Yeah, something that I see come up from time to time is defenders of voter ID pointing at the fact that Canada has it, and its like… Yeah, we do. But the list is acceptable ID includes
deeeeeeeeep breath *
(sung to the tune Yakko’s Countries of the World)
driver’s license
voter registration card
band membership card
birth certificate
Canadian citizenship card or certificate
Canadian Forces identity card
Canadian passport (accepted only as proof of identity)
card issued by an Inuit local authority
firearms licence
government cheque or cheque stub
government statement of benefits
*health card
income tax assessment
Indian status card or temporary confirmation of registration
library card
licence or card issued for fishing, trapping or hunting
liquor identity card
Métis card
old age security card
parolee card
property tax assessment or evaluation
public transportation card
social insurance number card
vehicle ownership
Veterans Affairs health care identification card
targeted revision form to residents of long-term care institutions
correspondence issued by a school, college or university
student identity card
blood donor card
CNIB card
hospital card
label on a prescription container
identity bracelet issued by a hospital or long-term care institution
medical clinic card
bank statement
credit card
credit card statement
credit union statement
debit card
insurance certificate, policy or statement
mortgage contract or statement
pension plan statement
personal cheque
employee card
residential lease or sub-lease
utility bill (e.g.: electricity; water; * telecommunications services including telephone, cable or satellite)
letter from a public curator, public guardian or public trustee
letter of confirmation of residence from a First Nations band or reserve or an Inuit local authority
letter of confirmation of residence from an Alberta Metis Settlement authority
letter of confirmation of residence, letter of stay, admission form, or statement of benefits from one of the following designated establishments: student residence, seniors’ residence, long-term care institution, shelter, soup kitchen, a community-based residential facility
And if you can’t find any of that, you can have someone else vouch for you.
Also registering to vote can be done on the spot at the polling booth. It takes five minutes.
So if you’re willing to provide aaaaallllllllllllllllllll those options for voter ID, then I’ll believe that the intent is to secure your elections, not make them more difficult.
By the way, we also have mail in voting, proxy voting, advance voting (typically up to a month ahead of an election), votes are always done by hand on paper with a pen (for provincial and civic elections they can be machine tallied with manual recounts as needed, for federal elections they are only ever hand tallied), we put voting stations in prisons (yes, for the people incarcerated there), hospitals, retirement homes and army bases, there are so many voting stations that you are never more than a five minute walk from your nearest one, and your work is obligated to give you time off to go vote if you need it.
Voting doesn’t have to be hard. Canada has proven this time and time again. Our elections are some of the most secure and well managed in the world. And even in elections with a high turnout I have never ever waited more than five minutes to vote. Lines of voters queuing for hours is a choice, not an inevitability.
Here in European country it’s mandatory, and generally it has to be id or passport (very very few and usually not generally accessing alternatives exist, drivers license in particular is not a valid id).
The thing is the id is
Mandatory in general to have (wich on itself some people might disagree with)
Generally easy to get (surely not convenient in the most rural/remote)
For me to have an official id and to have to use it sounds just normal really. Changing the rules last minute of course is not OK, but with with enough notice…
Yeah, something that I see come up from time to time is defenders of voter ID pointing at the fact that Canada has it, and its like… Yeah, we do. But the list is acceptable ID includes
(sung to the tune Yakko’s Countries of the World)
And if you can’t find any of that, you can have someone else vouch for you.
Also registering to vote can be done on the spot at the polling booth. It takes five minutes.
So if you’re willing to provide aaaaallllllllllllllllllll those options for voter ID, then I’ll believe that the intent is to secure your elections, not make them more difficult.
By the way, we also have mail in voting, proxy voting, advance voting (typically up to a month ahead of an election), votes are always done by hand on paper with a pen (for provincial and civic elections they can be machine tallied with manual recounts as needed, for federal elections they are only ever hand tallied), we put voting stations in prisons (yes, for the people incarcerated there), hospitals, retirement homes and army bases, there are so many voting stations that you are never more than a five minute walk from your nearest one, and your work is obligated to give you time off to go vote if you need it.
Voting doesn’t have to be hard. Canada has proven this time and time again. Our elections are some of the most secure and well managed in the world. And even in elections with a high turnout I have never ever waited more than five minutes to vote. Lines of voters queuing for hours is a choice, not an inevitability.
Here in European country it’s mandatory, and generally it has to be id or passport (very very few and usually not generally accessing alternatives exist, drivers license in particular is not a valid id).
The thing is the id is
For me to have an official id and to have to use it sounds just normal really. Changing the rules last minute of course is not OK, but with with enough notice…
Our voting might not be entirely fair but hell yea, at least we can do it. Voting has always been absurdly easy for me, and I always go early.
Thanks for the thorough answer.