I think, I know why republicans are obsessed with voter-ID, voter-registration...

[DetlefK]

The US has no national ID, no signifier that proves once and for all that you are eligible to vote, unlike all other major democracies in the world. Instead the US makes you jump through hoops and comply with an ever-changing patchwork of regulations that change from state to state.

Think about this:
The US has a system that is fast to determine, once and for all, who gets not to vote.
The US has no system that determines, once and for all, who gets to vote.

The default-mode is that a citizen is not allowed to vote. In the US, voting is not a right. It's a privilege.

[quaker bill]

1. Let us be honest

It is because some voters are more brown than others.

[cantbeserious]

4. + 1,000

eom

[merrily]

2. Originally, about 6% of the population was entitled to vote

White male landowners who could afford to pay a poll tax.

At that, they only could vote only for Congressional Reps. State legislatures voted for Senators and members of the electoral college voted for President. Who was entitled to vote for state and local offices was left to the states. And state offices were originally held by designees of the King.

Much as we want to believe that we were established as a democracy, it is simply not so.

[treestar]

3. At this point, unless a state won't comply with the REAL ID act

the driver's license is a de facto national ID. If you don't drive, you can still get one that is an ID in most states.

People object to that because it's a sign of a dictatorship.

So it's pretty complicated.