Georgia’s Voter ID Law was originally struck down because there was a fee associated with the ID. The legislature went back and made the ID free, and the same judge that struck down the law originally, now has ruled it Constitutional.

Georgia Voter Identification Requirements

There has to be a balance struck between the right to vote, and making sure that elections are fair and the people’s choices are represented without fraud or other illegal actions.

Thusly, you need ID just to walk on a public street! Is it so ridiculous to demand ID to vote? In my State (Montana) my fiancee, who is ineligible for a driver’s license, gets a simple State-issued ID. Cost for 8 years: $8.

To call that a “poll tax” is stretching the definition. She uses it to get on a plane to visit her parents in Alaska; to buy alcohol; whatever one may need a picture ID for. That is WHAT one carries a picture ID for, and why one is issued in lieu of a driver’s license.

Hick or not, small precincts or not, I still damn well want to know that those who vote at MY station are who they claim to be. But I admit, I erred before: we accept power/phone bills or even vehicle registrations as proof of ID. Just need name and address to match.

Is that too much to ask?

No doubt, this outrage will be mis-applied to voter ID. Or the poooor will be adversely affected, like they can’t get anywhere else for stuff they need or want.

All this nonsense circumvents the obvious that voting is a privilege, not a right. Just ask any con. And no where does the federal constitution demand that presidential elections be held.

But, government issued voter ID can boil down very simply to those who pay federal, state or local taxes will be mailed an official voter ID, and those who do not pay, won’t.

Problem solved. Or not.

The genuine problem here is that of lower socio-economic groups having unequal access to photo ID.

How so? The costs (~$10) are so trivial that I have great difficulty believing anybody who says they can’t afford it, let alone that they in fact don’t have one. Consider what you can’t do without one:

1) open a bank account
2) cash a check. Banks and check cashing places require ID, so how do these people cash paychecks or welfare checks?
3) enter many government buildings
4) legally drive or insure a motor vehicle
5) apply for any government benefits
6) apply for a job. who hires without knowing who their employees are?

I can only conclude that the people whining about this get paid under the table in cash, take public transport or drive illegally and without insurance, and pay no taxes. Why we should cater to a population of tax cheats and (very likely) criminals is beyond me.

You’re right that it’s a red herring. There’s never been any finding of fraud that could be prevented by IDing voters at the polling place. The whole measure is designed to scare lower income voters away from the polls.

I think this stretches the idea of “poll tax” to absurd lengths. As in, “unless the government is prepared to provide provide free transportation, replacement wages and breakfast for polling day…”

But who are we kidding here? The REAL issue is the demand that “communities that skew Democratic,” as one judge put it, get the representatives considered appropriate for them, preferably a very liberal Democrat of color. Why not just cut to the chase and file a direct action against the Congress asking for just that? We could have a panel of federal judges in D.C. appoint these individuals to Congressional seats using a list prepared by the NAACP, ACLU, etc., thereby skipping the onerous costs of an election, post-electoral challenges, etc.

It’s no crazier than the claimed violation of equal protection the Supreme Court bought in Bush v. Gore.

I have been looking at the UK’s struggle with the idea of a National ID and hoping we could avoid it, but not believing we can. In the last 3 or 4 months, the UK government has “lost” duplicates of what should be (and in law is) confidential data of nearly one-half (some reports indicate more) the populace in some six or more incidents. It wasn’t even encrypted!

Is there an issue of standing?

I doubt requiring ID would decrease fraud. Fake IDs are easily made and common, and busy volunteer poll workers don’t have the time or expertise to spot them.