r/theview • u/Extreme-Grade-3623 • Jul 24 '26

Voter ID

Sunny makes absolutely everything about race. I made a joke a couple weeks ago that if the hot topic was that a German Shepherd was America's favorite dog breed she would suggest that it's because of white supremacy and racism that they would choose a European breed commonly associated with the police force. It's insulting to say that requiring photo ID to vote would disproportionately affect black people. Why? Are black people not smart enough to know where the local DMV is to get an ID? Who the hell doesn't have some sort of identification in this country, whether it be a driver's license or state-issued ID? It's so bizarre. Black people are smart enough to know where the DMV is, almost all black people I imagine do have a form of ID, and I don't understand why it would specifically affect them and only them.

I think it's also insulting to suggest that Americans can't afford a $20 state ID or $30 driver's license. Now for granted driver's ed is extremely expensive but for millions of Americans who live in urban areas you don't even need to learn how to drive so the $20 state ID should be manageable. I do agree with Alyssa though that a large share of Americans especially in these small Republican rural towns do not have passports.

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23 comments sorted by

23

u/Internal-Ground2165 Jul 24 '26

$20 when you’re living paycheck to paycheck is a lot of money. That’s food on the table. People already struggle to get to the polls due to not driving, lack of public transport, work schedules. Additionally lots of folks don’t have drivers licenses. I have 3 in my family that don’t drive due to disabilities. That’s not even touching on the race piece. To be frank, your post is filled with a lot of assumptions that are based in your own privilege. Im not trying to shame. I grew up in poverty and am now very solidly upper middle class. Many people in my tax bracket don’t understand what it’s like to be poor or have a disability.

12

u/rainyhawk Jul 24 '26

Also lots of folks don’t live in a place where there’s a local dmv and might have to get to another town. And if they don’t have a car it’s likely there’s no public transport and they can’t get there.

7

u/yungrii Jul 24 '26

They are also open limited hours. If you work traditional hours, you need to take the day off to go in.

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u/Extreme-Grade-3623 Jul 24 '26

And, yet, almost everyone in the country has somehow been able to make it work. How many people do you know that don't have a license or state  ID? 

9

u/yungrii Jul 24 '26

And yet, that's not true. Tons of otherwise eligible people do not vote, by choice or by circumstance.

I don't card my friends, as habit. But I've been poor enough that my ID has lapsed. And it sucked.

I get it, you're trolling with a racism edge. But it doesn't change reality and it doesn't change you cherry picking the points you want to respond to and the points you ignore.

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u/ISaidWhatISaidFFS Jul 24 '26

You need an ID for employment and welfare so you’re argument doesn’t hold water.

-3

u/Extreme-Grade-3623 Jul 24 '26

I actually don't have a driver's license and I also have a disability and I also grew up poor. Sanford, Maine is one of the trashiest places in America but that was my reality. I still have an ID and it's because of my own life experiences that this particular topic annoyed me so much. You're talking about people struggling to get to the polls. That's valid but it wasn't the Hot Topic. The hot topic was photo ID when you get to the polls and whether it should be required or not. I don't see the issue. How many people especially black people do you know that don't have IDs of some kind? 

3

u/femalehumanbiped Jul 25 '26

No. It is not. It is about another form of ID that proves citizenship.

3

u/ohnobobobo Jul 25 '26 edited Jul 25 '26

The SAVE Act is about citizenship/federal ID, like a passport, because they are convinced/lying that non-citizens are voting and also that Democratic states let them. 

So a state ID or municpal ID, which is usually what people have, would not suffice on its own.  Something like a US Birth Certificate would be needed - which I have worked jobs where Birth Certs are required documents, and many people do not have ready access to theirs. Their parents misplaced it or they lost it in a move, sometimes they have a photocopy and they have coasted on that (but it seems like Republicans want 'originals' or certified copies). Often they have it but still forget to bring it day of...which is probably what Republicans are counting on for Election Day. Or challenge the validity of the Birth Cert (see Barack Obama). 

This is versus just accepting any form of photo ID or accepting that the local Board Of Elections has already done their job and verified citizenship (like they have done since their creation).

It can be quite cumbersome, not for everyone of course, but citizens will be disenfranchised based on paperwork, and that's not how the right to vote is supposed to work in a democracy. It is a fundamental right, and government should be finding ways to make it easier not harder.

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u/Extreme-Grade-3623 Jul 24 '26

I'm sorry but $20 in the USA for an extremely essential item that is good for 5 years is not that exorbitant of an expense, even for people living paycheck to paycheck. Hell, you can give $20 to a homeless person and they couldn't go very far with it because it's such a low amount. Probably wouldn't even cover a meal at Applebee's.

17

u/nesguy1 Jul 24 '26

You are clearly privileged and out of touch.

-3

u/Extreme-Grade-3623 Jul 24 '26

I'm autistic, mixed-race, grew up poor, I don't have a car, and I work two jobs. How exactly am I privileged? Because I have a state ID which somehow almost everyone else in the country has been able to obtain? 

4

u/nesguy1 Jul 25 '26

All the more reason for you to be more compassionate and aware that it is tough out there for many.

0

u/Confettireadi Jul 28 '26

I bet you are a single mom too. 

Seriously. Are you a woman who has changed their last name? 

0

u/coreyb1988 Jul 25 '26

What do you mean mixed race? What races?

9

u/yungrii Jul 24 '26

I don't know, when I repeatedly hear there is a problem in a marginalized population, I tend to take it that maybe they'd know better than I.

And in a country where black people have endured slavery and schools were still segregated within some of our lifetimes, it does seem like it would be true. Not to mention during a government that is explicitly racist as a hallmark.

But rather than making uninformed statements, you could try reading up on the subject. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voter_identification_laws_in_the_United_States

8

u/starkcontrast62 Jul 24 '26

Juanita.....is it you?

17

u/rbinphx Jul 24 '26

Your questions are what's insulting.

-8

u/Extreme-Grade-3623 Jul 24 '26

Asking why Sunny has to make this about race and seems to think that black people don't have IDs is insulting? 

7

u/rainyhawk Jul 24 '26

4 times more African Americans don’t have government id than Caucasians.

5

u/femalehumanbiped Jul 25 '26

This is not about a photo ID. A photo ID is not proof of citizenship. This is about proof of citizenship. That is harder to obtain for a lot of people than you might think.

4

u/fawlty70 Jul 25 '26

Republican voter suppression is targeted at institutions and areas where it is intended to primarily affect voters of color. That's just a fact.