[SWTXBelle]

Legally, those who sell alcohol and tobacco can be held liable for selling to those who are underage. So id may not be "required" by a salesperson, but they are playing the odds if they don't.

Originally Posted by MysticCat

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?

I was referring to responses to my earlier posts about other things for which id is required, responses which pointed to my examples (buying cold medicine, boarding a plane, opening a bank account) as being things which were, to summarize, "unattainable dreams" for some.

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?
Part of the problem is the inability to measure voter fraud. We hear about it only when it is discovered, but under the current system even finding it can be problematic. Unless there is a complaint, there will be no investigation. Unless it is obvious, who is going to invest the time and money into investigating it? Is the potential for voter fraud there? If so, how do we prevent it? So to me the basic question is - Given that in order to vote we have some basic requirements (age, residency, citizenship, criminal status), is requiring id as a means of establishing that requirements are met too much to ask? Obviously, many think it is. Time and the courts will tell.

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?
Again, who is going to study this? How will it be studied? It will require a great deal of manpower to go through voter rolls and establish whether or not those who voted were in fact eligible. And those with a dog in this fight would be liable to interpret data to their benefit, so a neutral group would be necessary. But yes, I would like to see comparative data between the two groups