This is not true. In the UK there is currently no requirement to show ID when voting.

There may be soon - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-57723200 - but it certainly isn't common in the UK.

In Germany it's either the voting papers sent to your primary residency (same database used to issue ID cards and passports) or your passport / ID card in case you forgot / lost your voting papers. Easy enough, even if the voting papers are a lot easier in practical terms.

> In America it’s widely controversial to require ID when voting

Yes, one party seems to think those of a non-white skin color are unable (through ignorance or lack of access) to obtain any form of ID so they can vote.

That's rather one-sided. Both major US parties recognize (almost certainly correctly) that the more friction you put in the voting process, however seemingly reasonable, the fewer low-income people will proportionately vote. And one party considers that a bug while the other considers it a feature.

ADDED: Is there anything in this statement that is remotely controversial?

As a European, I think it's completely insane not to have to provide an ID to vote.

Of course it's a system that's ripe for fraud if you can't even identify and record voters reliably.

I don't know how you can think this will introduce any more friction for low income people. You need an ID to drive. You may introduce friction for illegal immigrants and mentally handicapped homeless.

Saying this will affect low income people doesn't make any sense. Saying this will affect black people is plain racist.

>Saying this will affect black people is plain racist.

Did you actually just call me a racist for very lightly touching on the fact that there's a whole lot of racial history tied in with voting rights in the US?

Maybe you should just keep your mouth closed until you learn something about what the hell you're talking about because you clearly don't.

And I'll let the rest of your words stand by themselves. Many legal US citizens do not drive and do not have government ID. Is it a lot? Probably not but it's enough to drive political decisions around voting where fraud is actually not a serious problem.

But really, don't care that a European thinks we should be required to have an ID to vote.

>I don't know how you can think this will introduce any more friction for low income people. You need an ID to drive. You may introduce friction for illegal immigrants and mentally handicapped homeless.

In the UK (where a requirement for voter ID has been proposed), research shows that up to 3.5 million citizens (7.5% of the electorate do not have a suitable photo ID)[0].

That's a lot of people to disenfranchise.

There's going to be a scheme where people can get a free photo ID from the local government for voting purposes, but it seems questionable whether people will choose to get that when so many don't get something like a driving licence or passport, which you seem to think is essential for people to function in society.

[0] - https://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/latest-news-and-research...

> 3.5 million citizens (7.5% of the electorate.....That's a lot of people to disenfranchise.

[US Federal Government has entered the chat]

That's nothing, we disenfranchised 80 million with our vaccine mandate.

No, they think the poor are less likely to be able to get ID. You probably also think that, because it is obviously true. You don't need to transform it into a reverse-wokeness argument.

Not American or OP, in my country it is lot more likely the poor to have such IDs as without IDs they are not eligible for a lot of social benefits so that correlation is not necessarily obvious to many.