[mrybczyn]

Passport might be a bit onerous - it's expensive and painful process and many don't need it.

But it's a hilarious sign of worldwide government incompetence that social insurance or other citizen identification cards are not standard, free, and uniquely identifiable and usable for online ID purposes (presumably via some sort of verification service / PGP).

Government = people and laws. Government cannot even reliably ID people online. You had one job...

[int_19h]

When it comes to government-issued IDs, "standard" and "free" is a solved problem in almost every country out there. US is a glaring exception in this regard, particularly so among developed countries. And it is strictly a failure of policy - US already has all the pieces in place for this, they just need to be put together with official blessing. But the whole issue is so politicized that both major parties view it as unacceptable deviation from their respective dogmas on the subject.

[JimDabell]

> But it's a hilarious sign of worldwide government incompetence that social insurance or other citizen identification cards are not standard, free, and uniquely identifiable and usable for online ID purposes (presumably via some sort of verification service / PGP).

Singapore does this. Everybody who is resident in Singapore gets an identity card and a login for Singpass – an OpenID Connect identity provider that services can use to obtain information like address and visa status (with user permission). There’s a barcode on the physical cards that can be scanned by a mobile app in person to verify that it’s valid too.

[secabeen]

In the United States, the lack of citizen identification cards is largely due to Republican opposition. People who lack ID are more likely to be democratic voters, so there is an incentive to oppose getting them ID. There's also a religious element for some people, connected to Christian myths about the end of the world.

[cryptonector]

This is utter nonsense.

[consteval]

It's kind of half true - there is an association between not having an ID and being blue. Because people without IDs are more likely to be people of color or of other marginalized groups, which then are more likely to be blue.

In addition, there's a strong conservative history of using voter id as a means of voter suppression and discrimination. This, in turn, has made the blue side immediately skeptical of identification laws - even if they would be useful.

So, now the anti-ID stuff is coming from everywhere.

[cryptonector]

It's absolutely not true. People have to supply IDs for tons of activities. They have IDs. We know who they are. They are registered to vote -- how did that happen w/o ID? Of course they have IDs.

[consteval]

The statistics just don't back this up. Plenty of, predominantly poor, people don't have driver's licenses. And that's typically the only ID people have. Also, poorer people may work under the table or deal in cash.

[cryptonector]

Link the stats please. There are ID types other than driver's licenses. In fact, the DMVs around the country issue non-driver IDs that are every bit as good as driver licenses as IDs.

[fwip]

Where do you get this idea that you need to have an ID card in order to register to vote? It's certainly not a federal requirement.

In NY, you can register with ID, last 4 digits of your social, or leave it blank. If you leave it blank, you will need to provide some sort of identification when voting, but a utility bill in your name and address will suffice.