Cartoon: How Could It Be Hard To Get Voter ID? - Barry Deutsch

[werdna]

?1715531493

[LonePirate]

1. Another obstacle - paperless billing is making it difficult for people to prove their current address.

Everything from bank statements to utility bills that were used in the past are now much more difficult to use to verify addresses without physical copies existing any more.

[GenThePerservering]

2. That at least is one obstacle easily overcome

If one has the means to pay their bills online, one also has the means to show the online statement as evidence.

[quaint]

3. You can still get bills through email and write a check to pay.

As a septuagenarian, I communicate with people in their sixties through eighties, and more than a few do not have technology to pay online (no smart phone) Some who are technologically current and competent do not trust online banking nor bill paying.

[GenThePerservering]

17. Looking at the OP upvotes, people are missing the point here

if they're still paying their bills by mail, then they have paper copies.

If they're paying their bills online, they have online receipts.

It's a red herring and detracts from the real problem, which is accessibility.

[bleedingulcers]

24. Wouldn't you have to print a digital receipt

in order to have something to show? And not everyone with a computer has a printer.

The bigger issue is that every one of these hurdles - big or small - is still a hurdle. When voting participation is as pathetically low as it is in the US, any barrier to voting is worth tearing down.

[wolfie001]

6. I'm still hanging on to my HP printer from 2014

It's a scanner, fax'er and printer and it works always. Fingers crossed. In case I ever need to print a document for some official reason.

[GenThePerservering]

19. exactly, and they don't need a printer necessarily

a paper copy can be requested from the utility. I go through this with our water utility. I pay everything online - but they send me this silly paper receipt and I can't get them to stop - all of the other utilities I pay online has hard copy receipts on request.

ETA: I'm just saying don't get distracted.

[Traurigkeit]

4. This is WHY The Republicans want this, Southerners way of keeping the trash out as they say.

Putting $$$ is the way is always a Ruling Class dodge.

[wolfie001]

5. Arranging for your mail when you're surviving in a tent

I would think those are the people that really need to get their vote in. Replugs def don't want struggling people to vote.

[Warpy]

7. Republicans in NM got slapped down on that one

even before we got 100% paper ballots and a secure scanning system. Too many people on the reservations were born there and never got birth certificates (it's complicated) and were joined by a lot of the old Hispanic folks from WAY back in the mountains. Never mind those of us who are shut in because of disabilities of various types.

Then there are rural people who have to drive 10-0 miles or more to find some damned state office to issue the card.

Republicans want to strip us of our vote. That's their plan. They want a nation of slaves owned by a handful of rich men.

[XorXor]

8. This might annoy some folks, but I have never really agreed with the left-of-center approach to voter id

I think this cartoon effectively highlights the challenges some people face in obtaining identification. We also know how tough life can be for those without official IDs. So, why do we usually stop at just acknowledging the problem? Why aren’t there more serious discussions about creating a program specifically aimed at helping these individuals obtain documents? Imagine a program where experts make house calls and have the authority to verify identities through alternative methods in more complex cases.

I'm sure the Republicans would oppose it, but it would force them to explicitly state their resistance to helping people obtain IDs, thereby facilitating voter ID laws. However, if the Republicans were to act like decent humans for once, we could potentially develop a system that helps vulnerable people get IDs, giving the Republicans one less thing to gripe about. Of course, they’d probably just shift to making unfounded claims about the program issuing IDs to non-citizens based on false information.

[Traurigkeit]

9. There are BUT The Republican Party GETS IN THE WAY. Need to shutdown that "party"

Ease for The Public is against everything The Republican Party stood/stands/wants

[XorXor]

10. No doubt the right gets in the way of any progress in a lot of area

I still don't understand why this isn't something that is pushed more by folks on the left. I also don't doubt there are smaller implementations of such programs. Which is great. That gives us (or more accurately, those in power) workings systems to emulate where it works and to take lessons learned when they didn't work.

Have ideas like them been championed by national politicians on a larger scale and I just missed it?

[littlemissmartypants]

13. Did you look?

How about this

championed by national politicians

as you mentioned?

https://www.whitehouse.gov/cea/written-materials/2021/08/16/the-importance-of-protecting-voting-rights-for-voter-turnout-and-economic-well-being/

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/03/07/executive-order-on-promoting-access-to-voting/

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/09/28/fact-sheet-biden-administration-promotes-voter-participation-with-new-agency-steps/

Here are some suggestions for you if you're interested in learning more...

https://www.ncsl.org/civil-and-criminal-justice/providing-identification-for-those-released-from-incarceration

https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-24-105435

https://hhrctraining.org/knowledge-resources/toolkit/1926/helping-obtain-ID

That took me less than five minutes to find.

Maybe you can take a look at volunteer opportunities in your community and help facilitate voting.

Good luck! ❤️

[XorXor]

27. Most of those links seem to be about helping people register to vote and have access to polling places

While I appreciate the PDF with guides for helping people obtain documentation, that doesn't really address the issue on a larger and consistent scale. Having paid and well trained staff who function in an organized manner to ensure everyone, not just the lucky ones, have access to such help and funding for obtain their documents and ID.

[calimary]

22. I guess that's why they seem to believe the only way they can win is to cheat.

Hey, their policies aren't winning any majorities.

[rampartc]

23. exactly. . we need to help everyone get an id because this is coming.

i have taken small groups from local nursing home to the dmv. they can register there as well. "motor voter"

toughest problem is homeless. you can imagine how difficult it must be keeping that small package of birth certificate, social security card, dd-214s, together during evictions and arrests and other chaotic events.

[FBaggins]

26. I'm with you... the cartoon makes little sense

It's clever messaging. But the top-left is working at McDonalds (or similar) and would have required a government ID and SSN in order to get the job in the first place.

The lady in the top-right would have to be 122 years old to have been born back when home births did not get birth certificates, And we're supposed to believe that her life led her to a garden in a suburban back yard without ever driving a car or holding a job?

Bottom left appears to also be someone who is employed, yet they never needed a birth certificate or other document that required one? The cost is a reasonable argument... but most states that have created voter ID requirements have been forced by the courts to issue such IDs without cost for this very reason.

The bottom-right pane is, of course, an accurate depiction.

[lostnfound]

11. Not only the cartoon but the subtext at the bottom, is WONDERFUL

Even good people make the mistake of thinking “if it’s easy for me, it must be easy for everybody”.

[ShazzieB]

15. Yes.

Even good people make the mistake of thinking “if it’s easy for me, it must be easy for everybody”.

Absolutely...and that right there is a classic example of privilege and how people who have it don't realize it and are shocked to find out not everyone does.

I'm not talking about "bad" people, necessarily; plenty of perfectly well-intentioned folks are blinded by their own privilege. Its...a problem.

[OldBaldy1701E]

18. That has been a mainstay of major parts of our society for a long time.

There are many examples of this mentality in our society. I had a similar conversation with someone a while back. Basically, the discussion was about the fact that some people don't want certain things unless they have an effectiveness in the upper 90th percentile, yet they will take certain medication with a 78% effectiveness rating (no, we were not talking about a COVID vaccine) without question. The thinking always seems to be that since it works without major side effects on 78% of the population, we should all be taking it. I don't know about you, but since I doubt most would want to get on a train with a 78% chance of getting from point A to point B, I don't see why we are supposed to just ingest something with that same percentage chance of working correctly. Yet, that mentality remains in so much of our society. Especially when it comes to certain aspects of our socioeconomic structure.

The rich seem to want us to think that since they have large sums of money all the time, we should all be able to just snap our fingers and have lots of it lying around. Or, since they don't work in the sense that most people do, that we all can just work hard and get to where they are. It is deliberate of course, but their insistence that this is always true is just an insanity that doesn't seem like it will ever go away.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

12. GOTV to get Democratic majorities in House and Senate to end these assinine poll taxes.

[Jedi Guy]

14. On its face, requiring some kind of ID to vote isn't terrible. Canada does it and it seems to work.

It provides for options, of course, so you can show a driver's license or any other photo ID issued by a provincial or federal government. If that's problematic, a voter can show two other forms of ID from a truly huge list of options (e.g., provincial health card [generally not accepted as photo ID in most situations] and a credit card statement). If all else fails, they allow for a third person who's assigned to the same polling station to vouch for you, though a person doing so can only vouch for one other person.

That system allows for a tremendous amount of flexibility while still allowing people to take part in the election, so there's no reason a similar system couldn't work in the US.

If a proposed voter ID law specifies that only very narrowly defined forms of photo ID are acceptable, though, that causes problems, particularly given the costs associated. One possible solution might be to make it free for someone to get a photo ID or copies of documents required to get a photo ID.

On the other hand, there's no evidence of widespread voter fraud, so the necessity for strict photo ID laws is absent.

[oldsoftie]

16. Dont know about other states, but GA will give you an ID for free. Online.

If you have a drivers license you qualify. If you have other govt ID cards you qualify. So the elderly woman certainly has a Medicare/Medicaid ID. And anyone working a job has to have ID to work. You have to have an ID to go to the bank. To go to the doctor. All those IDs will get you a State ID, online, for free. Or you can go to your county election office & get one for free as well.
Fighting REAL voter ID laws, not like that shit they tried in Texas a few years ago, is a losing position with most of the public.

[KentuckyWoman]

20. No taxation without representation

My personal feeling is someone should be able to show up with a receipt from the last month showing taxes paid. Sales, tax, paycheck stub, anything. Give everyone the purple thumb so they can't vote twice.

edit to add, yes, I know I'm way out on the fringe on this one.

[summer_in_TX]

21. In Texas, the fee for the birth certificate is $22. You can't get a drivers license without one.

Even applying by mail, the application has to be completely and accurately filled out. The fee will be waived if it is being used to get an Election Identification Certificate – but not a Texas Drivers License.

The documentation to identify yourself in order to get a birth certificate can be significant. Parents can ask on behalf of a child but then they have to identify themselves with the same kind of documentation. If there's a mistake in the application form, you have to correct it and resubmit it, but it goes back to the back of the line.

Then the Texas Drivers License requires a great deal of documentation as well, plus a fee of $33 for a new license or a renewal. Proof of citizenship, proof of residency, SSN, etc.

Besides getting copies of all the documents needed, you have to make an appointment and travel to a DPS center that offers Drivers Licenses. It can take several months to get a drivers license appointment, plus I had to travel 40 minutes to get the the DPS office location. I was retired and had a car to get there. What about those with unreliable transportation.

Great cartoon! Wish the fees were applicable for my state. I could use that.

[Emile]

25. Remembering the 12 Indiana nuns who didn't have

a drivers license and we're not allowed to vote.