[burkaman]

Because the average activist has absolutely no way of forcing state legislatures to allocate funds and draw up plans for something they have no interest in. Voter ID laws do not currently solve a big problem, are not implemented in good faith, and fighting them is much more effective and realistic than asking for something that will not happen.

If we want voter ID laws, why not make it easier for everyone to get an ID first, and then enforce voter ID once that effort has succeeded?

[cheeky78]

Exactly point point. My problem is that certain political groups are pushing for no voter ID laws, which just makes it easier to fake votes.

Why would anyone be for this if not to subvert our Democracy?

[standardUser]

Vote-faking is not a problem. Elderly people who have extreme difficulty obtaining an ID (that they otherwise do not need) is an actual, real life problem.

I find it odd you are so concerned about a non-problem but not concerned about the actual problem of eligible voters being actually disenfranchised.

[cheeky78]

So back to my first point: instead of making it easier for entities like the Russian government to subvert our Democracy, why not just make it easier for the Elderly to get IDs?

I also don't think that there are that many people that don't have IDs. I have seen absolutely no statistics on the topic, but I have seen multiple groups survey different parts of various cities and nobody had issues getting an ID. It's pretty much needed in almost any aspect of life.

You can't even get welfare or government assistance without some form of ID, so you can't tell me you can't get one to vote.

My point still stands.

[standardUser]

I don't know where to start. Your knowledge of these systems may not be broad enough to draw meaningful conclusions. For example, you can apply for and receive government services with only a Social Security card. A state-issued ID is not needed.

Millions of eligible voters do not have state-issued ID. Estimates put it at 10-20 million Americans. The primary utility of a state-issued ID is to drive on public roads and there are 10's of millions of Americans who do not drive on a regular basis.

The suggestion you make, that we should make it easier for people to get IDs, falls apart when we recognize that every state sets up their own system of issuing IDs. It would take a very strong federal law to bring states in line to the point where we could have confidence that every eligible voter in America could obtain an ID for free and regardless of individual circumstances.

As for Russia "subverting our Democracy", there is zero evidence that Russia or any other foreign entity used the lack of voter ID laws in some states to influence any elections.

[burkaman]

Please read my comment again, I explained. There is a solution to make everyone happy, just make IDs universal first, and then once that is done, require ID for voting. There is no compelling reason to skip the first step, and many compelling reasons not to.