Voter ID

Voter ID laws are in the news recently.

I have to say I'm conflicted. I think there should be some sort of physical identification for voters.

When I lived in a college town, poll workers always asked for ID. Here in the City of Pride and Purpose they do not. It bothers me. What if someone pretended to be me?

Is there some happy medium about the type of identification, it'd be great. I now understand that there's more at stake, including the disenfranchisement of rural and poor people.

In the old days there was that happy medium. Before the widespread use of photography, people appeared at the polls ahead of time, registered and had a physical description taken. Couldn't they at least do this? As a side note, via the Great Register of Voters of 1890, I learned that two of mrguy's ancestors were missing the same part of the same finger on the same hand. Both worked in the roundhouse on the railroad.

Surely a simple system like this could be used for people who are unable to get a photo ID.

Just a thought.

10/28/2012
And now an update. It seems like the incidence of actual voter fraud is pretty small and the consequences of disenfranchising people who want to vote are worse. 

I give.