December 31, 2007

Voter Photo ID Unfair?

Nathan More comments on the suggestion of requiring Tennessee voters to have a photo-ID voter registration card in order to be allowed to vote:

The argument advanced by some here in Tennessee is that such a vote will "depress turnout". And they're right - it will depress turnout of those who shouldn't be voting in the first place. If the argument is simply that presently reliable Democrat voting blocks aren't motivated enough to go get a voter identification card once every five years, paid for by the government, I extend my deepest sympathies to Democrat politicians everywhere who are going to have to find new, more dynamic groups to pander to. That is a disingenuous argument.

Another argument against the law is that it is unfair to the homeless, and is a new version of the "poll tax". Too bad there is no cost to the card, thus no tax, and no argument. Both the Indiana and Georgia law contain indigency provisions for the identification card, simply requiring that one be able to prove who they are. The further argument that obtaining a birth certificate, which is valid over one's entire lifetime, to prove one's identity is too onerous, seems especially overboard to me.