I am not sure if hal's correct, but automatically registering citizens over 18 and issuing an ID; I think that might actually increase turnout. If a voter ID picture came in the mail and all they had to do was head down to the library one of several October Saturdays or Election Day?
The GOP is full of sh!t. This wind coming out of our windbags would directly address the MUH VOTER ID wind coming out of the GOP's windbags. If they go along with it, registration paperwork + acquiring photo ID addressed. If they balk at it, we call them pussies, go about our days until this pops back up and we remind them they're pussies.
Pretty much every state the GOP could ever hope to win an election (other than for Grand Kleagle) already has a more stringent version of what Hal is talking about.
How does a voter ID just come in the mail? How does the government get the name and current address for every eighteen-year-old in the country? Does this ID have your picture on it? Is it valid for the rest of your life? If so, how does the federal government keep track of everyone who dies and when they died? If it’s not good for life, how do you renew it? How does the government verify the identity of everyone that they’re sending this ID to? Does this ID, which protects what is arguably your most sacred right as an American have fewer safeguards than a passport? If not, how do you issue it without somebody appearing in person?
What keeps people from just stealing this ID from the mailbox? What do you do if you never receive it? What stops people from forging this ID (like they do with passports) or using the ID of someone who’s dead (like they do with social security cards)?
Creating this voter ID would require creating an expensive bureaucratic machine that would definitely require Americans who wanted to vote to do a lot more than sit around an wait for their voter ID to come in the mail. It will definitely discourage people from voting. It will not stop a single person from voting illegally.