Edit: this was never supposed to come across as support for voter ID.
So I saw this article today, and was thinking about how hilarious it would be if Dems passed some sort of voter ID law just because it would make reddit libs cry. But I don't want people to be hurt over it either. Also, as much as we like to dunk on libs, "owning" them through screwing people over is never cool.
I understand that one of the main reasons people are against it is that it's essentially a poll tax as it stands now, and I agree with that. Making IDs free would invalidate that argument. The next argument I hear is that people who live far away from DMV or Secretary of State offices would have trouble getting there to get their picture taken. I am one of those people who live far away from government offices and I manage to get my ass there once every three years.. I don't see how this is such a problem. But I also recognize that attitude is similar to some sort of bootstrapping chud bullshit.
I also see arguments that boil down to "all POC are too dumb and poor to be able to go to the DMV and get the licenses" and that's obviously awful, and is basically the libs version of the subtle racism of lower expectations. You never see this said about white people. To them, all white people who live in rural areas are MAGA knuckle draggers who don't deserve the time of day. I really feel like libs only care because it's something that is popular on the right, and they want to stick it to them. They also think that voting is the most precious and sacred institution ever devised by man, so that's part of it. Point being, I'm sure every lib that goes to vote, hands over their license when asked. It's another example of libs using POC for political gain and then not caring about any of their real problems.
I think if the government wants to hand out free ID cards and all it requires is you going to an office to get your picture taken three times a decade, I don't see a problem, and I'll bet it would actually help people out with other obstacles that require ID. Like, how do libs think these people function in other areas of life? You need an ID to buy several items, sign up for social programs, drive, enroll in school, sign up for utilities, rent/buy a house...
Please tell me if this is chuddy and set me straight if that's the case.
Yeah, so give the ID away and change the picture requirement to every five years or something. You can't tell me that people are stuck in their house for 5 years and never had a moment to get to an office.
yeah, some people are. people who are disabled, can't afford child care, work 2 jobs, don't have a car. that actually is the case and ngl you sound kinda racist blaming poor black voters for their own disenfranchisement because you can do it fine
I'm racist because I think that three years is plenty of time to figure out a ride to an office to get your picture taken?
How is it not racist to project helplessness onto POC?
yes, you're totally overlooking the structural racism that you do not face and saying it is their fault for not doing this 'easy' thing to you. that is racist. this barrier literally exists to stop poc voters, you already know that, and yet you're still saying why can't they just overcome that
Could you explain the barrier? I just don't see how having three years to run an errand is that big of an ask
because there are ways that poc voters are not given those opportunities. systemic impoverishment, which puts poc people who are poor worse off than white people who are poor, is one very obvious thing that leads to other factors like the lack of a car, the need to work longer hours, a lack of child care. second of all is how this disenfranchisement leads to this barrier being seen as one to just not bother with many times as what's even the point. redlining means that typically black American have been forced into their own areas that very often do not have access to the same public facilities are more white areas.
America is a racialised society that exists to put poc down, to not let them have a say, to not let them have a chance to get far in life, and you have to see how that has secondary impacts like it actually being hard to register to vote for legal poc Americans. this doesn't even touch on the whole ass thing of illegal immigration and how illegal residents should still have a say in a democracy they live in, or migrant labour where many Mexican citizens work on farms for months in the US and ought to have a say on US affairs that impact their lives that they don't have a change to vote on, but that's a secondary issue.
The part about how Mexican immigrants who aren't "legal" yet being able to have a say in the democracy is a really good point. I don't believe in borders, and if I had my way, you wouldn't need an ID to vote or sign up for government assistance. We should just be helping people no strings attached.
That being said, it's not the way thing are right now, and I don't see a path to making that happen. There are always going to be people at the top with their boot on our neck. That's not a reason to stop fighting and taking whatever we can get
I'll put it like this. Imagine this person does exist; do they have the same right to vote as everyone else? A person sleeping on the street has the same control over the government as the richest man in the country, that's how its supposed to work right?
Yes, but there's always going to be someone falling through the cracks. There is no possible way to guarantee everyone gets a ballot without massive societal overhaul. That won't happen without revolution or small incrementalism until we all burn alive.
What's the solution? If we (rightfully) don't require ID for voting, they still have to get to the polls (which I've been assured is impossible and don't even suggest it) for some people or they have to have access to a mail box for a mail in ballot, which excludes homeless and a bunch of people in other situations..
Solution? Just don't make it more difficult in the interim elections are only so important anyways