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Originally Posted by SWTXBelle
I hadn't thought of the alcohol or tobacco purchasing point before, so thank you, MC. To the best of my knowledge, neither alcohol nor tobacco purchases are considered to be unattainable dreams of the lower socio-economic classes.
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I'm not sure I follow -- what do "unattainable dreams of the lower socio-economic classes" have to do with the fundamental right to vote?
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In fact, I believe that those purchases often skew higher amongst those groups. So either 1.) ids can be procured or 2.) there is an illegal trade which needs to be clamped down upon soon.
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Well, since that trade has been going on forever, don't expect to see too much effort invested in clamping down on it. Enforcement will likely remain primarily at the user end.
But this argument pretty much side-steps the basic question: Will a photo ID requirement solve or significantly ameliorate this supposedly big problem of voter fraud?
Here's another way to approach the question: By my count, 13 states require a photo ID of some sort to vote. (This includes South Carolina, which currently is precluded by the Voting Rights Act from enforcing its photo ID law.) Again by my count, 16 states have
no id requirement, except for first time voters. Is there any evidence that voter fraud is more prevalent or more of a problem in the states that require no ID?