What really impresses me about this is that some politicians think that American women are too dumb to figure this out. They also think that poor people are too dumb to figure this out.
Hint: They are not dumb. |
Remember, REAL ID is NOT a proof of citizenship. That's going to cause a LOT of confusion. This says military id is NOT a proof of citizenship. It can be issued to non citizens. https://jp.usembassy.gov/services/proof-of-u-s-citizenship/
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There are only TWO documents that prove your citizenship.
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/how-apply/citizenship-evidence.html
REAL ID is not evidence of citizenship and cannot be used, by itself, to vote under the SAVE act. MILTARY ID is not evidence of citizenship either. You will need to link these IDs with your birth certificate, and hope that your state will accept that you are one and the same as the person on your birth certificate. If you do not have a passport. So a passport is probably the safest way to prove you are a citizen. So passports should be free to all citizens. |
Not dumb - but a lot of women probably think that their Real ID is enough to prove citizenship. Does the SAVE act explicitly state that states need to let women register to vote if they have a marriage certificate that explains why their last name at birth was different from their last name on their ID? Because I am hearing that the amendment to include marriage certificates as part of the proof didn't pass? Sadly, the Act needs to EXPLICITLY STATE that married women who changed their name can provide their marriage license to document why their ID doesn't match their birth certificate (if they do not have a passport. I don't understand why you aren't smart enough to see that this is necessary. You can NOT count on states and counties to use common sense here. If they have the ability to disenfranchise women, they will use it. |
No tangible good produced in a factory is "free". Taxpayers should cover the cost of putting passports in the hands of all Americans. Once all Americans have no excuse not to have documentation to prove citizenship, more restrictive voter ID laws may make sense. Until then, making it more difficult for people to vote with more restrictive voter ID laws is sleazy political move. |
Actually many poor people are too poor to figure this out. Some of my MAGA relatives really are too dumb; can't remember where they got married so don't know where to request their marriage certificates. I had to help them and they still couldn't manage it when I figured out where and when they got married. I think you overestimate the current majority of Republican voters. |
That's fine - no need to be pedantic.
"No fee" passport works fine for me instead of "free". And offices around the country need to be staffed at sufficient levels (which is not free - and should be subsidized by the federal government (i.e. the taxpayers) until 99% of the population has acceptable citizen ID for voting purposes. |
It's not even that they need to be dumb. I GUARANTEE you that 80% of the population that went to the trouble of getting "REAL ID" think that that is sufficient to meet the requirements of the SAVE act in order to vote. |
I'll take that a step further considering all the claims of voter fraud in 2020 and 2024. We should have a door to door service that puts acceptable citizen IDs in the hands of the poor and elderly folks that may otherwise not have the means to obtain an ID at a local office. Whatever it takes to shut up the election denying idiots. |
What paperwork? I took my original birth certificate and al utility bill addressed to me at my home address when I renewed my driver's license. Zero problem. |
So you had: - an unexpired driver's license (shows your identity, first proof of residence) - original birth certificate (certified, embossed, etc) shows citizenship - utility bill (shows residence - second proof of residence) And the name on your birth certificate matched the name on your Driver's licence matched the name on your utility bill, right? So for YOU it was easy peasy. Now try it, but lacking some of those documents. |
I didn't say I didn't need proof but there was no paperwork for me to fill out. I handed clerk my DL and BC and utility bill. Passed eye test and got my renewed DL. |
E.g. some towns are so small, they don't use mailboxes with street addresses. Everyone has to get their mail at a PO box and po boxes aren't acceptable forms of proof of residence.
Here's another story I found online to show the difficulties people can have: "I moved to MT from TN and could not get a MT realID even though I had a TN realID. I got married here. I was divorced in TN. They would not accept my divorce decree from TN, my marriage certificate and all required documentation which I provided. All was officially stamped. I had to pay for a legal name change and publish in paper x 4 weeks $400 total) The judge in Missoula said the DMV doesn’t understand the law, approved my name change and refunded all of my court fees. He wrote that on the court order, that the DMV doesn’t understand not understand the law. I went back to the DMV and they still would not give me a real ID so I got a MT drivers license. I just said screw it and I got a passport within eight weeks so my advice is get a passport and to hell with the Montana DMV because they are a bunch of bozos." |
And another:
"The California DMV denied me a Real ID today because I am not a homeowner. Sounds weird, right? Let me explain. To get a Real ID you have to prove where you live. Fair enough. I brought my rental lease, which was listed as a valid document. Although it stated my name and physical address, that wasn't good enough. I also brought my contract with the United States Postal Service, which has my physical address on file, stating my mailbox number and address. Even though the name exactly matched my ID on both the post office contract and the rental agreement, this still wasn't good enough. Because I live in an area considered "rural" by the post office, I cannot have mail delivered directly to my home. Instead, I must use the post office. The DMV said that federal law requires people to have documentation verifying BOTH their physical address AND post office box on ONE document. The only documents that satisfy this requirement are utility bills. Many tenants, like me, don't pay utility bills directly. Only my landlord gets utility bills. So I was denied a Real ID because I live in a rural area and am not a homeowner. As an American citizen, I am quite concerned about this. I have an apartment, which means I'm doing better than a lot of people. Should housing status be used to determine whether you can get an ID? Is that Constitutional? Should it be?" |
Yes, there will be a million stories like the ones above.
I don't get any bills in my name. Luckily I do get mailed bank information so I was able to use that to get my Enhanced ID. |