The issue is the lack of voter ID

which has historically been used to discriminate again black voters. that's why there's pushback against it even tho it may be a valid idea. in states that do have voter id, they generally make it hard to impossible to get one for marginalized people who may not have the necessary documents yet could prove they are a citizen and have a legitimate address.

To elaborate, around 21 million eligible voters in the US do not have an ID that would be acceptable under current and proposed voter ID laws.

In some states the necessary ID is free, but "free" just means that there is no fee for the ID or to apply for it. It does not mean that getting copies of the necessary documents that must be submitted with the application are free. Those can sometimes run to over $100.

Here's a collection of links I've saved over the years on this:

https://www.projectvote.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/AMERI...

https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2012/jul/11/eric-holde...

https://www.aclu.org/documents/oppose-voter-id-legislation-f...

https://www.usccr.gov/files/pubs/2018/Minority_Voting_Access...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/getting-a...

https://www.vox.com/xpress/2014/11/4/7157037/us-voter-id-req...

https://www.npr.org/2018/09/07/644648955/for-older-voters-ge...

https://rewirenewsgroup.com/2014/10/16/well-actually-pretty-...

https://www.theregreview.org/2019/01/08/shapiro-moran-burden...

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/10/heres-h...

https://scholars.org/contribution/high-cost-free-photo-voter...

https://now.tufts.edu/2018/01/23/proving-voter-id-laws-discr...

https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/debu...

How do they live without ID? You need ID to open a bank account, cash checks, collect benefits, get a job...

6% of Americans don't have bank accounts. That rises to 23% of people who make less than $25k/year. See [1].

For cashing checks without an ID one way you could do it is via a third-party endorsement. Write on the back "Pay to the order of <trusted friend who does have ID>" and that trusted friend cashes it for for them and gives them the money.

My guess for getting a job is that (1) many of those without ID don't have jobs (e.g., members of a single income household who are not the income earner) or (2) have jobs that pay in cash and aren't on the record.

There might also be people who had ID but no longer do. I'm old enough that next year I start on Medicare, and next year or the year after I'll start collecting Social Security. Suppose in a few years I'm no longer able to drive and let my driver's license expire.

It's actually been a long time since I needed to show anyone my driver's license.

I do all my banking online. I do all my check cashing online (my bank has an excellent "deposit check by taking a photo" in their app). I could also deposit checks at the ATM. I expect I'll do all my interaction with the Social Security system and the Medicare system online. I expect to get a Medicare Advantage plan with Kaiser (my current health provider), which if they handle people on their Medicare Advantage plans the same way they handle people on their non-Medicare plans just requires that I have my Kaiser card. (Actually, they don't seem to actually even require the card--just that the patient knows their account number).

[1] https://www.cnbc.com/2024/08/02/23percent-of-low-income-amer...

Most countries require it.

It's as American as customary units

The article lists the reasons it takes long to count. Which do you think have anything to do with voter ID.