Can A Photo ID Be Required To Vote? - Washington Post

The right to vote in this country is one of our most sacred privileges. It comes to us at the cost of many lives, both American and not, female and not, white and not. It is a privilege granted only to those who are entitled to it, and that entitlement is bestowed through citizenship alone. Therefore, the responsibility of proving one's citizenship falls equally upon all who wish to claim their due rights. All a photo id is meant to do is insure that the person who presented the credentials of citizenship is who they say they are.

Therefore, in order to prevent an economic or politicized distribution of this right, I believe that the ability to obtain proof of one's citizenship should not be an economic burden to any individual, but should be each state's service to its citizens. Or perhaps federalize it, and then delegate such service to the U.S. Library of Congress, subsequently making the information available via the Freedom of Information Act. This effectively 'levels' the playing field for all who require the information.

As for the cost of a 'voter ID', the economically disenfrancished quite likely don't have the wherewithal to have a car, so the cost of a driver's license isn't at issue. This would limit the overall burden upon a state agency to fund such an instrument for those who have no need for other forms of ID, especially if the cost of obtaining proof of citizenship has been minimized or negated through federalization of such a system.

And before anyone claims that the economically displaced remain disadvantaged under such a system, there are agencies which exist to assist the homeless and disadvantaged with making such requests of state and federal service agencies for receiving their due benefits, including records and documentation.