[buerkle]

Showing ID to vote wouldn't be controversial in the US if states made it easy to obtain a valid ID for the purpose. But states routinely use it as a backdoor mechanism to prevent people from voting.

[frakt0x90]

There's an excellent documentary by Channel 5 (formerly All Gas No Brakes) where he tries to work with a group of homeless people in Las Vegas to get them papers and the process is extremely difficult. Like bordering on impossible.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRGrKJofDaw

[gruez]

>where he tries to work with a group of homeless people in Las Vegas to get them papers and the process is extremely difficult. Like bordering on impossible.

That seems like the worst case scenario though? I don't think homeless people should be disenfranchised, but at the same time it's unfair to pretend the typical experience of getting a voter id resembles whatever the TV show is depicting either.

[cosmic_cheese]

To add to this, there’s friction from the citizen side of things with a relatively high level of distrust in government that’s been present for decades. If you go out deep enough into the boonies for instance you can probably find people who still don’t have government ID of any type despite being native born and prefer to keep it that way.

[crooked-v]

Also see the Amish, who explicitly avoid photo IDs for religious reasons, generally substituting notarized statements for them for business purposes.

[antonymoose]

In my state I bring two forms of ID and a couple of bills to the DMV and I’m issued a same-day license?

How does that compare to a notoriously unfriendly nation like Germany?

In any case, my understanding is virtually any nation in Central and South America requires identification to vote. If the third-world poverty stricken nations make it work there is no reason the rich United States cannot.

[crooked-v]

"Same-day" doesn't work if you live somewhere that the DMV is only open during work hours, has lines longer than 8 hours (https://dmvwaittimes.org/north-carolina), or is literally only open four days a year (https://trust.dot.state.wi.us/cscfinder/cityCountySearch.do?...).

[arp242]

You can't use your driving license under the proposed SAVE act, as it's not proof of citizenship. Only a few states offer "extended" driving licenses, which do, but also need to be requested separately in most (or all?) states that offer them IIRC. For every other state: you will have to use a passport, birth certificate, or a separate state ID card.

[woodrowbarlow]

another angle is: if the ID costs money, no matter how trivial the amount, then it is effectively a ballot fee.

[skoskie]

And in my state I needed more documentation for an ID than was required for my passport. It varies wildly.

[erghjunk]

assuming that you're talking about a driver's license, you're leaving out the important steps of passing driving tests and, more importantly, having a car.

[simonsarris]

In what state is getting an ID difficult?