It takes about 20 minutes to register to vote - that's 20 minutes in a lifetime. People register ONCE - then if they keep voting it's automatically updated. If your hypothetical person can't find 20 minutes to sign up, I doubt he can find the 30 minutes it can take to vote in a tough election.
Maybe 'the press' with the help of social workers, homeless shelters, and ACORN sites might be able to fine ONE person who is sooooooooo busy surviving they can't find 20 minutes in a year - but I've NEVER met someone like that... and you haven't either. And I'm tired of the press lying with an example ON ONE has ever run across in their lifetime or the lifetime of anyone they know.
Where do *you* live? Where I am, each and every time the voter registration process took more than an hour, most of it waiting for other people to be processed. Add to that the 45 minutes it takes to get to and from the county offices and that's a good chunk of the day gone. Bosses don't like lunches that long. Also, every time I've moved within this county, there has always been some reason I've been instructed to go down to the county offices in person to update my registration -- oh, and don't forget your proof of citizenship (and a DL doesn't count -- glad I have a current passport).
The one time I tried to update my mailing address at the polls, they not only lost the update, they also managed to drop my registration completely. "It must be due to your changing precincts," said the helpful clerk.
So I'm heading to the office again, to ensure they don't lose my voter registration again. You guessed it, I moved just after the mid-term elections.
Speaking of which, you apparently haven't moved very much. My career has taken me to 11 states in roughly 18 removes. Twice I was disenfranchised because the moves were too close to Election Day -- so I couldn't meet the minimum residency requirement...and neither state didn't had national-only ballots. And the states I departed? "Oh, we can't send you an absentee ballot, you don't live here anymore."
What about that picture ID? Ever get through a DMV in any state in less that three hours? The fastest pass through the DMV gauntlet is when they came to my high school to administer the drivers license exams. Last time I renewed my DL it was a six-hour ordeal, because the DMV was short-handed...on a Saturday.
"20 minutes to register" -- for most people, that just doesn't hold.
At least I live in the city now. Before, I was out in the boonies, so the travel time to the registrar's office was more than an hour each way. And woe to you if you happen to hit a training day, or someone leaving (and the long lunch that goes with it), or the mad dash out the door at 4 pm, or even earlier.
I endure it because I think it's important. Not everyone does.
Actually, after writing this, I have to laugh about some of the people thinking that the voter-ID laws are "meant to disenfranchise minorities" -- the bureaucratic process does that quite nicely as it is.