If you hear anything hinky out of Georgia today...

...it will likely be me. I have this vision of minding my own business, casting my vote and SUDDENLY ALARMZ EVRWHERE BLUE VOTE BLUE VOTE BLUE VOTE and they evacuate the polling place and burn it to the ground so the contagion doesn't spread.

Yeah. My mind is a scary place.

So, I figured out my problem with voter ID

Being an extraordinarily privileged rhymes-with-witch, it took me longer. (facepalm)

I live alone (with cats.) All of the utilities are in my name. When I went to get my "secure" driver's license ("to prevent identity fraud, dear") I had to present either a passport or birth certificate (and I'd just gotten through obtaining a passport with...wait for it...my prior driver's license) and three utility bills with my name and address on them.

Enormous PITA. (I thought at the time)

I got to thinking today -- I had to get my birth certificate from my parents because they (rightly) are afraid I'll lose it. But I got it. I've traveled the world, so the passport did the trick. It took me awhile to get the printer working to print out all three necessary utility bills (I pay everything online.) But I got them. I bundled the whole shootin' match down to the DMV and got my secure driver's license.

Now. What if:

1. I'm traditionally married and all of the utilities are in my husband's name? Georgia's a traditional kind of State, I could probably skate on that one as long as I'd taken his name.

2. I'm ZOMG LIVING IN SIN and my significant other's name is on all of the utilities? Or even some of them? Are there even enough utilities for each resident to have three in their names?

3. I'm living on my aunt's couch because my mom has rules and stuff or I couldn't make rent on my own place or WAIT I'M 18 AND ALL OF THE UTILITIES ARE IN PARENTS' NAMES.

Lastly, I double dog dare you to lay hands on your birth certificate or passport in under five minutes. If you're securing them properly as the vitally important, identity proving documents they are, this should actually be kind of difficult. (I'm still on a waiting list for a safety deposity box, so they're locked in a drawer at home now.)

So, heads of household and their lawfully wed spouses can get the documentation together for a secure DL with some effort but no real difficulty (assuming they file the birth certificate or passport with the marriage license) compared to people with no permanent address or in non-traditional living arrangements.

I guess my point is that showing a card at a polling place may not seem like much, but getting the card? Hmmm. Seems easier if you fit a traditional, conservative profile than if you don't.