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Comment by antonymoose | Hacker News Reader

In my state I bring two forms of ID and a couple of bills to the DMV and I’m issued a same-day license?

How does that compare to a notoriously unfriendly nation like Germany?

In any case, my understanding is virtually any nation in Central and South America requires identification to vote. If the third-world poverty stricken nations make it work there is no reason the rich United States cannot.

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"Same-day" doesn't work if you live somewhere that the DMV is only open during work hours, has lines longer than 8 hours (https://dmvwaittimes.org/north-carolina), or is literally only open four days a year (https://trust.dot.state.wi.us/cscfinder/cityCountySearch.do?...).

You can't use your driving license under the proposed SAVE act, as it's not proof of citizenship. Only a few states offer "extended" driving licenses, which do, but also need to be requested separately in most (or all?) states that offer them IIRC. For every other state: you will have to use a passport, birth certificate, or a separate state ID card.

I renewed my license 4 years ago and got an enhanced license with no special request.

OK now we just need to find out how well it works for thousands of other people from different states, social classes, and skin colors and then we'll have some real data.

Enhanced licenses only exist in 5 states.

> Only a few states offer "extended" driving licenses, which do [prove your citizenship]

If anyone is wondering, an enhanced drivers license is not the same as a "REAL ID". A "REAL ID" does not indicate citizenship status, which the SAVE act requires.

https://campaignlegal.org/sites/default/files/2025-01/CLC%20...

https://www.sos.mn.gov/media/zzia53yr/033125-secretaries-of-...

https://www.dhs.gov/enhanced-drivers-licenses-what-are-they

another angle is: if the ID costs money, no matter how trivial the amount, then it is effectively a ballot fee.

All states that require voter id have free ids that work for voting.

And how accessible are said ids in every state?

No clue, but not at all relevant to what I was responding to. Please don't move to goal posts.

And in my state I needed more documentation for an ID than was required for my passport. It varies wildly.

assuming that you're talking about a driver's license, you're leaving out the important steps of passing driving tests and, more importantly, having a car.

My state (as do most?) offer a state issued photo ID at the DMV, none of this driving nonsense is required.

In GA, to pick on the state I was living in when they started instituting these rules, they cut DMV locations at the same time as they started adding the ID requirements (or trying to, I moved and don't know the current status of their rules). Yes, the state ID was free, but their actions at the same time, intended or not, made it harder for people to get the free ID.

Oh, are there states that don't issue IDs? In mine you can skip that stuff and just get the ID.

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