Justice Department letter to Texas objecting to voter ID law

[AnotherKD]

Originally Posted by KSig RC

It's still effectively a poll tax - it's not so much that the amount itself is overly burdensome, but it does create awkward precedent.

Unrelated to your point, but more for the folks upstream ... comparing voting to driving or buying liquor is somewhere between silly and insane.

Okay, then what about comparing it to the rule now where people must show ID to take the SAT or ACT (which, incidentally, I thought was already a requirement). It is to cut down on fraud and to make the results more reliable. Which should be the reasons for requiring ID to vote.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by AnotherKD

Okay, then what about comparing it to the rule now where people must show ID to take the SAT or ACT (which, incidentally, I thought was already a requirement).

But the government doesn't administer the SAT or the ACT, so it's not the government requiring something in order to exercise a fundamental right.

I still say that those who advocate for photo IDs bear the burden of (1) showing that voter fraud is currently a real problem, and (2) that photo IDs will fight that problem.

[SWTXBelle]

I would argue that the salient point is if it is a reasonable (Constitutional?) requirement to insure the validity of the vote - whether or not known fraud is a perceived problem. The problem with fraud is that if it is successful you will never know.

If the issue is cost/convenience of getting id then let's address THAT - it should not be cost prohibitive for the poor to be able to procure an id, which would have the added benefit of enabling them to more fully participate in society.

If the issue is the problems facing the elderly in need of id, perhaps they can be grandfathered in.

FYI - TX Id for those under 60 is $16 for 6 years; over 60 is $6 with an indefinite (in other words, no) expiration date. Fee waived for disabled veterans.