Subject: Re: [EL] Voter ID expert for interview today
From: Jon Roland
Date: 1/28/2011, 4:52 PM
To: Denise Lieberman
CC: Election Law <election-law@mailman.lls.edu>
Reply-to:
"jon.roland@constitution.org"

Correct. All the supporting evidence would also have to be free, even to get a notary acknowledgment on an affidavit, since most notaries don't really know affiants personally. That would impose a substantial cost on governments.That is why I propose biometric digital notary systems, in which identification really would be based on those who have actually known the person for a long time. Of course, provision would have to be made for persons who have not been known by anyone for a long time. There are a lot of people, otherwise qualified to vote, who are socially isolated, for various legitimate reasons. I am a moderately affable fellow, not hiding under a rock, but I have not been counted in a census since 1950 (even though my mother was a census taker in 1960), suggesting how easy it is to overlook persons. Many people do not have or really need social security numbers, which are useless for identification anyway, and only make identity theft easier. (I generally refuse to give mine to anyone except those agencies that already have it.)

On 01/28/2011 06:25 PM, Denise Lieberman wrote: 
even when the ID is provided for free, these bills fail to take into account that the underlying documents necessary to procure the ID (certified birth certificate, in some cases social security card, marriage or divorce records etc) are not free, can be very costly to low-income voters, and may be difficult -- and even impossible for some -- to obtain.
-- Jon

----------------------------------------------------------
Constitution Society               http://constitution.org
2900 W Anderson Ln C-200-322           twitter.com/lex_rex
Austin, TX 78757 512/299-5001  jon.roland@constitution.org
----------------------------------------------------------