> For some reason progressives are against voter ID laws. I've said that before and will say it again: Most of EU requires ID to vote. I will support Republicans that want to do this. It is sad to bring EU in the picture to convince progressives but it is a magic word that somehow brings logic and reason. We shouldn't have to say "They do it in EU, so it must be good".

There are several key differences between the US and the EU.

The most notable difference is that there is no national ID card like there is in Europe. This means that what qualifies as a valid ID is up to the states, and they can (and do!) play games with what is valid. For most people, the de facto ID standard is a driver's license, but if you physically can't meet the standards for one, well... maybe you can get a state-issued photo ID. Just show up to your county courthouse between the hours of 11 and 1 on any third Thursday of a month and you can get one [1]. That's easy, right?

Oh, and it'll cost you $50 (actual costs vary from state to state). And requiring voters to spend $50 to get an ID that lets them vote is totally not going to be in violation of the 24th Amendment (that bans poll taxes).

The second aspect that's rather key is the US has a sordid history of using gimmicks to prevent the wrong sort of people from voting. It's not unreasonable to suggest that voter ID laws are intended to be a more modern variant of historical tricks like literacy tests--and a few of them have been struck down because the legislators passing them have admitted that they were intended to prevent people from voting.

A final thing I'll bring up is this: to get my photo ID, I basically need to show up to the appropriate state office with something like a birth certificate and something that has my current address. Why is it that showing up to vote with this same information is somehow insufficiently secure to allow me to vote?

[1] This example is admittedly hyperbole, but there are some states where getting these sorts of cards are rather closer to this difficulty than I'm comfortable with. Especially in areas that were historically barred from voting because they're mostly the wrong sort of the people.