So, I figured out my problem with voter ID

[justalurkr]

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.

Comments

[nialla]

I didn't have an actual copy of my birth certificate until I was 28. I needed the official copy to get a passport, but I'd been coasting through school with the hospital copy, which is essentially a "souvenir" certificate with my baby footprints on it.

The actual copy is currently locked in the family safe. My grandfather and his father used to run a "filling station" back in the 30s, and the family safe was once the store safe, and has the name of the store across the front, which includes the family name. It would take me longer than five minutes to get to it though, because I do not keep the combination on my person, but I know the multiple places it is hidden.

I've been paying utility bills for years that do not have my name on them. We've been talking about changing them so that will give me the paperwork in case I ever need it, but the thought of the bureaucracy involved is daunting.

I was just reading about a man in Houston that did a two-hour bus trip that had him switching buses three times just to get to the DMV. He didn't own a car, so never had a driver's license, so he was going to get a state ID. After the trip to the DMV, he learned the paperwork he had wasn't acceptable, so he had to make yet another long bus trip to get a copy of his birth certificate. Back at the DMV, this still didn't work because for some reason (I'll let you make a wild guess) it listed his mother's maiden name as his last name though his parents were married at the time.

He could get an ID under the name on his birth certificate, which while technically his legal name, was not the name on any other document he owns, including his voter ID. So he was still unable to vote, because the time it would take for yet another bus trip (or multiple ones) to get his name straightened out on his birth certificate, plus going back to the DMV, then waiting on the actual card meant it would be too late to vote anyway.

It's almost like the old days when only wealthy white male property owners could vote. And that's totally intentional.

[justalurkr.livejournal.com]

Well, the guys with the money should definitely be qualified for...um...keeping it?