The “voter ID” issue is a red herring. Voter ID is a relatively somewhat popular position among Americans.
But the SAVE Act goes way beyond that by requiring proof of citizenship on the ID. In the US that pretty much means a passport book or passport card would be required to vote.
Real ID driver licenses are not sufficient because they don’t say “US citizen” on the card. I know, because I have one in my pocket. Birth certificates are not photographic identification.
If this passes, we are going to find out that a whole bunch of red blooded, fair skinned, likely Republican voters, will have a hard time proving their citizenship with documentary evidence at the polls. Women who have changed their names through marriage are going to be in for an especially hard time.
I remember when I didn’t have a driver’s license getting grief for using my passport ID card as it didn’t show my address (nor would your passport but that’s still outside of these silly arguments for the need). Needing an ID to vote is still a poll tax until ID’s are free and easy to acquire. Sadly these goalposts are on a rocketship and the fight can’t even fathom the original problems.
They are only popular due to the widespread misconception that voter fraud is a serious issue (it is not, there is very little evidence of it being an issue at all, very few actual cases, extremely rare) or straight up delusions like believing non-citizens are voting (which is practically impossible due to other already existing preventative practices), while ignoring the evidence that voter ID laws have been shown to have negligible to no actual impact on voter fraud anyway.
People also either are not aware of, do not care, or at worst even support all of the harmful effects such as potentially lowering voter turnout, especially among low income voters and people of color, and causing issues for many transgender people who do not have ID that accurately reflects their name or gender, etc.
But at the same time, generally well off people WILL be able to vote easily, and it’s pretty telling where the upper middle class throws their votes these days
The “voter ID” issue is a red herring. Voter ID is a relatively somewhat popular position among Americans.
But the SAVE Act goes way beyond that by requiring proof of citizenship on the ID. In the US that pretty much means a passport book or passport card would be required to vote.
Real ID driver licenses are not sufficient because they don’t say “US citizen” on the card. I know, because I have one in my pocket. Birth certificates are not photographic identification.
If this passes, we are going to find out that a whole bunch of red blooded, fair skinned, likely Republican voters, will have a hard time proving their citizenship with documentary evidence at the polls. Women who have changed their names through marriage are going to be in for an especially hard time.
I remember when I didn’t have a driver’s license getting grief for using my passport ID card as it didn’t show my address (nor would your passport but that’s still outside of these silly arguments for the need). Needing an ID to vote is still a poll tax until ID’s are free and easy to acquire. Sadly these goalposts are on a rocketship and the fight can’t even fathom the original problems.
They are only popular due to the widespread misconception that voter fraud is a serious issue (it is not, there is very little evidence of it being an issue at all, very few actual cases, extremely rare) or straight up delusions like believing non-citizens are voting (which is practically impossible due to other already existing preventative practices), while ignoring the evidence that voter ID laws have been shown to have negligible to no actual impact on voter fraud anyway.
People also either are not aware of, do not care, or at worst even support all of the harmful effects such as potentially lowering voter turnout, especially among low income voters and people of color, and causing issues for many transgender people who do not have ID that accurately reflects their name or gender, etc.
Sure, but the enforcement of the law is what will matter in the end. Republicans do not plan on enforcing it in safely red states.
But at the same time, generally well off people WILL be able to vote easily, and it’s pretty telling where the upper middle class throws their votes these days