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Comment by xtracto | Hacker News Reader

I don't understand why Americans are reticent to a voting ID. Here in Mexico it's pretty normal and there's like nothing crazy about it. It identifies yourself and makes sure only people legally allowed to vote can vote.

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because getting an ID costs money and time that most poor americans do not have. The poorest americans that work multiple jobs are simply not able to afford to take time off work to do this.

The time thing makes sense, although there are poor mexican people that have no trouble getting an ID over here .

Regarding cost, it should be paid by the state. At least it's so in Mexico

This is an absolutely nutso take. Nobody buys it, I don't know how it even continues to be repeated aloud anymore. You cannot function in the united States without a government ID. I have known (and been) the poorest of the poor in the US and have never, ever, met a person over the age of 18 without a government ID. Not a single one. You need one to drive, to buy beer, to get lottery tickets, to get government benefits, to get a job, you need an ID for everything.

Someone who can't take time off work to get an ID most certainly can't take time off to go vote.

Exactly. It's an oft-repeated talking point accepted as fact but with absolutely no facts to back it up. It identifies the speaker as being of a certain political persuasion and as a non-critical thinker.

Your ID may not have your correct address, because you recently moved. Heck, I know people who have moved across state borders and gone years without updating their ID.

In that case you can still use it to work, buy alcohol, drive, get government benefits, etc., but you still might need to spend four hours at the DMV in order to use it to vote, because your ballot is customized to your particular city/neighborhood.

So, it's still a tax/restriction which can prevent voter participation.

I have had the wrong address on my drivers license deliberately my whole life and still to this day it has never stopped me from voting.

https://www.projectvote.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/AMERI...

https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2012/jul/11/eric-holde...

https://www.aclu.org/documents/oppose-voter-id-legislation-f...

https://www.usccr.gov/files/pubs/2018/Minority_Voting_Access...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/getting-a...

https://www.vox.com/xpress/2014/11/4/7157037/us-voter-id-req...

https://www.npr.org/2018/09/07/644648955/for-older-voters-ge...

https://rewirenewsgroup.com/2014/10/16/well-actually-pretty-...

https://www.theregreview.org/2019/01/08/shapiro-moran-burden...

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/10/heres-h...

https://scholars.org/contribution/high-cost-free-photo-voter...

https://now.tufts.edu/2018/01/23/proving-voter-id-laws-discr...

How curious is it that it requires ID to get into a Harris campaign event, where they talk about how voter id would be racist?

Why is it not racist or discriminatory against poor people in the rest of the world?

The rest of the world tends to have one national ID system per country, and they tend to be easy to obtain, and the government considers it to be important to try to make sure everyone who should have one does have one.

Because the US government has a well documented history of using election laws to suppress and discriminate against minority voters. They can't be trusted to act in good faith.

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