Tech Sergeant Jenn

feigenbaumsworld:

giraffeshmiraffe:

midwestgenderqueer:

“If a citizen must pay to have an ID, and a citizen must have an ID to vote, then a citizen must pay to vote.”

Voting posts accept sewer/electric bills with your address and other things that EVERY person has as forms of ID in most places. 

And how are you a US citizen without ID? You can’t have a bank account without an ID, you can’t use a credit card without ID, you can’t own a car without ID, you can’t have a JOB without ID, you can’t get a cell phone without a bank account or credit card which require ID.

There is NO excuse to not be able to identify yourself when you exercise your right to vote. None.

If you are homeless, you cannot afford any of those things. Not everyone can afford cell phones, not everyone can afford cars (why do you think so many died in Hurricane Katrina?), not everyone has credit cards, people who are at/below the poverty line do not usually have bank accounts. (My best friend just got one a few years ago. He cashed his paycheck at grocery stores) Not everyone has had your advantages. The laws being passed will not allow people to use the forms of ID you’ve described. And the reason that I know all of this is because I’ve worked with people of low socio-economic backgrounds because I taught in a Title 1 school for 7 1/2 years. Many of the parents both had to have jobs, but their skill set was only good enough for minimum wage - for a family of five. Sometimes on parent had to have 2 jobs. Some walked miles to school because they lived just outside the bus route and used shopping carts so their 4 yr olds didn’t have to walk that far. The government shouldn’t make it harder for Americans to vote. This is a form of voter suppression and the Republican party (Democratic states are not making laws to disenfranchised voters) is only doing this because the people I’m describing are more likely to vote Democrat. The Equal Protection Clause is there for a reason. Check into the civil right’s movement and you’ll find more answers there.

*I wrote most of this to you in an ask, but I figured it might be useful information to other people that might not have had these life experiences. I hope this helps create a clearer picture of what’s really going on here. I’ll be happy to tell you more about mine if you like, just send me an ask.

(via sushigrade)