If an ID card costs even one penny - then requiring it IS a poll tax

[Hugabear]

I don't care how widespread ID cards are, how many places require ID, or how cheap it may be to get one.

If it costs even one cent to get an identification card, and ID is required, then it is definitely a poll tax.

End of story.

[cthulu2016]

1. Absolutely correct.

A hypothetical adult citizen who has never had a dollar in her life must still be able to vote.

[yawnmaster]

2. ID cards should be free. ( zero pennies) eom

[tavalon]

9. Even the cost to go to ID creating place is a poll tax.

This is a Repig abomination.

[yawnmaster]

11. Then the id creating place may well be the same as the polling place...

unless the cost of going to the polling place is a poll tax.

I don't completely agree that traveling to get the ID is a poll tax, as long as the distance is very reasonable.

[MH1]

12. There are not nearly as many places to get ID as there are polling places.

In PA, polling places typically have 1000 to 1600 voters. There is a law - Philly or PA, I'm not 100% certain, but I think it's a state law - that there can only be so many registered voters per polling place and that the polling place must be within the precinct, or as close as possible if a suitable building is unavailable in the precinct. So there are a vast number of polling places, and most if not all are within walking distance for voters in the city, and nearly walking distance for many in the suburbs. How many DMV offices are there? I think some counties don't even have their own DMV.

It would be great to provide an id the first time a voter showed up at a polling place. But you would have to STAFF all those polling places to carry out that activity. Be able to take photos, make the id's, do any 'certification' of identity needed - without certification, what would be the point?

This is costing PA a lot of money already. To "fix" a so-called "problem" of which the voter id advocates cannot even find a single case. Just try to comprehend the cost of staffing polling places to do this. And THAT is the ONLY solution that works without being a poll tax. Unless you reimburse the voter for not just the cost of going to get the id, but the lost wages of taking time off work to do it.

Voter ID is one of those things that sounds nice in theory (to some people) but is a bullshit waste of time and money when you look at it more closely. Except to people who benefit by preventing certain other groups of people from voting, if they can get away with the bullshit.

[H2O Man]

3. Recommended!

Outstanding point -- and one that should be the foundation of legal challenges to the dangerous trend towards restricting voting rights.

[aquart]

4. And if it's free and you have to travel to get it or the documents it requires?

It is still a fucking poll tax!

[Gormy Cuss]

5. Exactly right. There's a cost to the time it takes to jump through the hoops to get one.

And there seems to be little consideration of the added costs to cities and states to process all of these voter ID requests. The more onerous the requirements for the ID, the more time it will take public employees to process the requests.

[MH1]

13. Or if you have to take unpaid time off from work to do it. nt

[Orrex]

6. It's only a tax if it's Obama's program and it provides access to healthcare.

If it's a GOP idea, then it's a courageous stand against voter fraud and our last best hope of Protecting Our Democracy or something.

[tavalon]

10. protecting Our Republicans.

They can't win fair and square.

[citizen blues]

7. Excellent point and right on!!!

[tavalon]

8. Thank you!

I was wondering how they were even considering this for Washington state since we have mail in ballots only (with free places to drop your ballot.