[amluto]

We almost have this in the form of a social security number. But the system is ridiculous:

1. Getting an SSN requires all kinds of obnoxious documentation. It should be easy for anyone, legal or otherwise, to obtain an SSN, and mere possession of an SSN should not indicate anything about one’s citizenship, voter, employability or immigration status.

2. It should be straightforward for anyone to obtain official ID that ties them to their own SSN.

And then the voting system could look up an SSN in a database to determine voter eligibility.

(For that matter, the current system by which a visa is generally applied for from outside the country and by which one’s immigration status is oddly tied to the act of entering and exiting instead of to the legality of being present and having a job is rather absurd.)