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Comment by aredox | Hacker News Reader

As a French I used to think too, "what's the big deal", "it has never been an issue here". But that's because we are used to it and getting an ID is easy and almost automatic. Whereas in a country like the US, it means missing several days of work, driving potentially hundreds of kilometers, and their geographic segregation means it's easy to make getting an ID harder for black people than for whites.

As a European I also find insane elections are held on workdays (in France it is always on Sundays), that you may have to wait in line for hours to vote, that voting stations may be hours from where you live, etc.

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> As a European I also find insane elections are held on workdays

That's not really an issue, if you have enough polling stations. Denmark typically have elections on a Tuesday (but can technically be any day of the week). We have 80%+ turnout, one of the highest in the world, for countries without mandatory voting. The day of the week doesn't matter, IF you ensure that it sufficiently easy for people to vote.

If you actively try to make it inconvenient/impossible for people to vote, then it doesn't matter if it's on a Sunday. My take is that part of the US political system need as few voters as possible to turn up in order to have a chance of winning, so they will make it as complicated and inconvenient as they need it to be.

In a country where "some" people work two or three jobs to make ends meet, Sundays vs. workdays does matter.

I do enjoy the idea of making election days days off, days to celebrate. But yes, it usually takes me about five minutes to vote in the Netherlands, so I don't really need the day off.

You need an ID to do basic tasks in USA as well, everyone with a normal life has them.

It's getting complicated for married women. Every name change since birth has to be documented to get a Real ID.

A google search tells me that around half of people in the USA do not hold a passport. Domestically most people rely on drivers licence as their ID.

> Domestically most people rely on drivers licence as their ID

So show your drivers license at the voting booth? Why is that unacceptable?

Any form of ID held by the average voter will be unacceptable to the GOP, because it won't limit voting access from the people they don't want voting.

That doesn't explain why democrat run states like California can't have a sensible voter ID law that accepts such identifications?

If they just said "accept more IDs" instead of "stop voter ID requirements" people wouldn't think its a problem, but that isn't what democrats are saying.

What problem are you trying to solve here? Republicans say the problem is people voting who are ineligible, Democrats accuse them of trying to make it harder for democratic voters to vote.

> What problem are you trying to solve here

People using others papers to vote, that is much harder if you must display a photo ID together with the papers you received that says you are allowed to vote.

Voting without an ID is like opening a bank account without an ID, its just dumb. Oh wait, I heard you had that as well in USA, which is why you have issues with identity theft...

> People using others papers to vote

Except every analysis has shown people are not doing this. Oddly, the few times there have been real cases, it's often GOP voting more than once or for their dead spouse or some such.

Think of it, if someone is truly not eligible to vote, why expose themselves to additional scrutiny for a single likely inconsequential vote?

Where fraud could happen is at scale, and with DOGE getting access to all systems and dismantling the agencies that guard against voting fraud, I feel that once again we're seeing that every accusation is an admission.

What analysis has shown that people are not doing this? All I have seen is that there aren't a significant number of convictions, but that doesn't really hold wait if you aren't actually trying to catch/prevent people from doing it. If it never happened, there wouldn't be a standard well known practice of casting a provisional ballot if you have already "voted".

I think the 2020 court cases, all of which Trump lost, show how little fraud occurs. There are also many articles of research at this point.

https://www.npr.org/2024/10/11/nx-s1-5147732/voter-fraud-exp...

https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/reso...

It's another GOP boogie man used to suppress the vote. Personally, I'm a fan of legally mandating everyone vote or pay a fine like in Australia.

The crux of the argument is that voting is a right, and voter ID laws create a unnecessary burden to exercising that right given the extremely low levels of individual voter fraud. Do I need my driver's license to practice free speech? Do I need my passport to be allowed to be an atheist?

It would be different if we were solving a problem with voter ID laws because then you're balancing rights with real pragmatism. You can as hypothetical about it as you want, you can go down the slippery slope fallacy if you want, but the evidence shows us we do not have an issue here.

It would also be different if IDs were easier to come by, because then the burden is not disproportionate to the problem. But neither of these things are true.

Instead we're just enacting barriers to the use of our constitutional rights, barriers to participation in society, not to solve a problem but to enact a political end.

I don't think a driver license is a valid voting id in the US, because you don't have to be a citizen to get one.

When you show your id they check if you are allowed to vote, the id is just to identify you as a person it doesn't mean everyone with an id gets to vote.

I misunderstood what my West Virginian friend wrote me then, from my understanding the new ID laws will require an ID as 'proof of citizenship' to register to vote, which a driver license isn't. Those who vote among his group are a bit mad about it.

Not everyone has drivers licenses, especially poorer folks, especially minorities. The requirements for drivers IDs are now to get RealIDs and some of these folks don't have access to things like birth certificates and other requirements of getting a RealID.

There's also additional requirements of your gender matching your ID (which eliminates many transgender folks), your name matching on all documents (good luck if you're a married woman), etc.

Folks are rightly pointing out that these laws are engineered to suppress votes, and you seem to not be willing to listen to understand why.

> Folks are rightly pointing out that these laws are engineered to suppress votes, and you seem to not be willing to listen to understand why.

Are you saying democrats will engineer these laws to suppress votes? Is that why democrats don't have voter id laws? The GOP isn't relevant here, we are just wondering why democrat states can't seem to do this.

Why argue about this, when you can read a well written blog post that discusses this matter in detail? https://www.lwv.org/blog/whats-so-bad-about-voter-id-laws

Around 21 million eligible voters in the US do not have an ID that is acceptable under their state's laws.

And exactly what obstacles they are having with getting one?

Usually it comes down to travel and the challenges of documenting eligibility which can require additional travel and expenses.

https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/chal...

> Nearly 500,000 eligible voters do not have access to a vehicle and live more than 10 miles from the nearest state ID-issuing office open more than two days a week. Many of them live in rural areas with dwindling public transportation options. > More than 10 million eligible voters live more than 10 miles from their nearest state ID-issuing office open more than two days a week.

https://www.democracydocket.com/analysis/how-id-requirements...

> According to the study, between 15 and 18 million people in the U.S. lack access to documents proving their birth or citizenship, which can be integral to acquiring other forms of IDs.

This can force circular dependencies: for example, older black or Native American people who were born when they weren’t welcome at hospitals might never have been issued a birth certificate so they first need the travel, expense, and difficulty to get one from the clerk where they were born. Poor people are far more likely not to have bank accounts, so they can’t establish their in-state residency that way, etc.

None of these are insolvable problems but the people pushing restrictions haven’t been willing to put effort into solving them and often make things worse by cutting office locations and hours in ways which disproportionately impact poor and minority voters.

A black woman jumping between three jobs to make ends meet in Alabama doesn't have a "normal" life, then. Too bad for her! And for millions like her, in a country where elections are decided by single-digit majorities.

Hard to imagine that woman could get 3 jobs without an ID.

Said Black woman needs an ID to get jobs and collect benefits like SNAP, WIC, etc.

Go to the USA and talk to black women, and ask if they have ID and if it was difficult to get.

In canada, if you don't have an id, you can get someone who knows you (and has an id) to swear an oath you are who you say you are. You can also register at the same time you are voting.

Seems to work fine. I dont think we have ever had any issues with that system.

Even more radical: in Australia you turn up at one of many polling stations with no ID whatsoever and vote.

It works because voting in Australia is compulsory. They must have your name on their list, they cross if off it and hand over the ballot paper. The checks and balances you might expect and done after the event, making it fairly secure.

Only of those checks is you did vote, and a fine follows if you didn't.

Most states where voter id is mandatory also have policies where you can get a free ID and even a free ride to a location to get your ID. They implemented that in South Carolina and after the first few years, nobody used it.

Because you have to have an ID to do almost everything else in the country so everybody already has an ID and opposition to voter ID makes no sense.

"Free" ID generally means there is no fee paid to the issuer of the ID. It can cost hundreds of dollars to get the documents that you have to present to the issuer to get that "free" ID.

Also many states have accompanied their stricter voter ID requirements with reducing the number of offices that process applications and with reducing the hours they accept applications so that even if you can get a free ride to an office you might have to take an unpaid day off from work to do so. That can be a significant loss for many poor workers.

> Because you have to have an ID to do almost everything else in the country so everybody already has an ID and opposition to voter ID makes no sense.

Yet many millions get by without an ID [1]. A lot of things you probably think cannot be done without an ID actually can.

For example how can you cash a paycheck without an ID? You need an ID to open a bank account. An answer is you can cash checks using a third party endorsement. You don't need a bank for that. You just need a trusted friend who has a bank account. I'd guess that this is what the 6% of Americans without bank accounts do (23% among those making less than $25k/year) [2].

How about getting a job without ID? First, there are a lot of people who don't need jobs (e.g., the stay at home partner in a household where one partner works and the other takes care of the house). Second there are a lot of job that pay cash and are off the record.

Also there are a fair number of people who once had ID but no longer do. It has been a very long time since I've actually needed to show my driver's license to anyone.

My banking is all online, as is my check cashing (my bank has a great "deposit by photo" function).

When I signed up for Medicare, Medigap, and a Part D plan that was all through ssa.gov and medicare.gov, with no need to show ID. That was apparently all covered by when I showed ID years ago when I set up ID.me as a login method for my ssa.gov account. It will likely be the same when I apply for Social Security benefits. Afterwards all my interaction with SS and Medicare should be through ssa.gov and medicare.gov.

If when I'm older I am no longer fit to drive and let my driver's license expire and don't remember to get a state photo ID then there is a good chance I can live the rest of my life comfortably without ever running into anything where that causes problems.

The simplest way, though, to see that it is possible to get by reasonably well without an ID is to note the large number of undocumented workers that the current administration is trying to kick out. They are able to come here, find places to live, and get paying jobs all without a state issued photo ID.

Whatever they are doing citizens can do too.

[1] https://www.voteriders.org/analysis-millions-lack-voter-id/

[2] https://www.cnbc.com/2024/08/02/23percent-of-low-income-amer...

This makes no sense. You can literally register to vote at the DMV and I know very few adult Americans, of one ethnicity or another, who don't have a driver's license.

Around 9% of US citizens 18 or older do not have a non-expired driver's license. It's even more for various minorities [1][2].

[1] https://cdce.umd.edu/sites/cdce.umd.edu/files/pubs/Voter%20I...

[2] https://papersplease.org/wp/2024/06/07/who-lacks-id-in-ameri...

I only mentioned DMVs to point out that even if you didn't set out to get a voting document, you can still check the box and get it.

In other words, it's not "people need driver's licenses to vote".

Aren't poor and dumb usually republicans tho?

The poor disproportionately votes left. Somebody who is poor and lives without a valid ID that meets voting requirements is also not necessarily dumb.

Almost 10% of eligible voters do not have access to citizenship proof at ready[0].

Trump changed voting rules to require proof of citizenship[1].

Disenfranchising 21 million voters makes sense now, no?

[0] https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/213-...

[1] https://edition.cnn.com/2025/03/25/politics/voting-proof-of-...

RealID documentation requirements are a PITA. I have a birth certificate and passport and valid DL and it still was a nuisance the accumulate the required point allocation. People without those golden documents can be very hard pressed to meet the bar.

> I know very few adult Americans

Do you think there's a chance there's a selection bias to your random sampling of the population?

It's easier if you just tell me what the bias is.

Incidentally, there are many less privileged people around me and, let me tell you, they're not going to work on foot.

Do any of them take the bus to work?

Most people are friends with people like themselves?

The selection bias of extrapolating an entire country (not to mention one as large and diverse as usa) by using your friend group should be very obvious.

Yet I wasn't talking about my friends. I live in a large city and get to see many people I don't know every single day.

Incidentally, my friends are much more likely to not need to drive at all (tech or otherwise who WFH) than the average person around me.

Do you often ask people you don't know if they have a driver's license?

> live in a large city

Ah yes, large cities. Famous for their rural populations.

You're not arguing in good faith.

Wait, are you telling me that rural populations have less proclivity to drive?

I'm just pointing out obvious ways in which you have selection bias here.

FWIW googling, allegedly 1 in 10 people in rural america do not have a license. Or at least that is the claim floating around the internet. So yes, i think figuring out if this is a real issue should include both checking on rural and urban people, along with many other demographics. It is not obvious how this situation differs between urban/rural.

Just read all the answers in this thread. Your PoV is far from reality, especially at a time where elections are decided by single digit margins.

Cities. It's cities.

You dont know many poor people, or very young people.

I work a furry convention in the Southern US, about 3% of our attendees have some ID related malady - can't get a timely appointment at DMV, missing core documentation, unable to prove residency, etc - nevermind rural voters who may live hours from a DMV.. which they can't get to without a license (assuming they can afford a car) or a ride. No bus service to speak of either.

Its a huge issue, I'd 100% support voter ID if getting an ID was free and easy, without it I'm skeptical.

I'm with you

Yeah, see the article about "RealID" yesterday. The first step is to require an ID, and the next step is to make it harder to get. For example, a married woman without a perfect paper trail of name changes? No Id.

I unironically keep an original copy of those documents in my safety deposit box because of this. In theory I should be able to go to the courthouse and get another copy but if 40 years down the line they've lost them I'm screwed.

I feel bad for the people in states that don't require court orders for this because they apparently have the worst time trying to update accounts.

> This makes no sense. You can literally register to vote at the DMV.

https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2016/feb/19/john-olive...

> driver's license

Republicans are trying to make it so that the vast majority of drivers' licenses do not work either. You may have to get a new one, with passport-level paperwork.

That politifact page literally states there are close by DMVs that are open every week. Not sure what point is trying to be made.

What state do you live in? I think this argument is very frustrating when people who live largely in blue states (like California) that don't up any hurdles to getting an ID, can't imagine the level of dysfunction that is intentionally executed in other states in order to prevent people from getting IDs.

Yeah, everyone you know has a valid ID because you don't live in a battleground state that is currently fighting electoral welfare. Republicans don't care to put up barriers to getting an ID in California, Texas or New York.

I'm French too but I disagree a bit: first, voting if important to people, should be a good reason to get an ID, voting without an ID does seem insane, so what are they doing. Second, why black people ? Are they not human too ? They can read, they can work, they can complain, they can... get an ID card right ?

Simplest answer is they don't care, wash their hands off of the whole thing and then democrats complain that it's the requirement to identify voters that block them. But it's not a strange requirement, it's as you say, a completely normal part of being a citizen to get an ID, and a duty for a voting citizen to do what they need to do to get that ballot in.

And even if black people were somehow disenfranchised from getting IDs, it doesn't prevent the non-black people to vote rationally, in the end. So no excuse.

>Second, why black people ? Are they not human too ? They can read, they can work, they can complain, they can... get an ID card right ?

As a black American who had crackheads in my family, I don't know anyone who was totally incapable of getting an ID card. I only ever see the argument brought up by white people on the Internet. Tyranny of low expectations. Heaven forbid that black adults be expected to shoulder some personal responsibility and figure out how to meet the basic requirements to exercise their civic duties, same as white people.

"The white liberal is the worst enemy to America, and the worst enemy to the black man." -- Malcom X

You should look a little bit closer to actual circumstances of people over the country.

https://youtu.be/rHFOwlMCdto?si=OjoxCfE1noxvw3Fz

What aspect of this video do you think supports your position, specifically?

My mother's side of my family is from North Philadelphia, same state as the first black woman featured in this video.

I spent three weeks in the US in 2021 when my mother had a psychotic breakdown and I had to put her life back together on short notice. She had lost her wallet and all ID. I got her a brand new birth certificate in Philadelphia and a NJ State ID to replace her Driver's License. This required setting up some appointments either online or via phone, and bringing some documents along, but it was manageable.

Expecting someone to have original birth certificate, SSN proof, and spouse's death certificate is....normal adult document management. I deal with a similar "burden of proof" every time I go to my local Japanese city office, or to immigration to renew our residency.

The next anecdote in the segment blasts Sauk City, Wisconsin for the ID center being closed on most days. According to Copilot, Sauk City is 96% white, with a median household income over $78,000 and a population of less than 4000. So a small middle class town of white people rarely has the ID office open? How is that supposed to support the argument that mandatory ID requirements disproportionately affect minorities again?

The second half of the John Oliver clip focuses on the voting events not the identification acquisition problem so I don't consider that part relevant and won't dissect it.

Oh thanks, as a French, it's my feeling also that this is a "white people" thing in the US, to infantilize black people. I come from a country where we try to be color blind, it's very rude to tell someone his skin color (last time I checked, we were now saying "ke-bla" if we really wanted to tell that some guy was black, a verlan reversal of the English word black because it's hard to even say it in French, like Japanese have trouble to say penis lol) and we force ourselves not to "overly help them" but to "overly ignore they're different".

So it always blew my mind Americans split themselves in random colors (especially the hispanics, like, why) and enrages me the self-described "whites" are so dismissive of the ability of "black people" to be, like, completely normal and boring and able to get whatever form is needed to vote...

Just read the dozens of links shared in these threads.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/eligib...

https://youtu.be/rHFOwlMCdto?si=OjoxCfE1noxvw3Fz

The issue is not that the barrier is insurmountable. The issue is that small amounts of friction become meaningful at scale in elections. Place the friction in the right spots and some people experiencing that friction choose not to bother. If the people who choose not to bother disproportionately vote for one side then there's a small electoral benefit to the other side.

I'm from Pakistan, and the solution to 'it's difficult for people to get ID' was so simple even 3rd world poor illiterate country could do it: just go to them instead.

Our ID department has buses with computers and cameras/fingerprint machines on them, they go to remote villages and stuff and take everyone's bio data, then return a few weeks later and give everyone their cards.

There is literally NO valid excuse for NOT implementing voter ID.

NONE.

If we can do it, the richest country in the world can do it.

Such a pathetic hill for American Democratic party to die on.

The problem is that we don't have those same systems for getting an ID.

There's no "government comes to you" to give you an ID. And, many Democrats would love to make it easier to get an ID, but the Republicans often deliberately make it harder to get an ID.

They shut down offices and reduce hours of locations, so people have to travel farther and take more time off work. They increase the bureaucratic requirements and hurdles, so people are more likely to need to take multiple trips.

I personally wouldn't have a problem with making a voter ID a requirement to vote, if we could also agree to make it as easy as you describe to get an ID. The problem is the GOP wants to require getting a voter ID and simultaneously make it harder to get an ID.

I think the problem there is that in Pakistan where they do this they can reasonably assume that everyone in that remote village is a Pakistani citizen - they probably don't need to see your birth certificate to get you an ID, right? In US they want to see proof that you are a citizen and you are who you say you are, which is what (some) people have an issue with, even if you sent buses with all equipment on them to random american towns people just might not have the right documentation on them to pass the checks.

But yes, I agree, it is a pathetic problem for a 1st world country to have - just sort it out.

> they can reasonably assume that everyone in that remote village is a Pakistani citizen

absolutely not! we have had massive migrations both from India (after independence) and Afghanistan (after the russian occupation). This is NOT a given.

Things have NOT been easy... and in fact dare I say, our ID department is rather dumb and stupid. I personally have had MULTIPLE issues with them.

But we have been doing SOMETHING, and the fact that the US doesn't... is insane.

Alright, how do these mobile offices confirm who they are issuing the documents to then?

iirc, they use other people as verification.

When a child is born, the parent has to get them registered at the local council office. And then when my first card was made at 18, my dad went with me as verification, he attested that I was child #X as per the family tree, they confirmed someone with my name was in that family tree in their records, and used that as verification for me.

If parents are not available they can use relatives, as long as there is a family tree link. Not sure how they do it otherwise, but there is some system for refugees etc too.

The problem in the US is they are not doing this if anything they are reducing the number of places you can get an ID.

The US is not a monolith, it's a collection of 50 states....

Democratic states collect taxes and implement policy independently, they CAN do this, at least in their own areas.

Start there first!

https://youtu.be/rHFOwlMCdto?si=OjoxCfE1noxvw3Fz

I have been a John Oliver viewer from the first season, and my comment will be the same as what I said 9 years ago: This is bullship.

Start small, but START. Start from Democrats accepting what every LEFT leaning person the rest of the world accepts: Photo ID is necessary, not to reduce voter fraud or whatever, but necessary to increase TRUST in the system.

It's a cost, just pay it. Yes you will lose 'face' to republicans, don't care.

Start small, start with free/cheap photo ID in deep democratic cities (I know local govt providing service, what an idea!).

Once saturation reaches 80% plus, start enforcing voter ID laws to cajole the last 20% to start applying, carrot and stick. Start offering door-step service for those unable.

Democrats pay taxes, don't they? start using them.

Spread to other cities in democratic states. So what if it takes 10-20 year? Times passes like nothing.

And once you have SET the standard of cheap, reliable access to Photo ID... and when democrats in power in the federal government again, they can use that to help implement cheap photo ID elsewhere, but even if Missouri doesn't get voter ID, it doesn't excuse democratic states NOT having it.

The fact that the DMV is only open three days a month or whatever? If it's a democrat led city, FIX it. If it's a republican city, you can come to it later.

But NOT starting, as some sort of fake 'rights' issue? Bullship.

Start. Start Small, Start NOW. in 25 years you won't even remember this.

Would you like to remind them also what NADRA has Ahmedis sign (half-nama)? I don’t think John Oliver would be very happy about that…

And? That's bigotry, a totally different issue from accessibility.

The population WANTS this piece of bigotry, heck our ancestors voted for the damn thing it, it's literally the 2nd amendment of our the constitution.

You can't blame NADRA for including it in their forms, they do it on government demand. Heck, I had to sign the damn thing to get my damn passport, there is no escaping it.

But NADRA also has vans that go village by village providing photo-ID on the doorstep. And THAT is accessibility.

Do I wish this piece of bigotry wasn't in on our forms? Yes. Today Ahmedis; tomorrow Shias; day after who knows, it might be me.

Does it mean CNIC are BAD? NO, they are perhaps the only actually part of cour damn governance, being able to provide ID.

We could obviously do better, but NOT having ID is crazy.

The UK Labour government was opposed to Photo ID it was the right wing that introduced it.

It is an Anglo-American thing not to have PhotoID probably related to never been invaded in the last two hundred years.

The issue is that to get back in power the Democrats need votes top overturn Republicans and so the IDs in Republican states matter those in Democrat states do not. So better top show full disapproval as they won't lose any seats over that and can keep some pressure up.

I feel this same issue was behind Brexit.

Some people in the UK had the same 'oh no we are being outnumbers' sort of mentality, and without mandatory ID, they had no sane voice in their head to tell them 'don't be silly, we track people with cards'.

It's funny how much the existence of the card gives the masses a weird sense of peace.

So democrats should spend all this money, time and resources solving a problem they don’t have. And for what purpose? Nah I will rather my Democrat state focus on human welfare and giving people opportunities to progress in life

> Nah I will rather my Democrat state focus on human welfare and giving people opportunities to progress in life

That sounds like it would be way easier if those people had id's...

I think it's on purpose to rather limit the voters than empower them.

No, I think that's just a republican boogie-man.

I think democrats started out with good intentions, helping enfranchise black voters a part of the civil rights act .... but somehow they have made it their morality point and refuse to accept that it is no longer fit for purpose.

They should made no voter-ID a temporary measure and created proper voter-IS systems in the meanwhile.

lets see where this whole thing heads to. May be in the end we will see the birth of a true democracy, which is social and where the strong ones will take care of weak ones. At least it should be .. in a dream :)

The US doesn't have a national id card, and the people who want to force ID for voting are the strongest block against having one, for religious reasons. What you suggest is impossible in the US.

That’s a government that’s interested and motivated in getting people an ID.

Now imagine the opposite. A government that’s not interested but rather is motivated in denying some people an ID. Why it increases that’s party likelihood of staying in power.

>Whereas in a country like the US, it means missing several days of work, driving potentially hundreds of kilometers

Where did you hear this? When I lived in Pennsylvania, it was really easy to get a state ID. Just go into the DMV, show them your documents, pay the fee ($42 now), and you have your ID within the hour. They had centers all around the city, and they're open on Saturdays. Personally, I think this is an extremely weird hill for Democrats to want to die on. Most independent and swing voters think its a reasonable requirement.

Do you have a more precise exemple of a state in which it is that difficult ? And a source ? I really find it hard to believe.

Not the OP but here’s an example: https://www.reddit.com/r/stupidquestions/comments/1ghrsbq/co...

Basically you need very specific letters where your exact name and address must match but those are issued without checking. So if one uses your middle initial instead of your name then no ID for you until you get it reissued.

In Texas they have a shortage of staff issuing the ids too so there is a 3 month delay after you apply to find out what you did incorrectly https://www.statesman.com/story/opinion/columns/2024/08/19/t...

That would make sense if driver licences were difficult to obtain in US in any way shape or form, and they just aren't - almost everyone has one and it's not a big deal to get one.

Provably false.

https://youtu.be/rHFOwlMCdto?si=OjoxCfE1noxvw3Fz

And you need to do paperwork, which means you have to pay and find time. How do people with 2 or 3 jobs do?

91% of US adults have a driving licence:

https://hedgescompany.com/blog/2024/01/number-of-licensed-dr...

So forgive me for being flippant but....how hard can it be?

>>How do people with 2 or 3 jobs do?

I assume they drive to those 3 jobs, so they somehow found a way.Again, sorry for being dismissive, and I appreciate it might be time consuming at costly - but still, 91% of all American adults have found a way to do this, so my point is that driving licences(along other documents) seem like a perfectly acceptable form of ID for voting?

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