You people realize that there are many people in this country that do not have Birth Certificates, especially poor, rural, elderly, and minority. So let's heap more expense on those least able to bear the burden just so they can exercise a right, but we aren't trying to suppress any demographic.....please, sell it to the Air Force!
http://www.history.com/news/the-history-of-birth-certificates-is-shorter-than-you-might-think
The History of Birth Certificates is Shorter Than You Might Think
People didn’t always need birth certificates.
https://www.brennancenter.org/analysis/research-and-publications-voter-id
Research on Voter ID | Brennan Center for Justice
A comprehensive list of social science research on the impact of voter identification restrictions, which make it harder for some citizens to vote.
-Social Security Card
-Utility bill less than 90 days old
-W-2
-1099
-Pay stub
-Marriage License
-Divorce decree
-US School records
-Parental or sibling with valid ID sworn affidavit
-Bank statement
-Mortgage, rent or lease agreement
-Tax records
-Immunization records
-Documents containing both name and address deemed credible and verifiable by the DMV manager on duty
If you doubt it check your State DMV, Secretary of State, or County Community Assistance office web page for your state.
I have a question for you, pertaining to your usage of Driving, Employment, and Tobacco Purchase as rationalization tools to support your argument for National IDs on Voting. How are those items weighted against each other in the U.S. Constitution?
(vii)Identity. The identity of the person making application shall be verified. Where an authorized representative applies on behalf of a household, the identity of both the authorized representative and the head of household shall be verified. Identity may be verified through readily available documentary evidence, or if this is unavailable, through a collateral contact. Examples of acceptable documentary evidence which the applicant may provide include, but are not limited to, a driver's license, a work or school ID, an ID for health benefits or for another assistance or social services program, a voter registration card, wage stubs, or a birth certificate. Any documents which reasonably establish the applicant's identity must be accepted, and no requirement for a specific type of document, such as a birth certificate, may be imposed.
https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/7/273.2
7 CFR 273.2 - Office operations and application processing.
(1)Office operations. State agencies must establish procedures governing the operation of SNAP offices that the State agency determines best serve households in the State, including households with special needs, such as, but not limited to, households with elderly or disabled members, households in rural areas with low-income members, homeless individuals, households residing on reservations, households with adult members who are not...
Now, let's say she had to get one of the new acceptable IDs that almost all require submitting a certified copy of her birth certificate. First, since my dad died five years before my mom, and he took care of paperwork stuff in his own unique way, just her finding a copy of her birth certificate would be a huge challenge. Second, she had no idea how to use a computer, so she couldn't simply google the address for requesting one in her home state. And even if she got one, she had no way to get to a DMV to get the ID card. While the facility had a van for weekly trips that could accommodate a wheelchair, they don't run errands like that where they wait for you.
Fortunately, if my mom actually needed to do all that, my brother was there to help her, to get on a computer for her, to drive her, etc. and my mom could afford the $25 or $50 some states charge for certified birth certificates. So it would have gotten done.
But then I started thinking about the elderly like my mom who each month choose between buying their medication or food. Who have disabilities and haven't been outside in months. Who don't have anyone who can get on the computer for them. Whose children, also struggling in poverty, can't afford to take an unpaid day off to go to DMV, or don't have a car that accommodates a wheelchair. There are hundreds of thousands of elderly and disabled people in situations just like that. In fact, they DON'T need a certified ID to live their lives day to day. They have been doing that for years. But these new restrictive voter ID laws make it very difficult to get such an ID and do, in fact, make it impossible for them to vote, after many have been casting votes for 60 plus years.
Those people are the real targets of these voter ID laws, because they tend to vote more democratic than republican. The republicans are more than happy to make it difficult to impossible for hundred of thousands of Americans to vote, and use the often disproved boogeyman of voter fraud to do it.
I would suggest to those who simply cannot imagine how it could be so difficult for some to get a certified copy of a birth certificate and get down to the DMV and get an ID and afford to pay for it, that you may not have really thought through what daily life is like at the existence level of poverty or the limitations and isolation of those who live alone and are disabled. It is not at all the simple task you envision.
The process of locating a birth certificate is not "a huge challenge." The more information you have the easier it is. We are just about past the period where a person's birth was not recorded in the hospital of birth, by the attending medical practitioner, first responder agency. Those vital records are also stored and in most cases now converted to digital data or microfiche stored both at the State custodian of vital records (usually the secretary of State), county seat, and the facility of birth.
If your mother is not capable of completing the process, I would think that a staff member from her adult care facility or a relative would offer assistance. Anyone can take the necessary steps with a notarized limited power of attorney. If your mother's adult care facility does not have a notary, I strongly advise you move her to one that does, YESTERDAY!
Armed with:
The notarized power of attorney
_Full Name
_One Parent's or Grandparent's name (usually, but not necessarily, the birth mother)
_Date of birth (an approximate range is adequate)
_State and/or County of Birth
_A completed application for the holding agency and the necessary fee (often waived by governmental agencies, in case of financial hardship)
A request can be made to the agency that holds vital records.
If the hospital of birth or medical practitioner's office is no longer in operation, the medical and vital records are held by one of the nearby hospitals, if the hospital or doctor's office shut down after 1945. (My sister works as a medical records librarian).
Here is an interesting story of an elderly man whose name was changed when he was a child by his mother and can’t find documentation of it. He could pay to have the documentation made but it is too expensive for him. There are lots of reasons why something like this may happen.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/getting-a-photo-id-so-you-can-vote-is-easy-unless-youre-poor-black-latino-or-elderly/2016/05/23/8d5474ec-20f0-11e6-8690-f14ca9de2972_story.html?utm_term=.cc90cbfa29b1
Could some scheme be made where national ID’s were free, and highly available everywhere with free help to make sure the required documentation is there? Sure, it could happen. Will it happen? No. Why?
-Because it is an expensive way to deal with a problem that we don’t know is large enough to spend a lot of money on when we have other known large problems
-Because the politicians pushing for these laws and telling people it is a big problem without evidence are not interested in dealing with voter fraud. They are interested in suppressing the ability to vote of people likely to vote for the other party. Any scheme that doesn’t do that isn’t meeting the reason they are making such noise about it in the first place.
Getting a photo ID so you can vote is easy. Unless you’re poor, black, Latino or elderly.
Eleven states are requiring a photo ID to vote in a presidential election for the first time.
https://www.brennancenter.org/blog/three-things-us-could-learn-canadas-election
http://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=vot&dir=ids&document=index&lang=e
I especially like option 3 - take an oath....
Three Things the U.S. Could Learn from Canada’s Election | Brennan Center for Justice
Some sensible election rules from our neighbor to the north.
So does the Constitution only afford the right to vote to "responsible adults?" In my opinion, a "Responsible Adult" would not accept having governmental barriers creating between them and their fellow citizens, in regards to the exercise of their Constitutional Rights. States already have access to our birth records, addresses and names. They can use the pre-existing and already funded databases to pull up that information, and get verbal confirmation; although that could still cause conflict with those who conduct births at home, and choose not to register their children via birth certificate.
"Sure, why not. Just as you said, 'Any adult that drives, applies for job, buys tobacco, etc needs to have an ID.'"
Pertaining to ID required for Driving, Employment, and tobacco purchase. Simply refer to the Constitution as far as which ones are a specifically protected Right, in comparison to voting. Hopefully that will provide enough clarity as to why those are not equivalent situations to voting.