Alabama voters can still get free voter ID'S at all county registrars. Or am I missing something?

[alp227]

I heard on NPR Morning Edition today a story about the Alabama driver license closures. Because of the fact that all counties in the state provide voter ID cards free of charge, I feel I'm being sold a Fox News narrative. From the Alabama Secretary of State office:

"The closure of 31 DMV offices will not leave citizens without a place to receive the required I.D. card to vote,” said Secretary Merrill. “All 67 counties in Alabama have a Board of Registrars that issue photo voter I.D. cards. If for some reason those citizens are not able to make it to the Board of Registrars, we'll bring our mobile I.D. van and crew to that county.

Is it less convenient for people in the affected counties to go to the country registrar office, because of distance, hours, etc? Please explain.

[LannyDeVaney]

1. Check out the documentation requirements to get a free Voter ID card ...

They sound an awfully lot like a driver's license.

[alp227]

2. I thought the issue was a lack of facilities to get the cards,

not the lack of personal documentation?

[HassleCat]

4. You have to look at the whole issue

For some people, it's location and distance. For others, it's lack of documentation. For a significant number, it's both. The real issue, the essential point underlying all this, is that we have some states making it harder for people to vote, and they're doing it because they want to make it harder for people to vote. There is no voter fraud problem, and there hasn't been since the days of the old political machines in places like Chicago and New York City. The voter ID laws serve only one purpose, and that is to reduce Democratic voter participation, thereby making it easier for Republicans to win. That's the issue.

[Sanity Claws]

3. But can you get the voter id without the drivers license

Or similar documentation? Drivers licenses are the most common form of i.d. Without it, you can't get on a plane or do many other things.

[saturnsring]

5. If for some reason those citizens are not able to make it to the Board of Registrars, we'll bring ou

If for some reason those citizens are not able to make it to the Board of Registrars, we'll bring our mobile I.D. van and crew to that county.

[Old Codger]

7. OK

At what point does that occur? 1 voter, 2 , 3 4? How do they go about getting that info to the responsible parties?

[saturnsring]

8. yea i agree but idk

[procon]

6. If you look at the demographics of the targeted groups,

then, yes, it is going to affect a lot of potential voter. It is a hardship for the poor, elderly, disabled, students, the working poor, people who must care for other family members, and rural communities. Many people may not have reliable cars, and even if they do they may not have the money to buy extra gas to travel across the entire county, take a day off work, pay the parking fees at the county offices, and drive back home again just to get an ID. Public transportation in rural area is spotty at best, and without a car, how are voters even going to get the the registrar office?

And once at the county seat or courthouse to get to the registrars office this presumes that voter could first afford to the pay all the out of pocket costs just obtaining all the supporting documents from various counties or state agencies to prove a legal identity. Women especially, might change their surnames names several times during their lives, and would need to acquire a paper trail of legal name changes for any marriages, divorces, deaths, and that is expensive.

Look at the numbers; Alabama IDs issued as of September 28, 2015 = 1,442, and only 29 IDs were issued from the mobile van. Clearly this scheme is either grossly ineffective, or it's wonderful news... depending on your party affiliation.

Google has lots of current news stories covering this issue right now.