When Pennsylvania enacted its draconian photo ID law, a reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer tracked a woman (who didn't drive) as she jumped through bureaucratic hoops to obtain a voting ID. The process took her 13 hours.

 

No doubt the GOP in Ohio is trying to replicate same with its recently enacted voter suppression tactics.

 

Submitting a form took 13 hours? We used to have wait in long lines to renew license tags for literally hours. You have to make an effort to participate as a citizen in society.

 

If government is not able to responsive to its citizen it seems that is a reason to have a banana republic or Hugo Chavez type voting system?

 

It seems the whole voter ID thing is another false wedge issue.

Requiring photo IDs is a "solution" in search of a problem. What many people on this board don't fully comprehend is that there are big cities east of Kentucky with first-rate public transportation systems. Hence, one can survive quite nicely without owning a car.

 

My son is 33. Has lived in Nashville, Seattle and Boston.

 

Doesn't have a driver's license.

Submitting a form took 13 hours? We used to have wait in long lines to renew license tags for literally hours. You have to make an effort to participate as a citizen in society.

 

If government is not able to responsive to its citizen it seems that is a reason to have a banana republic or Hugo Chavez type voting system?

 

It seems the whole voter ID thing is another false wedge issue.

The 13 hours included the bus ride to and from the license office. Some people don't have cars ... remember? Hamilton County, Ohio (Cincinnati) also recently moved its voting office so it's less accessible to people who rely on public transportation.

 

But this has nothing to do with suppressing the vote, right?

The 13 hours included the bus ride to and from the license office. Some people don't have cars ... remember? Hamilton County, Ohio (Cincinnati) also recently moved its voting office so it's less accessible to people who rely on public transportation.

 

But this has nothing to do with suppressing the vote, right?

 

Fewer people voting is a good thing, right? Seems like I read that recently.

The 13 hours included the bus ride to and from the license office. Some people don't have cars ... remember? Hamilton County, Ohio (Cincinnati) also recently moved its voting office so it's less accessible to people who rely on public transportation.

 

But this has nothing to do with suppressing the vote, right?

 

One reason it doesn't take as long to get your tags is because one can do it by mail or online these days. That won't work for photo ID, I assume.

My son is 33. Has lived in Nashville, Seattle and Boston.

 

Doesn't have a driver's license.

I bet he has a photo ID...

Much as we would like to bury our heads in the sand; here's what it's all about:

 

The 13 hours included the bus ride to and from the license office. Some people don't have cars ... remember? Hamilton County, Ohio (Cincinnati) also recently moved its voting office so it's less accessible to people who rely on public transportation.

 

But this has nothing to do with suppressing the vote, right?

 

Like I said, you have to make an effort to be a citizen of society. I guess people who have this trouble also can not make the trip to the government offices to fill out forms required for government assistant programs?

 

Are we to assume these people are complete shut-ins except when the party bus show up every four years with free sandwiches for the trip to the polling place?

I bet he has a photo ID...

 

Correct. But he's not poor, not in a nursing home, does have access to a birth certificate and a marriage license...

The trend alarms voting advocates like Lawrence Norden, acting director of the Brennan Center's Democracy Program, who said photo ID laws hit older people, the poor, African Americans and students the hardest. "This is the first time in decades that we have seen a reversal in what has been a steady expansion of voting rights in the United States," Norden said. "There's no question that citizens over 65 will be particularly impacted. The older you get, the more likely you won't have an ID."

Nearly one in five citizens over 65 — about 8 million — lacks a current, government-issued photo ID, a 2006 Brennan Center study found. Most people prove their eligibility to vote with a driver's license, but people over 65 often give up their license and don't replace it with the state-issued ID that some states offer non-driving residents. People over 65 also are more likely to lack birth certificates because they were born before recording births was standard procedure.

 

Voter Photo ID Laws Hit Older Americans Hard - Voting Rights - AARP

 

My son is 33. Has lived in Nashville, Seattle and Boston.

 

Doesn't have a driver's license.

 

I know lots of people in 'the city' (NY) that have no DL and no personal car - common there.

Like I said, you have to make an effort to be a citizen of society. I guess people who have this trouble also can not make the trip to the government offices to fill out forms required for government assistant programs?

 

Are we to assume these people are complete shut-ins except when the party bus show up every four years with free sandwiches for the trip to the polling place?

Your classist slip is showing. Also lots of (Republican-leaning) retirees in Florida who don't have photo IDs.

Anyone and everyone who does not have a Real ID qualified ID is at risk of losing access to some Federal government facilities and possibly their services. And since its the Feds pushing it it will likely become a defacto standard for other government levels since they will all have access to the central database. So the requirement for people to have a Real ID ID seems to be coming regardless of the perceived or actual efforts and difficulties to obtain one.

 

After seeing that there is a viable alternative to standard DLs already and REAL ID will force the use it seems the anti-ID voter issue will be mute in a couple of years.

 

I hate having to do all the government bureaucracy that comes with DLs, auto-registration, property taxes, income taxes, etc.

 

In the ultimate of ironies there is this massive new government program that relies on using the internet as the primary method of applying and obtaining services. If you think getting a photo ID every 4 years is an undo burden then what about those that have no access to the internet at all - its over 20% of the overall population. Over 40% of the overall population has no 'easily accessible' internet access. And we are complaining about something that would have to be done every 4 years in person?

The trend alarms voting advocates like Lawrence Norden, acting director of the Brennan Center's Democracy Program, who said photo ID laws hit older people, the poor, African Americans and students the hardest. "This is the first time in decades that we have seen a reversal in what has been a steady expansion of voting rights in the United States," Norden said. "There's no question that citizens over 65 will be particularly impacted. The older you get, the more likely you won't have an ID."

Nearly one in five citizens over 65 — about 8 million — lacks a current, government-issued photo ID, a 2006 Brennan Center study found. Most people prove their eligibility to vote with a driver's license, but people over 65 often give up their license and don't replace it with the state-issued ID that some states offer non-driving residents. People over 65 also are more likely to lack birth certificates because they were born before recording births was standard procedure.

 

Voter Photo ID Laws Hit Older Americans Hard - Voting Rights - AARP

 

 

I really don't know but it sure seems to me that a photo id would be required to sign up for medicare, Medicaid or other assistance available to the elderly. Or at least the same documents to establish eligibility could be used for the photo id.

Here's another massive irony. And be advised that this is strictly a guess on my part.

 

I truly believe that the voter ID/restriction/whateveryouwannacallit actions have already and will continue to galvanize organizations such as AARP as well as political campaigns. This will, more than ever, get more and more people more active than ever who see themselves as helping the disenfranchised.

 

Although I believe the intent behind such legislation is misguided at best, I don't think that the consequences will turn out as intended.

 

But again, that's just a guess and not based on anything concrete.