Summary
A GOP-led procedural vote in the House failed after nine Republicans joined Democrats, halting legislative action for the week.
The vote’s collapse blocked Republican efforts to pass the No Rogue Rulings Act, aimed at limiting federal judges’ power, and the SAVE Act, which would require proof of citizenship to vote.
The failed rule also sought to derail a bipartisan resolution allowing proxy voting for new parents, led by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna.
With the rule defeated, Speaker Mike Johnson canceled all remaining votes until Monday evening, stalling key GOP priorities.
As a non-USian, explain me the controversy of requiring proof of citizenship? Of course I have to show valid, government issued ID to vote. Can anyone just waltz in and vote willy-nilly? This makes no sense to me.
Basically they are targeting women, and trans people. Newly married women, and trans people would have ID that doesn’t necessarily match either their birth certificate name, or their name recorded by the registrar of voters. Also, and this is the kicker, WE ALREADY HAVE THE LAWS THAT ARE NEEDED. They are fighting a made up issue that they made up.
To add to all of that, ID is getting somewhat prohibitive in costs. Here in CA it costs me $30 to renew my ID, not driver’s license, every 6 or 8 years. That’s not a major issue to me, but I do know people that absolutely could not afford it. It is annoying, since I got my first ID in '96 and that one only cost me $5.
Adjusting for inflation, that same ID should theoretically cost only $10 now.
Not entirely apples to oranges. I got my first ID in Indiana, I dunno what a license costs there at this point, but KY was at $15 back in 2016 when I left there.
I think the bigger issue isn’t even cost. Fuck, most people in CA can deal with $30 if the process was instant. Let’s not pretend that’s what stopping people
The real issue is taking the day off from work to wait your ass in DMV lines when you really rather just stay home in bed if you’re gonna spend a day not grinding down to a mental break
Remember some people are unhoused or literally paycheck to paycheck.
If they are working 2 or 3 jobs and overdrafting weekly, $30 is a problem, plus the lost wages waiting in line at the DMV.
yup getting a passport is harder than a LICENSE, must make an appt for inperson “passport photos” no online service for that.
first time ID users, have to get appointments which takes time.
it primarly is a voter suppression tactics, many people dont have a valid passport/expired, and often time minorities poc, lgbtq+ dont have one. you can say, go apply for a passport, its actually less convenient than getting a ID/LICENSE. first you have to “apply online” then make a appointment at specific postal locations and only in person, must call no online appointment scheduling. often times passport appointments are book weeks and months advance.
It’s a fair question so idk why people are downvoting you. But in the US you can’t just walk in and vote (ID or not). Before the election you have to register to vote, and that process verifies that you are a citizen. Then once you go into your polling place to actually cast your vote, they check your name/address to see if you’ve been registered, and if you have, then you are allowed to vote.
So requiring ID to vote introduces a second step to check something that’s already been verified (you can’t register to vote if you aren’t a citizen), and Republicans love it because adding extra hoops to the voting process lowers turnout and historically Republicans do better in low voter turnout elections.
That still doesn’t cover the need to verify that you are who you say you are.
If government issued IDs were free for everyone, this wouldn’t be an issue. The issue isn’t showing an ID to vote, it’s that not everyone has one, and those who don’t are usually lower income.
Actually checking the name and address against the voting registration record, without an additional ID check, really is enough to validate someone in like 99.999999% of cases. In order for someone to impersonate someone else while voting, they would need to:
-Know their name
-Know their address
-Know their designated polling place and physically visit it to cast a ballot
-And most importantly, they would need to know that the person they’re impersonating is not going to vote in that election. Because otherwise as soon as they do, it’s going to flag a voter fraud alert when one voter appears to be voting twice. Which is a federal crime that is taken very seriously and easy to track down, because it occurs so infrequently and there’s surveillance at every polling location
So an imposter would be risking federal prison time in order to swing an election by one vote. It’s something that happens like a single digit number of times per election.
Compare that to the hundreds or even thousands of times that people work 8+ hour days (since elections in the US are never on holidays), get to their polling place that closes as early as 6pm, and then find that they’ve forgot to bring or lost their ID, and then won’t or can’t vote in the election. The current system works fine, ID laws are 100% just a voter suppression tactic.
It’s hard to find the original Daily Show clip, but they show part of it here. It’s the most vile fucking double think imaginable, saying “Hey, I’m not racist, I just want to disenfranchise minority and student voters who HAPPEN to be mostly democrats, and by the way, yeah, I’m actually pretty fucking racist.” I’m just glad that the Daily Show got to interview a guy who was so lacking in self-awareness that he said it all out loud.
They also check your signature and compare it to what’s in your records. Over the course of my young adult years, my signature became more sloppy as I got lazier. I didn’t realize it until I went to vote and the person working there scrutinized my signature because of it.
I think that’s a local state or city requirement, I’m not sure I’ve ever had to sign for a ballot.
Elections in the US are run by the state government, even federal elections, so details like that are going to vary between states
Also non-american here who lives in America now though. I was also confused about the backlash to voter ID back then (this is a VERY old issue) as in Germany you are required to show your ID when voting.
It has been explained to me that most Americans do not have ANY form of identification other than their drivers license. There is no personal ID you are required to possess like in Germany. The vast majority of Americans does not have, nor will ever have, a passport. Driver’s licenses are cheaper to obtain than in Europe, but you still have to provide a host of documents many poorer people might not be able to provide + you need to pass a driver’s test of course to get it. There are a lot of people who for one reason or another can not do that.
In other words, if you don’t pass a driver’s test in the US, you might as well not exist. There is still the “social security number”, but that one is NOT MEANT to be a form of identification, plus immigrants without citizenship can also obtain them (I should know, I have one). I don’t think a common driver’s license counts for voter ID’s purposes under that proposal, so the way to identifying yourself as a citizen is even more limited. There is a REAL ID program in some states, but not others. You also get that from the DMV, which again is just the motor vehicle office. It’s really fucked up here. All of it. A solution would be to require citizen ID’s like its done in Europe, but the government doesn’t want to pay for that and Americans are usually against something like that (“government overreach wah wah what’s next, chips in my skin???”). So…hm.
I don’t know how it is in other states, but here in Nebraska, you can get an ID card that’s pretty much the same as a DL for identification purposes. No need to fuss about with a driver’s test. Your ability to go anywhere is pretty much nonexistent, but that’s a completely different discussion.
Yeah my understanding of the ID situation in the US is certainly flawed. It seems labyrinthian to me at times due to all the different state ordenances. Although nothing compared to the US health care system. Jesus Christ. One thing I’ve learned here is that freedom certainly isn’t free.
This is not true. You can get an id card that is not a drivers license.
Let’s talk about flying instead of voting.
What happens if you fly somewhere, have your wallet stolen, and have to fly home without an ID? Does your country have a procedure for dealing with this case?
The answer is pretty obviously yes. There are methods of confirming identification by other means, for issuing a new identification card quickly, etc.
With voting, the question isn’t whether government issued IDs can be used to streamline identity verification. Every polling site uses and accepts IDs. The question is what happens when someone doesn’t have their ID on them, or can’t get to the polling place in person: is there a procedure that still allows them to vote somehow? Those are the alternative procedures being banned by legislation like this.
I have an out-of-state ID because it was a hassle to get it updated after I moved, and when I went to vote (in Illinois), they required me to provide proof of residence, I forget exactly but like a copy of my lease or utility bills - pretty much the same documents you’d use to need to show to get an ID in the first place. You still have to prove you are who you say you are.
This problem dramatically affects people who don’t present as white, male, and non-poor, so Republicans say ‘suffer’ and Democrats don’t realize the route forward is no-cost ID. If Estonia figured it out, (cost, not related social issues) so can America.
Nice downvotes. Here I was sure this one would be seen positively. F me.
I think your second point is fine, but your first point comes across as condescending and needlessly pedantic. The meaning was clear enough.