>Make IDs free

Sure.

>and mandatory for all citizens

And what are the consequences if you don't get this now mandatory (federal?) ID? Presumably some sort of passport card like thing that doesn't actually let you travel across borders. What if you don't have the documentation you need? What if you don't have the time to go to the offices that provide these IDs?

For a lot of people, the cost of getting the Equivalent ID to a driver's license isn't the big issue. All the other things are.

I would accept those sets of problems if the voter ID serves as voter registration.

I would assume that if someone went to the trouble of getting an ID primarily just for voting, also registering wouldn't be a big burden.

Yeah, but the crux is making it impossible to rescind that registration a la voter purges!

But it is an easy fix. I agree that there should be universal voter registration, and see no reason why we can't issue voter registration cards with a photo on them, which then serve as a valid form of identification for whatever information we choose to make publicly available on them.

IDs aren't free everywhere in Europe, in the Netherlands it's €56,80 for an ID card that is valid for 10 years. It is mandatory, though.

There's a scaling difference between the US and Europe. In the US, you might live a 4 hour drive from the nearest city large enough for a DMV. If you don't own a car, getting there and back can be a major obstacle.

You could solve these problems if you were willing to get a bit creative. For instance, the service could be provided by rural mail carriers.

The democrats are never going to call it a poll tax though because once you start calling statutory requirements to jump through non-free hoops to exercise rights "poll taxes" you've just paved the way to overturning a whole lot of gun control stuff.

Poll taxes are expressly forbidden by the 24th Amendment. I'm sure people will try and make arguments based on the 2nd Amendment, but they're really not comparable.

A photo ID is not a poll tax though. Just like requiring people to go to a polling place is not a poll tax. Just like people having to take time off of work is not a poll tax.

Requiring people to pay for the opportunity to vote is effectively a poll tax. I don't understand anyone trying to argue against this in good faith.

Would you say that someone having to own a car and buy gas so they can drive to the polling location is a poll tax?

Of course. Would you not?