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by d1sxeyes4 hours ago |
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upvoteby 0cf8612b2e1e4 hours ago|
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Some districts have limited DMV hours in advance of voting days.

Coincidental how these might be Democratic leaning areas in Republican states.

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upvoteby jeffbee3 hours ago|
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I don't even know why this is downvoted. Standard technique in Texas. Harris County does not have 40 DPS offices for its 5 million people. The current backlog to get a DPS drivers license appointment in Harris County is 45 days. The next available appointment in Kerrville is tomorrow. That is inequitable.

But anyway, none of that is the real core issue with the idea of voter ID. The real issue is that there are many living Americans who were born in jurisdictions that steadfastly refused to issue birth certificates to Black people.

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upvoteby superxpro123 hours ago|
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This doesn't have to be binary... there can be multiple sources of disenfranchisement. They all add up.
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upvoteby trelane1 hours ago|
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Seems to me that a small portion of the funds being used to fight voter ID could help such citizens get IDs.

Given how often ID is required outside of voting, it seems to me like this would be a big win for people, if getting an ID is so hard for some.

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upvoteby macintux9 minutes ago|
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There are such efforts. It’s still a bandaid on the systemic problems.
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upvoteby jabedude3 hours ago|
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Neither is voting free, what's the argument here?
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upvoteby d1sxeyes32 minutes ago|
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A (small) majority of states require employers to grant time off to vote and a (large) minority require that time to be paid. Although as others have noted, it is often the case that the window for voting exceeds a single shift (dependent on your area of work).

https://www.adp.com/spark/articles/2024/10/time-off-to-vote-...

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upvoteby connicpu2 hours ago|
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In Washington voting is free. My ballot comes in the mail, I fill it out, I drop it in the outgoing mail. It's pre-stamped. I don't mind full citizenship verification at the time of registration, as that can be done months before it's actually time to vote.
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upvoteby beej712 hours ago|
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> Neither is voting free

It's pretty free. You sit down at your table, fill out your ballot, and drop it in the mailbox. You don't even need a stamp. (In some jurisdictions.)

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upvoteby kelseyfrog2 hours ago|
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This like saying that because ISPs charge for access, HN could have a subscription fee. The argument is that quantity matters.
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upvoteby SoftTalker3 hours ago|
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That's life. Figure it out. It's really an insult to a group of people to imply that they aren't capable of being a functioning adult in society.
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upvoteby superxpro123 hours ago|
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"Voting is only from 9-4" and you have a real job. Let's not pretend this wouldn't immediately be taken advantage of in certain places where disenfranchisement is real.
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upvoteby SoftTalker2 hours ago|
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Get an absentee ballot then. And I've never seen such limited hours in my lifetime. Usually it's 6am-6pm on election day. And many places now have early voting, you have 20-30 days to find a time to go vote.
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upvoteby tartuffe782 hours ago|
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The federal government is trying to severely limit absentee voting as well.
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upvoteby mulmen2 hours ago|
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Absentee ballots are available at the county seat from 2:00pm to 3:15pm on the second Tuesday the month except in September and October if the county has less than 5 clerks available. Clerk allocations are based on property tax (pay for what you use). Congratulations poor and minority counties now can’t access absentee ballots.

This sounds made up but limiting access to “free” services is not unheard of. This topic has been litigated to death. There are no new arguments. If you are in favor of voter ID laws you are simply ignorant.

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upvoteby jeffbee2 hours ago|
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[flagged]
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upvoteby archagon2 hours ago|
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Funny, because I have the exact same thing to say to the legislators. Oh, it's too hard to get everyone voter ID? Too expensive? That's life; figure it out before passing your pointless security theater law[1]. Otherwise, we will do everything in our power to stop it.

[1] (Though mass disenfranchisement is almost certainly the actual purpose of the law, not security.)

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upvoteby 2 hours ago|
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upvoteby wat100002 hours ago|
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Making things more difficult means fewer people will do it. It's foolish to insist that it's all or nothing. It's not about being capable, it's about marginal effects in large groups of people.
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upvoteby sejje2 hours ago|
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That's not the same as "disenfranchised" or "taking voters off the rolls," as it gets talked about (see both of the sibling comments to yours).

If they can't put up some minimal effort, what was their vote worth? I don't think the laziest folks probably vote in good policy.

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upvoteby wat100002 hours ago|
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Crazy people with extreme views vote in every single election. Sensible moderates with actual lives may decide that it's not worth the effort.

I'm not worried about lazy people voting. I'm worried about crazy people voting, and not having enough votes from sensible people to drown them out.

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