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The western European country where I live demands ID for voting. It is entirely non-controversial.





The entire problem is that it's very difficult to obtain ID in many jurisdictions because the ruling class uses it to decrease the "wrong people" from voting.

None of the people who want ID for voting want to make getting said ID easier.


It's kind of a catch-22 though, isn't it? If people rarely need the documentation, there are few incentives to streamline the process for getting it.

But there's no reason to wait with streamlining until people need it. If you know you want to require IDs, streamline the process in the years before.

It's been my observation that organizations - including governments - rarely have that level of foresight. They're usually more reactionary.

Now, there's less need for foresight than for US state legislators to admitt that many currently active or already proposed voter ID laws suppress more valid voters than prevent fraud votes.

Do they maybe also mandate ownership of a valid suitable (for voting) form of ID? Because then it's something you need regardless of voting, so you aren't using right to vote to force it onto people.

I'm not sure if it is mandated but it is certainly relatively easily obtained. You will need a birth certificate and it will often differ in name for married women. The relative ease with which it can be obtained is important for voting, I suspect.

And also doesn’t require any kind of registration. You just get the voting papers mailed in, and you hand them in at the place of voting - together with your ID for verification.

I had to register (being a European citizen but not a national citizen) but, yes, it's all straightforward.

The one where I live does too, but it's one that people have. The requirement is not obnoxious. It's not even bothersome.



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