Is the hypothesis that these supposedly disenfranchised voters live the lives of amish monks?
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@chris My two adult stepchildren, both US-born, don’t have voter IDs. I don’t think they’re disenfranchised by the lack of it. There are people who live outside the system in a conventional sense, such as not having a driver’s license. Many millennials or Gen Zs never bothered about learning to drive. Some have state-issued IDs but you have to go and get it to travel by plane. Many impoverished folk perhaps never have a need for it. I do know some although have no idea of the overall numbers.
@chris One of them is a licensed car driver. The other does not have a license but has a VA DMV-issued ID which isn’t a driver’s license. Each of those are accepted for carding.
Your questions about voter ID are a bit tricky to answer. I filled out something that came to me from one of the parties. A few weeks or months later, I had a “voter ID” card. Now, don’t ask me where it is. I have no idea.
Anyone who has worked for a company in the United States since the Reagan administration has been required to file an I-9 form with the feds proving either US citizenship or other authorization to work in the US. If being able to prove citizenship really is a significant barrier, it's jamming up a whole lot more than just voting.
Plus we have to ask why this issue only ever seems to come up when discussing voting? If getting an ID is such a problem, why isn't there a huge civil rights movement to make e.g., driving cars, buying booze and guns, getting a job, flying on planes, etc... no longer require proof of ID?
And for the record, I am in favor of eliminating requirements for all of those things. I believe the Libertarian Party is the only party that is consistent on this issue: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PcllE7fx8-I
But the people who are very upset about voter id don't seem to be upset about any other rights id requirements are presumably infringing.
What if some people think a ballot box is a dangerous thing and people should show some competency to use them? This is a subjective and arbitrary classification. And it isn't even true about guns; more than half of the country is constitutional carry (no licence required to own or carry) but you still have to prove your ID to the feds to buy one. You have a constitutional right to vote, and a constitutional right to keep and bare arm, I don't see how you can view these as different; they are the exact same class of right. Plus, booze, cigarettes, plane tickets, etc that (also) aren't "licenses", you just conveniently ignore....
It's perfectly fine to admit you're not up to my level. We all have to know our limitations 👍
Apologies if I was not clear, Chris. I was not referring to you, I hope I didn't cause you any offense.
@nicholas @Chronotope it's OK. I was just sharing: I am pretty limited! :) No worries. It's true! Sad but I am human!