It IS burdensome, especially for women. First of all, in order to get a driver’s license you have to produce a birth certificate and verify your address with an unopened piece of mail or two, or in some cases even three.
In order to register to vote, you have to produce your driver’s license, your birth certificate, and if you are female with name changes, you have to prove the paper trail for the name changes which also means marriage licenses or divorce papers.
If a woman has been married more than once, she has to bring them all, or take photos on the phone and send them to the voter registration place after you’ve filled out the initial paper work.
Since men keep their last names, men don’t have to go through all this. But to have to produce a birthcert is redundant, because you already had to do that to get your driver’s license in the first place.
If for some reason you don’t happen to have these papers whether through your own negligence or through no fault of your own, then you have to purchase them. Many of them require identification which you can’t get unless you have the papers!! Furthermore, these papers can cost a small fortune, something not everybody has these days due to the job market being what it is.
My birthcert costs $40 if you have to have it mailed to you, and half as much if you request it in person. And that’s even if you send a SASE! I’m not sure what the costs are for a duplicate marriage license or divorce papers, or adoption papers, or naturalization/citizenship papers...it can most certainly be a huge PITA! But you have to have several papers more than men do if you’re a female.
The fact that I happen to have mine made it slightly more convenient. I don’t ever recall having to produce papers (Heil Hitler!) to register to vote, before in any of the other states I’ve ever lived in. My driver’s license maybe but that’s it.
I resent having to produce ‘papers’ at all! It smacks of WW2 Germany and Communits Russia to me.
On the other hand, because I do have my papers, and had to go through a great deal of inconvenience to acquire them as well as financial hardship, I see no reason why others can’t do so also if in fact we must have our ‘papers’. Freedom isn’t always free, and when something costs you something, it tends to be more cherished.
I do think it could be more streamlined though. Since you have to prove yourself to get the driver’s license, social security cards, etc, you shouldn’t have to produce them all again and again and again.
I don’t know about you, but I deeply resent having to produce a driver’s license to get medical care, even if *I* am the one paying the bill! Now THAT’s crimimal!
ok..done for now.
I think you might be mixing up the demand for a driver’s license-—a REAL ID driver’s license-—and getting a voter registration.
I know they have demanded more info for the ‘REAL ID’ driver’s license-—but you can bypass that with a Passport.
I never was asked to bring UNOPENED mail to use for ID backup.
I did have to have my birth cert—embossed—not a copy & my prior driver’s license or current one—and 2 other pieces of ID to open a new bank account in 2005 when I moved to another state. But that was because of the Patriot Act & it was far more than I ever had to do for a bank account for the 50 (FIFTY) years prior.
The REAL ID does demand all the proof of all my name changes—marriage & divorce papers, but I don’t think I can find one of those documents. So I am doing a ‘work around’ & getting a passport so that I can fly if I have to. I don’t need the REAL ID (yet) for just a driver’s license.
I have had an embossed copy of my birth certificate with me since I graduated high school & left home. I also have my high school diploma & other documents from my youth.
The part that offends me the most is that the local banks were advertising HEAVILY in 2005 that they would open a bank account for an illegal-—who most likely could NOT
come up with all the documentation I had.
The other horn in my side is the states that are giving invaders driver’s licenses & the DMV employee is REQUIRED to also hand them a voter registration paper. That employee can lose their job if they fail to give out that paperwork.
I think you might be mixing up the demand for a driver’s license-—a REAL ID driver’s license-—and getting a voter registration.
I know they have demanded more info for the ‘REAL ID’ driver’s license-—but you can bypass that with a Passport.
I never was asked to bring UNOPENED mail to use for ID backup.
I did have to have my birth cert—embossed—not a copy & my prior driver’s license or current one—and 2 other pieces of ID to open a new bank account in 2005 when I moved to another state. But that was because of the Patriot Act & it was far more than I ever had to do for a bank account for the 50 (FIFTY) years prior.
The REAL ID does demand all the proof of all my name changes—marriage & divorce papers, but I don’t think I can find one of those documents. So I am doing a ‘work around’ & getting a passport so that I can fly if I have to. I don’t need the REAL ID (yet) for just a driver’s license.
I have had an embossed copy of my birth certificate with me since I graduated high school & left home. I also have my high school diploma & other documents from my youth.
The part that offends me the most is that the local banks were advertising HEAVILY in 2005 that they would open a bank account for an illegal-—who most likely could NOT
come up with all the documentation I had.
The other horn in my side is the states that are giving invaders driver’s licenses & the DMV employee is REQUIRED to also hand them a voter registration paper. That employee can lose their job if they fail to give out that paperwork.
I registered to vote with very little ID & no hassles. They NEVER asked for any of my marriage & divorce records.
I don’t recall if they asked for my birth certificate.