To the best of my knowledge, the best place to get a photo ID is the DMV. If you have to go to the DMV, you better plan for it taking the whole morning or the whole afternoon. If you're someone who struggles with transportation or not having an ID in the first place, you probably have an hourly job. I know most of you who don't see a problem with these laws think that the people who are affected by this law don't have jobs, but you'd be wrong for most of them. If you have an hourly job, you may find it difficult to get that time off to go to the DMV, even if you can get there. And you may not be able to afford the lost wages from taking the time off to get to the DMV.
In NC, to be eligible for your free ID, in addition to having to physically go to the DMV, you have to provide any two of:
- Driver license (LOL)
- Birth certificate (costs money)
- Social security card (requires photo ID to get a card! LOL!)
- North Carolina school documentation (what if you didn't go to school in NC?)
- Military ID
- Court document
This discussion also leaves out the fact that most of these voter ID laws also restrict early voting, which is mostly popular with lower socio-economic status individuals who work hourly jobs. These people tend to be minorities. The Ohio law actually expanded early voting in whiter districts and restricted it in majority-minority districts.
As with most things, it's not as simple as saying "should people have an ID, yes or no?" I'm fine with requiring an ID to vote. Make it really easy to get an ID.
The thing that these sorts of debates have really crystallized for me is the degree to which most Republicans just actively refuse to have any empathy for their fellow man. Which is hilarious because most Republicans identify as Christian, and I think empathy is a Christian value. Perhaps I'm wrong about that though. I'm sure a bunch of people are about to tell me so, but I'm going to go back to doing my salaried job that lets me have time off to go to the DMV.