Donald Trump has said he will issue an executive order to mandate identification for all US elections, a move likely to be challenged in court as unconstitutional.
"Voter I.D. Must Be Part of Every Single Vote. NO EXCEPTIONS! I Will Be Doing An Executive Order To That End!!!,” the US president said on Truth Social late on Saturday.
Trump also claimed he wants to ban all voting by mail except for those who are very ill or in military service.
The US constitution grants primary authority to regulate elections to the US states, while empowering Congress to enact election laws or regulations. It gives no explicit authority to the president to regulate voting.
You don’t have to have proof of identity to vote in the US?
In states that do not require an ID, you still need to present a document with your name. It is then compared with the voter registration database. The argument against requiring an ID is that ID’s aren’t free in the US, which can cause a financial hurdle for many.
Sounds like a solution would be some sort of national ID card provided for free?
Republicans and conservatives, historically, have been the biggest opponents of a national ID because they don’t want the federal government tracking them or asserting any control over anything.
Until trump, anyway…
That’s rich
Yes, but that would actually be a good thing so it’s never happened.
And there’s additional hurdles for more targeted populations, like access to the place that gives you the ID, and the capacity to prove your ID to that place with specific documents that may ormay not exist. It’s on purpose.
Heck, personal ID is not free in my country, either (I paid 43€ for a renewal last week), but it is mandatory, so everyone has it. Americans could do it even cheaper if they wanted.
With so low levels of identity proof in the US, don’t complain about identity theft. Here, you simply can’t open a bank account with just an SSN drawn from the darknet and a self-printed electricity bill. Having a proper ID has many uses, way beyond identifying for your right to vote.
What sort of documents could you provide?