I’ve come to the conclusion that while we need voter photo ID now, we should aim for replacing it with biometric ID. Any one interested in voting would be required to have their biometric data (fingerprints, iris scans, facial recognition and, yes, even DNA). Getting that data is getting cheaper and cheaper as new, more efficient, technologies are developed.
Hell, we can NOT access our home defense handguns without first passing a biometric test. In our case the ID is by a fingerprint reading and matching to fingerprints previously “registered” as allowed to access the handgun containers. The access process takes literally only a couple of seconds.
The good news is that undetected rapists and murderers would not be voting as they (e.g., Jesse Matthew Jr. - the Virginia abductor) would want their “forensic” data to be matched with crime scene evidence. W’e be better off if such creatures were not voting.
Forget that. How about a single election day to vote, a very limited allowance for absentee voting, a photo ID and a thumb dipped in indelible purple ink?