I appreciate what you all have said, starting with Kieran. You are the only one to at least address if the question of ID is for squelching voter fraud.
I don't really have the same issues I used to with ID, because times change, and we are more modern, though I will say, as the Republicans move the goalposts, requiring more and more ID, they are, in this country, expensive. A driver's license costs about $75 in NY, an ID for those who don't drive is less, but cumbersome to get. A passport starts at about $165. And just a reminder: in the US, if you don't drive or fly or travel abroad, you are not required to carry ID. If the police stop you, unlike in countries I've lived in in Europe, they cannot cite you for walking around, minding your own, with no ID. Free country, as we like to say. Meaning, if you have no ID, and you're not required to, they are trying to make it hard for you to vote.
But the more salient point is this: What are people worried about happening if we don't require ID at the polls? You say it's "fragile," just to compare my signature, in NY. But how fragile, really? Say someone goes to my polling place, replicates my signature, and steals my vote. That's one vote. Drop in the bucket. And, as I have pointed out, there is already the safeguard that it's a federal crime. Subject to something like $5000 fine and 5 years in prison, and you're a felon for life. It's not a cost-effective way to steal an election, nor is it worth the risk. (And, btw, if I showed up after, and someone had already voted in my name, I have the right to request an affidavit ballot. Those are the ballots that take longer to sort out, after the polls close.)
As I read in
@Kieran's link to how homeless people can vote, some states don't require much proof of citizenship upfront, but you show it at the polls. This is a complication, but every state controls their own voting and rules. If it were me, I'd have everyone prove they are eligible to vote when they register. Proof of citizenship (birth certificate, passport, whatever,) and they swear to it, and they're registered. Done. Then, when they show up at their correct polling place, with their name, it should be enough. If you want an ID, per your own state, OK, but it should be easy and quick. Quick is important because, if you slow things down at the polls, the lines get long, and you risk people giving up and not voting. I mentioned before, and I mean this very sincerely: the most important thing is that all eligible voters get to vote, and not get discouraged from it. The polling place is NOT the time to be really checking if people are legal to vote. It's too time-consuming. That should have been done before. Don't put that on poll workers.
I think people who make the voter ID argument don't understand that you don't want the heavy-lifting done at the polls. It needs to be done before.
But again, the most important point, that folks seem to forget, because Trump has convinced half of the voting population in the US, and apparently some of the rest of you, is that VOTER FRAUD IS VERY RARE! And it doesn't tend to affect elections, and certainly not national ones. Fraud has to be perpetrated on a grand scale, as in something like the Russians hacking the system to make even a dent. The one-to-one vote will never get you enough benefit to be worth the risk.
Can you see what I mean?
. You usually have some ideas, right? Same here:
