First things first, I don't doubt it is a bad thing, considering who supports it and who doesn't.

But my question is what exactly is the issue and what is the current and proposed voting process when it comes to IDs?

Here in my EU country, you have to show some version of a government ID, be it an ID card, drivers license or passport. And we don't have to pre-register to vote.

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[–] 3 points 5 hours ago* (2 children)

No, each EU country has its own electoral system. The EU is currently a federation of mostly independent countries. Most or all of these countries have voter ID laws. This is usually not a problem since everyone can be reasonably assumed to have a government-issued ID document.

To give an example, in Germany your birth is always documented. As a citizen you always receive an ID card when you turn 16; in fact, you are legally required to have a valid one that includes current information. For example, if you move you have to make an appointment with the citizens' center in your new municipality to change your registration and they'll put a correction sticker with your new address on the ID card. If you change your name you have to get a new one, which costs about 50 bucks; same if you lose yours or if it expires. People under 24 and poor people get rebates, in the latter case of up to 100%.

We don't have a voter roll per se; all citizens receive voting invitations by mail several weeks in advance of an election. These are used in conjunction with your ID card to get access to your assigned polling place. The law mandates a certain density of polling places so nobody has to travel too far or wait for too long. The invitation also includes everything needed to register for mail voting including a postage-paid return envelope so poverty isn't a factor in whether you can vote by mail.

So a lot of the criticism about voter ID laws you hear in the United States doesn't apply here because ID cards are ubiquitous (and have been for a long time) and we go out of our way to make sure poor people aren't disadvantaged.

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  • [–] 1 point 42 minutes ago

    In Finland there is no requirement to have an ID card. And within the Nordic countries (Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland), citizens of Nordic countries are allowed to roam without any ID whatsoever. There is a requirement that I must be able to prove my identity, however, and that can mean some hassle with having to visit a police station for many hours in that country, so it's advisable to just have at least some form of ID card on you. Also, Finland is basically an island and the ship companies to Sweden require you to prove your identity with a government-issued ID card or passport.

    And then there's Denmark, which often requires you to have a passport in order to cross the country's border. But I am allowed to exist in Denmark as a Finnish person without any form of passport or ID. Just not cross the border :D

    In Finland you can also vote without an ID if you are able to prove your identity in some other manner. For example, if you've got someone with you that can vouch for you being you and has some way to prove their identity.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 hours ago

    In contrast, most states issue the main identification credential through the Department of Motor Vehicles and will only have offices open in areas to meet demand for automotive registration purposes. So, a lot of inner city areas don't have many offices to get ID cards and they usually are only open during working hours.

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