On October 31, Congressman Keith Ellison (D-Minneapolis) introduced HR 4046. It would make it illegal for states to require government photo-ID, for voters who vote at polling places. The bill, if passed, would only relate to federal elections. Congress has the authority under Article One to overrule state election laws in Congressional elections. Thanks to Rick Hasen for this news.
Ballot Access News
Edited By Richard Winger
I wonder why some people don’t want voters to prove that they are who they say they are?!? Could it be that they don’t want you to have to prove your identity, so that you can vote multiple times at multiple locations?
Alabama requires Identification, BUT, you can use a Power Bill to prove your identity. That only proves an address, not an identity.
There is a class of people who don’t have government photo ID. They tend to be very poor; they don’t fly; they don’t rent videos; some of them are homeless and homeless people have a big problem with losing their possessions.
States that require government ID have to dispense the ID to the poor for no cost. Otherwise, it is a poll tax and that has already been declared unconstitutional.
Being able to drive should not be a requirement to vote.
I don’t know about the homeless voting. If they don’t have an address, they don’t reside within any voting district (they could take public transportation and ‘reside’ within many voting districts). How do they prove they reside within a voting district?
I HAVE TO SHOW ID TO WRITE A CHECK WHY NOT TO VOTE.
The elephant in the room is vote fraud. Without photo ID requirements, voting early and often is a great deal easier.
Robert: “States that require government ID have to dispense the ID to the poor for no cost.”
Some courts go farther than that. They felt that getting a birth certificate (which costs money and can take months from some states) also imposes a poll-tax like burden.
WILL: “I HAVE TO SHOW ID TO WRITE A CHECK WHY NOT TO VOTE.”
Because check fraud gives you a very direct tangible benefit–which could be thousands of dollars. Voter fraud really doesn’t. It’s extremely difficult to pull off in any significant way, and it’s a lot of work to achieve little. (Think about it: in a small election, the polling places are all clustered together, in a big election you just end up driving around a lot.)
Essentially, it’s the equivalent of counterfeiting pennies–a lot of work with no return. For god sakes, over time, American elections average to about 30-40% participation. 60% of real Americans can’t bother voting, why would fake people vote? It would be a lot cheaper and less time consuming to just get the people who normally don’t vote to vote, or change the minds of the habitual voters.
Did you know that, to rent a post office box, one now has to show two types of ID, one of which must be photo ID?
The USPS has a long list of IDs that are NOT acceptable. These include birth certificates and Social Security cards.