I have a civics question: Why do Americans have to register to vote? Why can't the gov't say, use tax rolls to create a base list of people eligible to vote? Why is the onus on the voter to prove eligibility? Wouldn't that take the politics out of voter registration?

Why can't the gov't say, use tax rolls to create a base list of people eligible to vote?

The baseline answer to this is that the federal gov't doesn't organize the elections, the states do. So we register by proving residence (and age) in the state in which we're living, not by proving we pay taxes, own land, etc.

Not everyone has to file? Some people that pay taxes can't vote?

Also, we have no national identity card, which would probably solve a number problems like this. Still don't get that.

What did they do in the bad old days, when only white male landowners could vote?

Probably had to show your deed/claim thing.

Yeah, the years I was 18 and 19, I was eligible to vote, but didn't make any money that I paid taxes on. Plus, with college students, some vote in the state where the college is, and some vote in the state where their parents live, and either one is legal. As long as you only vote in one or the other, not both, of course.

Has everyone seen this? These kids are awesome. [link]

When I registered to vote in NC, my drivers license was from NM, my car was registered in NC and my mailing address was a private post office box not run by the USPS that I lost every summer. It occurs to me that this might so not work in some states these days...

The baseline answer to this is that the federal gov't doesn't organize the elections, the states do.

Ah, it's a state-federal thing.

The taxes thing was just an example. Election rolls are done by the Gov't in Canada, and they do ask to use you personal information from your tax return to populate elections rolls, but they also do go door to door adding people to the list. (though not as often as they used to.) It's added expense for the gov't, and certainly not foolproof (when I was in university, they enumerated everyone in residence, even Americans), but it mostly takes partisanship out of the equation.

The fact that our election process is not nationalized is one of the greatest pains in my intellectual life. That and the continuing existence of the electoral college.

If we are so pro-democracy that we'll spend our children's futures into the ground to fight wars for it (apply liberal sarcasm here...pun intended), why can't we agree on consistent voting processes? It just makes no sense.

I'm going to vote tomorrow...taking a war 'n peace sized stack of reading materials. I don't care how long it takes.

Also, we have no national identity card, which would probably solve a number problems like this. Still don't get that.

There's a lot of paranoia about that, around here I hear objections to that based on 2nd amendment issues and religion. I think it's odd as well since everyone already has a SSN.