How do they currently ID people?

Signature.

I can't remember if it's how they do it here, but in NY, you sign the register against the signature you registered to vote with.

Talk me through this slowly, because I am a newb to your ways of democracy and hope...but what's big difference between simply registering to vote and getting a state ID? What do you need for the latter that you don't need for the former?

Oh, and this (SFW, but a little WTF?) doesn't belong anywhere near my Democracy 101 questions.

State ID costs money. registering to vote does not. To get my Driver's License in TX with a current NY one, I needed my original Birth Certificate, documentation of local address (possibly the mortgage or deed), and something else. It is a deterrent to vote and there is no proof that voter fraud is currently an issue.

ita, traditionally in the US, but especially in the South, States have implemented various measures to keep poor and black people from voting, including things like literacy tests and poll taxes. The US Supreme Court has repeatedly struck down these measure as unconstitutional. In the 1990s, the Democratic Congress passed laws to make it even easier for people to register to vote, with the result being even wider spread voter participation.

In the past few elections the right wing media (i.e. Fox News) have been planting stories about widespread voter fraud, mostly in inner cities. This is what all of the attacks on Acorn were about. Acorn was successful at getting people registered to vote, but the right was charging that they were enabling people with fake names to vote multiple times. Even though there was never any real evidence of widespread voter fraud, it is taken as the gospel truth in right-wing circles. A majority of Republicans believe that Obama and Acorn stole the election.

So basically, these voter ID laws are being put in place as a reaction against a nonexistent threat. The net result will be to make it harder for poor people to vote. Poor people are more likely to not have a driver's license, and probably won't go through the hassle of getting a non-driver's ID in order to vote.

Specifically, in Texas, for a state ID you get photographed and fingerprinted.

probably won't go through the hassle of getting a non-driver's ID in order to vote.

If the effort of getting a non-driver's ID was equal to registering to vote (I have done neither, so I don't know), would it still be seen as an obstacle?

State ID costs money

Seriously? That seems rather obvious a monkey wrench to throw in people's way. And, me, I seem naive.

To get my Driver's License in TX with a current NY one, I needed my original Birth Certificate, documentation of local address (possibly the mortgage or deed), and something els

What do I need to register to vote?

Fuck me with a spoon if I don't feel awful. Like, I'm not sure I even want to work from home awful. This is stupid.

Registering to vote usually just requires filling out a form and signing it.

Registering to vote usually just requires filling out a form and signing it.

Do you need a mailing address?