I hear you, Rebekah, and voter suppression in our country is indeeed a sad story. I honestly don't see, though, how a person can operate in today's society without having some sort of photo ID. I can't cash a check (remember those) or pick up a prescription without having to present my photo ID, a FL driving license. Lots of stores in FL won't sell you a beer without photo ID. And, of course, you can't get a photo ID without a birth certificate. Vivious circle. What concerns me most about voter supression is suppression of the vote itself by the laws now in effect in many southern states empowering their state legislatures to overturn the vote if they don't like the results their secretaries of state gave to them. I can see that happening in the midterms. Scary.
The only medicines I've ever been asked to show an ID for at the pharmacy are controlled substances (e.g. Adderall, fentanyl).
And I think people online are disconnected to the parts of this country that can't afford medicines, can't afford travel, can't afford a car. They don't need licenses. A lot of people live from one cash payment to the next.
Interesting that you said some people live from one cash payment to another. The saying normally is paycheck to paycheck. Had you said paycheck I would have immediately asked you how on earth do they cash them without a photo ID, which you anticipated and wisely used cash payment instead. While I'm curious as to where these cash payments come from, it's a moot point with me. I agree with your basic point that voter ID is just another roadblock being thrown up by the GOP to make it harder for certain segments of our society to vote. But I do want to make the point that our stance on this issue could be hurting us. Several years ago I read about the Democrats vainly trying to gather support for a voting rights bill. They were close but just couldn't scrape up enough votes. Someone asked the then Senator Romney about the bill, and he claimed he would have supported it had it required photo ID's before voting.. He famously asked, "I'm a racist because I want someone to prove who they are before they vote?" If our answer is "offline" people doin't have access to photo ID, what do you think the 15% of independent voters we're trying to attract to our cause are going to say? Most of them are online capable and have photo ID's and have trouble understanding and sympathizing with offline people. Wouldn't it be smarter for us to try to figure out ways to get offline people photo ID's rather than saying they're just not capable of getting them? Can't we campaign smart for a change?
Like the stupid Real ID requirement. You need every document in one name (or produce your name change paperwork after divorce). Eminently harder on females.
I hear you, Rebekah, and voter suppression in our country is indeeed a sad story. I honestly don't see, though, how a person can operate in today's society without having some sort of photo ID. I can't cash a check (remember those) or pick up a prescription without having to present my photo ID, a FL driving license. Lots of stores in FL won't sell you a beer without photo ID. And, of course, you can't get a photo ID without a birth certificate. Vivious circle. What concerns me most about voter supression is suppression of the vote itself by the laws now in effect in many southern states empowering their state legislatures to overturn the vote if they don't like the results their secretaries of state gave to them. I can see that happening in the midterms. Scary.
The only medicines I've ever been asked to show an ID for at the pharmacy are controlled substances (e.g. Adderall, fentanyl).
And I think people online are disconnected to the parts of this country that can't afford medicines, can't afford travel, can't afford a car. They don't need licenses. A lot of people live from one cash payment to the next.
Interesting that you said some people live from one cash payment to another. The saying normally is paycheck to paycheck. Had you said paycheck I would have immediately asked you how on earth do they cash them without a photo ID, which you anticipated and wisely used cash payment instead. While I'm curious as to where these cash payments come from, it's a moot point with me. I agree with your basic point that voter ID is just another roadblock being thrown up by the GOP to make it harder for certain segments of our society to vote. But I do want to make the point that our stance on this issue could be hurting us. Several years ago I read about the Democrats vainly trying to gather support for a voting rights bill. They were close but just couldn't scrape up enough votes. Someone asked the then Senator Romney about the bill, and he claimed he would have supported it had it required photo ID's before voting.. He famously asked, "I'm a racist because I want someone to prove who they are before they vote?" If our answer is "offline" people doin't have access to photo ID, what do you think the 15% of independent voters we're trying to attract to our cause are going to say? Most of them are online capable and have photo ID's and have trouble understanding and sympathizing with offline people. Wouldn't it be smarter for us to try to figure out ways to get offline people photo ID's rather than saying they're just not capable of getting them? Can't we campaign smart for a change?
Like the stupid Real ID requirement. You need every document in one name (or produce your name change paperwork after divorce). Eminently harder on females.