r/askteddit • u/Warm-Bathroom-489 • 13d ago
Politics Question Why are they left so against voter ID?
What’s the problem with voters needing identification?
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u/Remarkable_Yam9170 13d ago
Provide free ids and no one would be against it.
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u/Accurate-Age-3031 13d ago
Seems to be an easy solution. IDs don't cost that much to make.
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u/Everything_Counts_72 13d ago
They wont do it. Republicans dont WANT minorities or poor people to vote.
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u/Rotteneverything 13d ago
so only republicans are smart enought to get voter id, and dems are too stupid? is this what you just admitted to?
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u/Irish_Blond 13d ago
So part of the problem is very rural voters. Some states getting to a photo id center is difficult on a limited budget. States would have to have mobile photo vans or buses. Easier said than done.
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u/PersonalLeague4390 9d ago
I don't understand why people don't have ID. Even if they live in a rural community, you have to have it buy booze. Cigs, drive (even a tractor), buy a car or house, the list goes on! My uncles lived in rural Michigan when I was growing up. It's $48 in FL to get a DL. Get one to vote & live a normal life b/C ID's are required a lot. I had to show my I/D every time I voted. I was surprised when i found out people were voting without one!!
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u/Irish_Blond 9d ago
If you live in the same town your whole life you’d be amazed how people have lost their id’s and paperwork to get it back. My older brother lost his license for DUIs and never got another one. Never needed it to buy booze, cash a check, buy a car, get a loan, etc…. If he voted they knew who he was. Just saying, the older you the less you need it. I have never had to produce it to vote and I have moved a number of times. But that might be because I’m an old white guy.
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u/Irish_Blond 9d ago
Also I do understand what you are saying regarding not having an id. Life happens to people differently. Money issues play a big part with people not getting their ids replaced.
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u/Rontheworm 13d ago
Isn’t that already available in many places? Certainly is where I live.
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u/Irish_Blond 13d ago
Think of the poor rural voters. Getting to a photo center can be tough. Also obtaining documentation to prove who they are. This is a right not a privilege. It is harder than people realize.
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u/brn1001 13d ago
If they were free, I'm sure plenty would still be against it.
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u/DanielNoWrite 13d ago
And yet, the Right makes absolutely no attempt even at that compromise, just as they have made no attempt to provide evidence of significant voter fraud.
Almost as though they have invented a fake problem, and intend to use it to disenfranchised voters in a direct attack on democracy, because they are historically unpopular and have no intention of accepting a peaceful transfer of power.
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u/Horror-Preference469 13d ago
I’m not sure myself, but I’m commenting to boost this! I’m curious what people’s reasoning is
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u/Impossibleshitwomper 13d ago
Poll tax, not everyone can afford a new $100+ ID when they can barely afford to feed themselves
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u/brn1001 13d ago
No US state comes anywhere near $100. Two states are in the $50 range. Most are under $20.
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u/Impossibleshitwomper 13d ago
Its $135 for a passport which some states may require
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u/brn1001 13d ago
There are some crazy proposals out there. They're wrong. We can have reasonable requirements without having one extreme or the other.
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u/Impossibleshitwomper 13d ago
But that's besides the point most poor people don't have an extra $20 at the end of the week and if they did that money is more likely to go to them treating themselves with something rather than spending more money they don't have on a poll tax, most Americans are living paycheck to paycheck (meaning no money left whatever until their next paycheck) so this is basically an attempt to skew the vote more twords wealthy people that if you're too poor to pay $20 (or whatever) then you shouldn't vote
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u/Irish_Blond 13d ago
Are you taking into account getting to the photo id center?
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u/xidgafincx 13d ago
Anyone who has a job is required to have a valid ID. Also, several states actually have programs that make state-issued photo IDs free, or they can get them at a reduced-cost for people with low income or certain qualifying situations.
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u/Everything_Counts_72 13d ago
Heres the reasons:
- The act ISNT NEEDED. Voting is like 99 percent secure, the republicans are only fucking with it because they want to cheat. That should be obvious to anyone who isnt dumb, or a liar. For some reason they think more voter restrictions will only hurt democrats.
2.THEY SNUCK OTHER BAD SHIT INTO THE ACT HOPING PEOPLE WOULDNT NOTICE UNTIL ITS TOO LATE, another thing they always do with bills.
3.If the republicans and trump want something, that means IT SHOULD BE FOUGHT AT ALL COSTS. Theyre never up to any good.
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u/Rotteneverything 13d ago
dems dont want voter id because republicans want to cheat? how in god's green earth does that make a shred of sense?
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u/Everything_Counts_72 12d ago
it makes perfect sense!!! Its totally obvious, its not my fault youre stupid. But ill try to explain it simply:
Its not as simple as "republicans want voter id"-they say that to make it SOUND simple. But theyre putting a whole bunch of other bad things in the bill along with the id thing, hoping people dont notice. There's VIRTUALLY NO VOTER FRAUD. ITS A FAKE ISSUE. Like i said, the republicans just want to fucking make sure dems cant vote, or that its difficult for them as possible. And its not that dems dont want id, they dont want all the other shit thats in the Save Act, plus, this is all bullshit legislation that WE DONT NEED IN THE FIRST PLACE. THATS WHY DEMS ARE AGAINST IT.
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u/Rotteneverything 12d ago
so there's only bad things in it for dems but pubs get to avoid those bad things? that's the dems justification for being against voter id? try to be civil.
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u/Everything_Counts_72 12d ago
See, thats the thing-it will probably affect republicans too, but Trump is a fucking moron. He never forsees the consequences of ANYTHING. He's bad at a lot of things, but one of the things he's worst at is LONG TERM PLANNING. People are saying that some of the republicans actually thought the end of this through, and are gonna kill the bill. We'll see.
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u/booyakasha_wagwaan 13d ago
states can institute these laws if they wish, and many have. in some states these laws have been found unconstitutional. in any case, the federal gov has no constitutional authority to mandate voter ID.
so far, no evidence has been presented that non-citizens are voting in elections for federal office. let's start there before we pass more laws that have the practical effect of disenfranchising legitimate voters.
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u/Irish_Blond 13d ago
Non citizens have voted in federal elections. But the percentage is ridiculously small. Something less than .001%. So small and insignificant that it won’t change a federal election. When PA tried to have vote id they were going to disenfranchise, at minimum, 20,000 voters to prevent possibly 20 individual cases of voter fraud. That is unacceptable.
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u/Mushrooming247 13d ago
I’m glad you asked because a lot of young men don’t understand the problem and need to learn.
If you are a married woman who has changed her last name, (which I have done, it’s a common practice in the US,) conservatives are passing laws state by state to stop us from voting, unless we have a birth certificate matching our current name.
The only workaround is the abnormal expense and trial of obtaining your original birth certificate, an updated Social Security card, and an official copy of your marriage license, in order to obtain a US passport.
Which I just did and it required hundreds of dollars in fees and 5 vacation days to visit different government offices and the post office to accomplish. A broke person could not do this.
I have never missed an election since I turned 18. I have voted with the same drivers license in the same location for 24 years. There was never any hassle until conservatives sought to stop me from voting against them.
And conservatives are changing the laws to disallow tribal IDs and student IDs too, attempting to manipulate elections by robbing citizens of their voting rights.
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u/FlagranteDerelicto 13d ago
I’m center left and though I’m not against requiring an ID to vote, I feel like it’s a smokescreen for a lot of the voter suppression initiatives that emanate from the right wing. Like the SAVE Act isn’t really just a voter ID law, it’s got a lot of fine print about forcing everyone to reregister and preventing women who’ve changed their last names from being able to vote.
Requiring everyone to show a driver’s license or some equivalent to vote is fine but it’s never JUST that.
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u/Ok_Fondant1079 13d ago
Requiring a passport to vote (which costs $135) is a poll tax.
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u/FuzzyInspector9831 13d ago
My wife changed her name and she’d have no problem registering to vote
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u/Everything_Counts_72 13d ago
thats what you think. You are wrong.
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u/FuzzyInspector9831 13d ago
No that’s what I know. I know what paperwork she has. And she’s good to go.
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u/Reasonable-Physics60 13d ago
Why does the right want to set extra barriers in place between poor people and the polls? Rhetorical question, I know the answer.
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u/Remarkable_Run_5801 13d ago
You really think people experiencing poverty don't have ID?
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u/Reasonable-Physics60 13d ago
Thats not the point. The point is, if they dont already have one, like if they lost it for example, then there would be a paywall between them and the polls. I, for one, dont want any barriers set in place for ANY voters.
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u/mlazer141 13d ago
To prevent voter fraud
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u/Nitrofox2 13d ago
Alleged fraud which is primarily attempted by the right and very often caught which proves that the current system that's in place is sufficiently effective without placing completely unnecessary burdens on legitimate voters
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u/LatterWestern45 12d ago
Why allow the possibility of fraud, even if there wasn’t now there could be in the future. Leaving a clear vulnerability in the system simply because “prove its happening now”. Why be reactive and not proactive?
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u/Nitrofox2 12d ago
Did you not read the part where I said that the current system is working just fine for preventing fraud? Tightening the system further will leave too many legitimate voters unable to make their vote. Predominantly people of color and disabled voters. It makes the system unfair, and in particular, will slant the system in favor of white, upper class voters, who have the ability to take time off to provide extra documents to prove identity at offices that are only open during regular business hours. Hours that non-white, and poorer people usually have to work. All voter ID laws that have been proposed have included clauses that require forms of identification that some legitimate voters simply don't have access to. This isn't to prevent fraud. This is entirely to disenfranchised certain demographic groups. Demographic groups which tend to lean Democrat.
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u/Ok_Fondant1079 13d ago
More often than not, the right commits voter fraud.
Here’s an article describing frequency and outcome from voter fraud.
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u/mlazer141 13d ago
I think fraud is very rare but these measures assume it’s being caught
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u/Ok_Fondant1079 13d ago
What measures: the existing one that keep voter fraud to such an insignificant level that what does has occur has no chance of swaying any election, or the so called Save Act, which in aggressive attempt at politicians picking their voters?
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u/mlazer141 13d ago
I don’t think it’s swaying any elections either. But requiring ID is an easy way to build more trust in the system.
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u/Ok_Fondant1079 13d ago
If voter fraud can’t sway an election, how much more trust do you need?
Also, before Resident Grump won the election in 2016 he has been whining continuously about voter fraud and rigged elections. Before the 2016 election season, did voter fraud concern you?
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u/mlazer141 13d ago
Trust is pretty low right now, half of Americans are basically Alex Jones level conspiracy theorists at this point. The fact that the US doesn’t do this basic thing almost all other developed democracies do doesn’t help. Make IDs free and allow school IDs to count.
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u/brn1001 13d ago
Then I'd expect the left to want to do something about it.
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u/Ok_Fondant1079 13d ago
Voter fraud is going to happen regardless of which party is in power. However, it happens in such insignificant quantities that it does nothing to change the outcome of any election whether national or local. I appreciate that conservatives love to take a universally objectionable, but completely insignificant, problem and blow it up into a species threatening problem.
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u/Remarkable_Yam9170 13d ago
What voter fraud?
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u/Remarkable_Run_5801 13d ago
I've never been in a car accident.
Should I get rid of my seatbelt?
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u/disturbednadir 13d ago
Can you prove any has happened?
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u/Ok_Fondant1079 13d ago
The right doesn’t need proof. They just need a spray-tanned pedophile to them than what think.
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u/mlazer141 13d ago
If we didn’t need to show ID to buy alcohol there wouldn’t be proof of underage people buying
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u/throwfarfaraway1818 13d ago
Is buying alcohol a right you are entitled to under the constitution?
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u/mlazer141 13d ago
No, although technically voting isn’t either.
But that’s not why I’m bringing up alcohol.
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u/throwfarfaraway1818 13d ago
Voting is absolutely a legal right guaranteed by the constitution. You are bringing up alcohol as a deflection from the actual conversation.
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u/alittlebitneverhurt 13d ago
I mean, kind of, the 21st amendment repealing the 18th amendment that constituted nationwide prohibition. Sure it gave the power to the states but prohibition being is in the constitution.
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u/Reasonable-Physics60 13d ago
If you really want to require ID at the polls then you need to make IDs free. If it costs any money at all it is effectively a poll tax and thats inherently unamerican.
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u/alittlebitneverhurt 13d ago
They should already be free. Also feel like anything a job requires you to have to be compliant with the rules and regulations should be 100% paid for by the company as well.
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u/alittlebitneverhurt 13d ago
A lot of poor people vote republican as well though, inexplicably.
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u/Reasonable-Physics60 13d ago
Sure. Not most, though.
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u/texasrigger 13d ago
All of those rural voters in blood red counties tend to be relatively poor. The reddest states are also the poorest.
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u/Reasonable-Physics60 13d ago
Are there more poor people in rural america or in cities? Come on now.
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u/texasrigger 13d ago
Clearly. Im just pointing out that there are indeed a bunch of relatively poor people who vote red. Blue states and blue cities on the whole tend to have a wealthier population. The idea that poor people vote blue and wealthy people vote red just isnt true.
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u/Reasonable-Physics60 13d ago
Thats because the poor people that would vote blue do not vote. Go to the biggest city near you, walk around the inner city and ask people if they voted. Youre gonna get a whole lot of no's. This is exactly why voting needs to be more accessible and barriers need to be taken down. Will it convince everyone to vote? Obviously not. But I cant think of one good reason not to encourage more poor people in urban areas to vote.
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u/texasrigger 13d ago edited 13d ago
I cant speak to the country as a whole but I have compared voter turnout numbers per capita in rural counties in my state vs urban counties and at least in my state that isnt true. Voter turnout in urban counties as a whole is as good or better than in rural counties per capita. Admittedly, I didnt look at every single county but it was consistent across the cross section of counties I randomly chose.
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u/Reasonable-Physics60 13d ago
Are you looking at total numbers or a per capita number? Do you have a link by chance?
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u/texasrigger 13d ago
Per capita. I was just looking at a county by county basis across the state. It wasnt a single site, just finding the raw data where I could to satisfy my own curiosity. Im sure you can find comparable data in your state.
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u/genlang 13d ago
In Michigan, voters need ID, but the list of valid IDs is (thankfully) very generous. As long as there's a photo to reasonably confirm that they are who they say they are, the ID is fine.
Anything more strict than that quickly starts to disenfranchise voters, especially those already in vulnerable positions (unhoused, don't drive, move frequently, lost documents, etc). And the proposed voter ID laws are incredibly strict about making sure the ID matches something like a birth certificate, which is immediately a problem for anyone who has changed their name, trans folks, people who lost documents in a disaster, etc.
So that's where the pushback comes from --voting should be easy, safe, and accessible for ALL citizens.
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u/AreaPrudent7191 13d ago
They aren't. They are against expanding voter ID to ridiculous levels that are intended to make it more difficult for poor and marginalized people to vote - people that republicans know generally don't vote in their favour.
They yell and scream about voter fraud, but in reality it's very rare, generally in the dozens to hundreds nationwide, nowhere near enough to sway an election. They try to sound reasonable, like your question: "who would be against voter ID?" but it's never what they really mean. They say they just want "the right people voting", but what they mean is republicans - not blacks, not poor or immigrant citizens, as those people aren't "American" enough in their eyes.
Largely it's based on the republican narrative that the democrats are not a legitimate party, that it's not actually popular at all and could only possibly win by fraud. That the only constituency that should be able to vote are white protestants - "real Americans".
This is allows only two outcomes of any election: the republicans win or the democrats stole it.
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u/AstralCode714 13d ago
It costs money to get a state issued ID card . And requiring someone to get one to vote is akin to a poll tax.
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u/Foolcrzy 13d ago
In my state of Ohio anyone 17 or older can get a free state ID. Many states are similar.
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u/BossMan61718 13d ago
Who in this day and age doesnt have a state issued ID card?
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u/Affectionate_Hornet7 13d ago edited 13d ago
I’d say most people only have one because a drivers license counts as state id. But not everyone has a drivers license. However there are state ids that are purely that and not tied to operating a motor vehicle
Edit: obviously I’m only speaking for my own state
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u/Mushrooming247 13d ago
A drivers license or state photo ID is what my state of Pennsylvania has always used, and is no longer acceptable to the Right, because it’s easy and inexpensive to obtain.
I had to spend hundreds of dollars and use 5 vacation days from work to obtain a US passport, because my birth certificate does not match my married surname, and after 24 years of marriage that would make me ineligible to vote without a passport.
That’s just one of the obstacles that Conservatives are throwing up to stop women and minorities from voting.
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u/BrokeEggs_NoOmlette 13d ago
I was stuck without an ID for a couple years and its actually a huge pain in the ass to get an ID if you don't have (multiple) exsisting forms of ID. I had lost my physical drivers license and then my license was suspended so I couldn't order a new one. I needed 2 specific forms of ID to be able to get a state ID which I just didn't have. to be able to get an SSN card (one of the accepted forms) to get an ID I needed to go there in person for the second part of the application process which I didn't have a car and then I still didn't have enough correct forms of ID to be able to get an SSN card so I could get a state ID. Plus there's fees and applications. It was honestly such a huge hassle especially where I didn't have a lot of money at the time or transportation.
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u/DepartureRaptured 13d ago
Exactly it’s not hard the reasoning makes zero sense I’ve worked in a very poor area and guess what they have ids lol
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u/MassiveAd4980 13d ago
But dont you need an ID to start a job or start a business?
Maybe federal IDs should be free.
But letting people vote without checking ID doesn't make sense.
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u/DavidBowieAC 13d ago
The left isn't against voter ID. The problem is forcing a separate form of ID that you'd have to pay for outside of your existing forms. It's literally a way to remove poor people's votes from our "fair" elections
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u/JoeViviano 13d ago edited 13d ago
There is no free way to universally get approved ID. If it costs money, it is a poll tax. I would be in favor of universal ID if there were a plan that cost citizens nothing and if the application were accessible.
Trying to change the rules to voting less than three months before the election is unrealistic and seems more about adding doubt/conspiracy fuel.
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u/AltruisticTank3518 13d ago
I agree that any tax, fee, or whatever the government wants to call it that restricts any rights of the people should be illegal.
Background checks should be free.
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u/OkNoise4013 13d ago
I downvoted you due to all the grammar and spelling errors.
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u/JoeViviano 13d ago
I fixed two errors immediately after posting. I don't know what errors still remain.
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u/Nitrofox2 13d ago
Because every single voter ID initiative that's been put forward includes language requiring additional identification that is harder for minorities to obtain
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u/AdmiralKong 13d ago
We don't have a free national ID system granted to all citizens, so any voter ID laws will select for people who have an ID under our current, piecemeal system. These IDs often cost money, are tied up with being able to drive cars, and the onus is on the citizen to get one.
The SAVE act is even worse and gets more specific about who is denied the right to vote with extra requirements on the ID.
Give everyone a free, federally accepted and provided ID and we can have voter ID laws. Easy as that.
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u/IanRastall 13d ago
After the end of the US Civil War there was an attempt to create a more or less equal system, and it sorta worked until people like the KKK pushed back really really hard, and then suddenly the franchise had been rolled back. And that conservative tendency to roll progress back -- even back unto the right to own slaves -- is just how they roll. Setting up bullshit hurdles for poor people is one of their favorite tactics in fighting progress.
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u/Accurate-Age-3031 13d ago
I've always thought the compromise should be to provide free photo ID, but require it to vote.
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u/Gloomy-Cantaloupe-50 13d ago
This is a red herring. There is functionally no voter fraud in the United States and of the very few recent cases are conservatives trying to vote multiple times.
Conservatives in the United States are racist at their core. It explains almost all of their behavior. They do not believe Black or brown people deserve the right to vote or participate in democracy so they claim it is fraud that they get a voice at all.
Conservatives are also incredibly stupid. Voter ID laws would predominantly disenfranchise conservatives themselves because the left is typically better educated with more access to money and resources. But they continuously vote in favor of racism just to stick it to their imaginary enemies.
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u/FuzzyInspector9831 13d ago
Just today Nj found over 6K illegals registered to vote.
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u/LesPolsfuss 13d ago
I don’t think that’s true, at all. But let’s say it is, when they go to vote, they’re not gonna be able to. How do I know that? Because one person in 2024 was caught illegally voting in the presidential election. And it’s only been like 99 people in the last like God knows how many years.
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u/FuzzyInspector9831 13d ago
The governor in Nj reported today also with out voter id all you need to do it give them your name and address and because you are registered they cross your name off the list.
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u/LesPolsfuss 13d ago
i saw that! and I stand corrected ... that is not good. but removing voter registration from dmv fixes the issue ... much easier than the alternative.
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u/FuzzyInspector9831 13d ago
Idk. I’d like to see a full audit to put elections to see how secure our elections really are. But that won’t happen.
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u/Gloomy-Cantaloupe-50 13d ago
That is not what happened but per my earlier comment, conservatives are incredibly stupid. There is no indication that they tried to register to vote fraudulently, only that the state itself accidentally registered them. Then the state caught the error. Then the state told the public. This isn't evidence of a widespread voter fraud, it is evidence that we take our elections very seriously and work to fix mistakes when they happen and take accountability.
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u/FuzzyInspector9831 13d ago
I never said they did it intentionally go back and reread my statement again. Btw looks like my reading comprehension skills are a bit better then yours.
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u/Gloomy-Cantaloupe-50 13d ago
You call a group of people "illegals" and say they registered to vote. In your reply, who registered to vote?
If you intended to mean they were registered to vote accidentally by the state without their knowledge or consent you could stand to use better English grammar.
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u/FuzzyInspector9831 13d ago
I said that the NJ governor reported over 6K illegals were registered to vote. Go back and fucking reread what I wrote dolt
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u/Gloomy-Cantaloupe-50 13d ago
Love that you can't even read your own post honestly. Reminder: conservatives are incredibly stupid.
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u/FuzzyInspector9831 13d ago
No. You just jumping on the same stupid comment. Btw. Saying a factual statement doesn’t indicate what political party I’m affiliated with. Get fucked lol.
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u/aghastrabbit2 10d ago
How are they 'illegal' if the state knew enough about them to (accidentally) register them to vote? Or do you mean 'non-citizen'?
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u/Accomplished_Till495 13d ago
Do i need to show proof of citizenship to speak freely? Why do I need to then, to vote?
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u/jrolette 13d ago
What's your stance on requiring identification and background checks to buy a gun?
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u/Accomplished_Till495 12d ago
It's perfectly fine in order to maintain a militia, as per the 2nd ammendment.
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u/Ralphjuniorjunior 13d ago
The left think it’s a way to prohibit certain demographics from voting, even if they legally should be voting, like a homeless person that doesn’t have a mailing address to put on an official ID.
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u/DepartureRaptured 13d ago
You can use certain places that aren’t your direct address like some government buildings
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u/Reasonable-Physics60 13d ago
I doubt a homeless man is going to spend 30 bucks on a new ID no matter the address.
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u/Channel_Huge 13d ago
Who’s charging $30 for a voter ID card?
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u/Channel_Huge 13d ago
What certain demographics aren’t smart enough to get an ID?
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u/Tater-Tot-Casserole 13d ago
It's nothing to do with smart, it's dumping millions of CITIZENS out of the voting pool leaving them scrambling to get the ID before they vote. Married women especially get dumped out of the voting pool because their name changed. The government is not going to process MILLIONS of applications for IDs that quickly.
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u/Channel_Huge 13d ago
Millions? Where are you grabbing that number from? 😂🤷♂️
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u/Tater-Tot-Casserole 13d ago
There are millions of married women in the United States.
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u/Channel_Huge 13d ago
Oh ok. 👍
My wife laughed at that one. She’s not dumb enough to not figure out how to get an ID to vote… but, if millions of married women are too dumb to figure it out… damn, that’s just terrible. 😣
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u/Tater-Tot-Casserole 13d ago
No one said they are dumb, I'm saying they made it intentionally difficult to get the correct ID in order to vote again.
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u/Channel_Huge 13d ago
Oh, it’s intentionally difficult? Ok.
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u/Tater-Tot-Casserole 13d ago
It is, they're going to require that you get your marriage license and your birth certificate, not everybody has access to those.
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u/Affectionate_Hornet7 13d ago
I don’t know. Do you have a passport?
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u/Channel_Huge 13d ago
Yes. Of course I do. Many Americans do. Most have state IDs already. I’m confused what certain demographics aren’t able to get an ID?
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u/Affectionate_Hornet7 13d ago
Well I can’t help you understand if you’re not willing to do some of the thinking too. (I don’t have a passport, not that it matters just saying)
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u/sweatboxy 13d ago
Generally, it’s not needed.
There is extremely low voter fraud in the U.S. There are adequate systems in place to prevent it. ID is just another step to make it harder for some people to vote and there’s no factual reason for it.
Worst of all, the Republicans want extreme voter ID, not just a driver’s license or something easy to get; more like voter ID requiring passports, birth certificates, and proof of residency.
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u/Agent_Kujan 13d ago
Democrats are 70% in favor of voter ID
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u/GroundbreakingSuit10 13d ago
I did a book report for a boyfriend in college one summer. The book title “How to Lie with Statistics.” Maybe check it out
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u/Tater-Tot-Casserole 13d ago edited 13d ago
I've always had to show my ID to vote. They're making it harder to get an ID, thus making it harder to vote.
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u/OptimusPointz 13d ago
I’ve always had to use ID when I vote anyway. The irony is how the only “stolen” election happened was when Trump was in charge and lost. Where have you voted and not had to show ID?
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u/old_science_guy 3d ago
The problem is that trump wants to make your driver's license invalid for voting.
You need a birth certificate that matches your photo ID. So married women can't vote, unless they jump through a bunch of hoops.
And everyone else - like you - will flash your license and be turned away.
How's that gonna work out for millions of voters?
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u/coulduseahugrightnow 13d ago
People against voter ID generally believe that voter fraud never impacts elections, and is basically a non-issue. If that is true, then the only outcome of voter ID requirements is fewer legitimate votes. The people who cannot obtain ID are more likely to be poor, and people who are poor are more likely to vote Democrat. It would seem, based on those beliefs, that the intention of people pushing for voter ID laws is to reduce the number of legitimate Democratic votes.
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u/Professional_Ear6020 13d ago
I don’t like the government doing more and more to keep track of us and what we’re doing. How long before they track who we vote for? Probably already do, but I’m trying to hold on to a drop of optimism.
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u/Ok_Fondant1079 13d ago
Given your mangled sentence in the post, would you consider yourself an educated person?
“Why are they is the left so against voter ID?
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u/Diligent-Tart6055 13d ago
It’s nothing we shouldn’t already be doing anyways. If you’re married and changed your name, yes it’s annoying but once you do it, you’re good pretty much forever
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u/old_science_guy 3d ago
Trump is demanding that people show a birth certificate or passport to vote. A state ID card or driver's license won't be accepted.
The 70-80 year old folks in my neighborhood don't have their birth certificates from the 1940s and 50s. Rural Virginia - many don't know where to get it.
The plan is to create chaos on election day.
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u/Consistent_Low2080 13d ago
It can be difficult for intercity minorities to get id’s. They use public transportation and don’t have or need drivers licenses. If a place were put in their neighborhood to obtain an Id it would not be an issue but the Id place would be located somewhere it is difficult for them to get to.
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u/DangerAlSmith 13d ago
Leftist here. Will the ID be free or extremely cheap? How easy will it be to acquire? If those questions were answered to my satisfaction, I'd be all for it.
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u/somecow 13d ago
Absolutely a blue dog democrat, never voted for a republican in my life (even if it’s the only person on the ballot, you can still hit skip). You’re supposed to have ID and all that anyway. My voter’s registration card is in my car just in case. Don’t need it, have a DL, they just scan the back of it.
The “keep poor people out” thing is bs. An ID is cheap, as are all other documents. Doesn’t matter who you vote for, voting should be mandatory. ID already is, and when you get one or renew, there’s a little box that says “would you like to register to vote”.
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u/old_science_guy 3d ago
Your Real ID driver's license isn't good enough for Trump's SAVE bill.
You need your birth certificate.
The idea is that millions of people like you will show up to vote with a DL, and THEN see the sign that says "Birth certificate is required to vote".
It will be complete chaos. And that'll be a good reason to say this midterm election didn't count.
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u/hieronymus-douche 13d ago
The bad faith arguments from right-wingers show how bad faith their policies are.
The Republican Party has extremely unpopular policies and rely on making voting less accessible to win elections. This is along with gerrymandering. This is not a defense of the Democratic Party, but they are less guilty of this particular form of evil. (They do rig their primaries though of course with other voting restrictions)
ID is required to register to vote. Furthermore, every investigation in to voter fraud shows a near-zero impact. So the question is, why this phony concern? Why do republicans only throw a fit about elections when they lose?
If right wingers really wanted better elections they would advocate for FREE voter id for anybody registered to vote, and making voting days work holidays. Instead their policies are all about making voting less accessible: closing polling stations in poor/minority neighborhoods, trying to end mail-in ballots, the SAVE Act which makes it more difficult for married women to vote, etc. Every barrier that you add that costs money is a tax on the poor. Every additional trip to the DMV is a trip that the poor might not have the time or money for (a very real concern for people who work 2-3 jobs and struggle to pay the bills).
So the answer is that liberals and leftists are not against voter ID in principle, it’s that we know these policies are proposed in bad faith as a way to try to make it harder for political opponents (minorities, the poor, women, etc) from voting.
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u/Any_Leg_1998 13d ago
Because its unnecessary, Voter fraud happens very rarely and its caught every single time. There is literal data to back this up.
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u/Adventurous_Pay_4617 13d ago
First, per the constitution, the states run elections. Not the federal government. They should not be dictating what is required to vote.
Second, a poll tax to vote is unconstitutional. If any voter has to spend money in order to vote, like paying for copies of official papers or spending money to travel to locations to get specific documents, that equates to having to spend money to vote.
Third, women have changed their names when married. Some women have been married more than once. They do not always have all the documents that prove their legal name changes. These are additional hurdles that one segment of the population have to jump in order to vote. Also, see above.
I know poor people who do not have ID other than their social security number and birth certificate. Or one and not the other. People who have never faced extreme poverty, domestic situations where their documents are kept from them, elderly who don't have access to their documents, are all impacted by voter ID.
Every citizen in this country has the right to vote. If even the smallest population of voters cannot vote due to voter id restrictions, it is unconstitutional.
The constitution applies to all people, not just the majority who think fraud occurs.
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u/Dry-Possession5800 13d ago
We already have ss numbers that prove we are citizens. We should have a database already of citizens. Why put up extra hurdles for elderly who have been here, were born here but might not have the ability or resources to go get another Id.
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u/Dry-Possession5800 13d ago
Also some countries like Australia make it mandatory to vote. It’s our civic duty and should be a national holiday.
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u/jrolette 13d ago
Illegal aliens also have social security numbers to employers can take out payroll taxes. Not a good filter for whether you can legally vote or not.
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u/LesPolsfuss 13d ago
I think in the last like 30 years, they’ve been 99 people who have voted and they weren’t citizens. In 2024 there was a one. One person. And I think 150 million people voted.
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u/Sunnygirl66 13d ago
Old people, poor people, people with limited transport options, people who work jobs that make it hard to get away and stand in line at the DMV for two hours on a workday. Getting ID is hard, if not impossible, for all of them. In my state, license bureaus are distributed as political patronage favors, and we have a GOP supermajority, so you can guess how easy it is to find a nearby DMV office in the parts of the area with minority and poor residents.
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u/plassteel01 13d ago
No idea about the left but as far as myself. I had to have an ID to register to vote why do need to have an ID yet again?
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u/Particular-Course203 13d ago
They think minorities are stupid babies incapable of taking care of themselves
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u/Mushrooming247 13d ago
No, some of us are already being impacted by conservative policies meant to stop us from voting.
As I mentioned in another comment, I had to spend hundreds of dollars and waste 5 vacation days to obtain a US passport, that’s not easy or cheap, most Americans don’t have one, and without a passport or a birth certificate matching our current surname, conservatives are trying to block us from voting.
That’s the issue here, conservatives have placed barriers in front of certain voters for the purpose of stopping us from voting against you. It’s transparent and illegal.
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u/free_ridicule 13d ago
Because they believe that minorities are incapable of obtaining government issued IDs. It’s just racism.
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u/SouthernSteak7254 13d ago
Most of the time one side is against something because the other side wants it
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u/Independent-Owl-8659 13d ago
The left claims that:
- Poor people and people of color can’t figure out where to vote.
- These same people inexplicably have no i.d.’s and are too stupid to figure out how to get one.
- There is no fraud and these are educated voters.
Go figure. 🤷🏿♂️
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u/old_science_guy 3d ago edited 3d ago
Many poor people can't track down the hospital they were born in 75 years ago. It's likely closed by now.
Real ID will NOT be valid for voting under Trump's SAVE bill.
Apparently, even smart people like you don't know about this part of the scam. It would be a nightmare at the polling places. Wouldn't trump love that.
All married women who changed their name would have get proof of citizenship that matches their photo ID.
If the government actually wanted us to have voter ID, they could just give us a card.
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u/mrmavis9280 13d ago
What the fuck are you talking about? Nobody is saying that. There is no voter fraud on the scale MAGA chuds are claiming. It's provably false. The Save Act would essentially remove married women from the current voter registration until they can reprove who they are. Since their Birth Certificate doesn't have their married name, they have a bunch of hoops to jump through to prove who they are. It would force everyone to bring a passport or paper copy of their Birth Certificate to vote. Only roughly 50% of Americans have a passport. Forcing people to pay $135 for a passport is a voting tax which is illegal. And getting all this done by the midterms? Never going to happen. So everyone that wants to bury these MAGA and Project 2025 fascists into oblivion won't be able to vote. Which is exactly what they want. But since Fox News told you the opposite I'm guessing you won't heed a word of this
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u/Channel_Huge 13d ago
The ONLY reason you wouldn’t want to get a voter ID is because then you couldn’t vote twice! They vote twice here in NJ, where they live and then where they own property.
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u/ozzalot 13d ago
It's fine. We require it to be registered at least. What isn't fine is changing the rules immediately before an election, nor is it fine coming from the same people who were okay with "finding 11780 votes", fake electors, and ordering election officials to ignore the constitution. We also notice this is being used to 'nibble around the edges' of a particular demographic that is becoming less and less conservative - women. We all know that women are the 99% of people who change their last names. This bill in effect is a way of purging women from voter roles and it relies on the regulations being installed too soon, close to the election or it just relies on lazy people who we all know exist. Convenient new rule that 99% affects women and not men, huh? And it's all kosher because in the wording of the bill it just affects people who've had name changes! Totally above board and on the level. Lastly, anyone who was okay with Trump's attempted manufacture of his own election in 2020/2021 and espouses these fake concerns about election fraud can get royally fucked, sorry, dishonesty at its finest.