“You must be a legal resident of Iowa and the precinct you live in and bring a photo ID with you to participate,” the state Republican party said on Friday in a post on the social media platform X.
The party is scheduled to hold local gatherings, known as the Iowa Caucus, on Jan. 15 in which participants will vote for their choice for the Republican candidate to run in November’s presidential election. U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to be the Democratic Party’s nominee.
The state Republican Party posted its reminder after Casey DeSantis, appearing on Fox News with her husband, the governor of Florida, called on women from across the country to join the gatherings, saying, “You do not have to be a resident of Iowa to participate."
As a non American it’s kinda wild that
A: you don’t need ID to vote
B: not everyone has ID, like, how do you get a bank account or drive or go to school or change a cheque or get benefits or buy beer or anything?
C: getting an ID is so difficult that requiring one is controversial.
ID is not issued by the federal government. It’s typically issued at the state level. As far as the bank account goes, most poor Americans are locked out of the banking system. Many poor Americans cannot afford a car. Etc…
Here’s a brief summary of the physical and financial obstacles. https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/challenge-obtaining-voter-identification
All this shit adds up. Then you have to understand the same people who have to jump through all these hoops for an ID likely have to way half a day in line to vote. The same people pushing for voter ID laws in the US are closing polling places in these people’s neighborhoods to make it even more difficult. These are people who can’t afford to take half a day to get ID or another half a day to wait in line to vote. Because the if they miss work they’ll lose their job or be unable to make rent for the month.
People on the left are not opposed to voter ID requirements, we’re opposed to implementing more burdens on people who already struggle with the logistics of voting.
Make the required identification 100% free and cover the costs of any documents and time needed to get it and I’m all for it. But barriers for legitimate voters are antidemocratic and a very dark part of US history.
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If voting day were a holiday it wouldn’t be nearly as contraversial to require IDs, especially if ID offices were open those days.