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Read other letters about this article
1) yes you do have a constitutional right to vote, however the constitutional is silent on the qualifications necessary to vote. This means that a state CAN'T say that you can't vote, but they CAN say that you need to fill these 15 forms out and get three doctors to verify that you have a heart rate greater than 45. i know, it sounds ridiculous, but nothing in the constitution prevents it.
2) the ID requirement sounds minor, but the fact that it primarily effects a specific type of person makes it a big deal. Ask yourself who is unlikely to have IDs. the poor (if you can't afford a car, why do you need a driver's license?) and the disadvantaged (if you're working 2 jobs to single-handedly support your 3 kids, how are you going to find time to get an ID?). It is easy for middle class people to go to their safe/lockbox, get their birth certificate/SS card and drive down to the nearest DMV and get an ID. However, it is unlikely that a 19 year old whose mother sold off everything to support a crack addiction could even find her birth certificate, if it even still exists. This just adds another hurdle that she must overcome and makes it even less likely that she will actually vote. yet, she has the right to vote just as much as that middle class person does. Adding more and more requirements to vote, just means less and less disadvantaged people will vote.
the fact that republicans are championing this cause is mainly because the people who are most likely not to vote as a result of additional requirements are also most likely to vote democrat and in tightly contested races even a single vote can make a difference. don't get me wrong, if the tables were turned and the primary beneficiaries were democrats, i'm pretty sure they would be doing everything they could to prevent people from voting. and i'll be just as unhappy about it.
the citizenship checks and whatnot that provides the "basis" of the republican arguments can be just as easily done by the election committee without hassling the prospective voter. and a little post voting error checking can weed out most of what little fruad actually occurs.
to the person that suggested an education campaign would prevent all this: such an educational campaign is highly unlikely to get done. unless a strict, well-thought out campaign is written into the legislation (which it isn't) it won't get done for two reasons: money (the "official" reason) and becuase the election committee doesn't want these people to vote (the most like "true" reason). even then an educational campaign won't solve the time problem and I can't possible imagine the state going door to door to hand out IDs. the amount of time, people, money, and equipment that would require is just too great.
