACORN buddies.

[Razgovory]

Ah, so you believe Democrats to be engaged in a criminal conspiracy.  I was wondering where you guys were coming from.

[Caliga]

@cc

I've not lived in every locality in the United States so I can't give you a truly informed answer, but in the county I live in currently, there are six polling places for the entire county.  The poorest people in my county live in one of two towns and I think anybody who could walk and lives in those precincts could reasonably get to those polling stations--one of the two is across the street from the DMV so those folks could easily get their driver's license/photo ID from there.

The rest of the county is what most people would call very rural, and you would have to have a car to get to any of the other four polling stations unless you happened to have property adjacent.  I have to drive about 2 miles to get to mine.  I guess I could walk, but there are no sidewalks.  Very few people that live near me are what I would call poor, but even the poorest of the poor pretty much have to have cars out here because you simply could not survive without one.

I would be willing to bet that the above also describes a large portion of rural Canada as well.  Don't try to tell me you have voting booths installed on every street corner.

[derspiess]

Why is there any connection between the two.  I asked Yi earlier on whether they would have places to get the ID in every neighbourhood so that people dont actually have to drive.  I asked that question becuase I assumed that in the US you run your elections in such a way that you have polling booths in all neighbourhoods so that distance is not a deterent to voting.

But maybe I am wrong. Maybe you already have built in biases as to who will likely vote and who will not.

Assuming there are polling stations within easy access to every voter then how is an inability to get to a far off DMV during office hours any indication that people cannot get to a polling station in their own neighbourhood after work?

Not every voter is capable of walking to his/her polling station.  That's why various organizations help bus them there (sometimes providing food, drink, etc.).  I'd think that the same organizations could help voters get photo IDs.  In fact, it sounds like they are.  Jim "Guam might tip over" Clyburn is leading such an effort. 

[Admiral Yi]

I asked that question becuase I assumed that in the US you run your elections in such a way that you have polling booths in all neighbourhoods so that distance is not a deterent to voting.

I'm pretty sure there are people in rural areas for whom walking to a polling station is simply not an option.

[Caliga]

I'm pretty sure there are people in rural areas for whom walking to a polling station is simply not an option.

It's weird to be having this conversation with Canadians... I get the pushback coming from someone from say Belgium, but Canada is a vast country with a (generally) low population density, just like the United States.

[fhdz]

kill two birds with one stone, make voter id card photo id cards.

[Berkut]

How difficult is it for a valid voter to obtain ID?  Trivially easy.

Really Yi, how can you be so certain.

Where does when obtain such an ID, do they have the ID offices every few blocks so that one does not need to drive to obtain one or are they just trivially easy for those who are able to drive to such a location during business hours and produce the necessary documentation to obtain one.  Yes that is trivially easy for you and I but then again the law isnt really targeted at people like us is it.

I don't think how easy it is has anything to do with the issue, actually CC.

Except insofar as it is used as a reason why it should be ok to enact laws that are intended to discourage certain people from voting.

How easy it is to comply is irrelevant, unless there is an actual problem that needs solving, in which case the severity of the problem can be compared to the reasonable ease of compliance.

In this case we know that there is no real problem - there is no significant reports of voter fraud in the US. It is a made up problem.

Sure, it is easy to get ID - but some people don't even if it is easy. And those people will be less likely to vote if laws like this are passed, and that is the only purpose of the law.

[Berkut]

Then why the hell are Democrats objecting?

What is it you think the Democrats goals are?

To ensure that people who shouldn't be voting (either felons, fictitious names, or dead people) are able to vote, since they tend to vote for Democrat candidates.

Cite?

[Barrister]

I'm pretty sure there are people in rural areas for whom walking to a polling station is simply not an option.

It's weird to be having this conversation with Canadians... I get the pushback coming from someone from say Belgium, but Canada is a vast country with a (generally) low population density, just like the United States.

Every two-bit rural town in Canada has a polling station.

When I lived at a lakefront cottage, my polling station was in a town of population <100.

A full-on farmer living in the middle of nowhere couldn't get to a polling station without a car (or a horse), but for everyone else they are pretty much within walking distance.

[Tamas]

I am skipping all 8 pages:

Don't you people have to go to the registered polling station of your residental address, then give your name when voting, to avoid people voting multiple times? If so, why shouldn't you show some ID?