HR 4484 - a thought experiment

ok so i'm watching the EXHILIRATING debate in the house about the bill to require proof of citizenship to vote.

• i think voter fraud is unacceptable, and i'm sure everyone in congress (says he) does as well.


• i also think a "modern day poll tax" is unacceptable, as i'm sure everyone in congress (says he) does as well - so i don't think anyone (says he) intends to enact something similar to a "poll tax."


• i do not know anybody who has in his or her wallet something that proves citizenship.


• in my own wallet i have my social security card (which non-citizens can get legally); i have my drivers license (which also is available legally to non-citizens); i have my voter registration card (which is used sometimes to prove identification)


• i did not have to prove my citizenship in order to get a voter registration card. from the illinois board of elections website:

  What forms of identification are needed when I register to vote?
  Two forms of identification with one showing your current residence address. If you register by mail, you must vote in person the first time you vote.



• nor does the illinois voter registration form require proof of citizenship. the only requirement is that you SWEAR OR AFFIRM that you are a citizen.


• i imagine it is very easy for someone (ie, a sociopath) to "swear or affirm" fraudulently that he is a citizen and completely disregard the consequences (which will probably take some time to catch up with him and by then who knows where he'll be).


• the bill allows for the government to provide funds to help those who cannot afford to get the requisite documents (ie, passport, birth certificate)


• i think if i did not have the requisite documents or internet access (so as to supply myself with news fodder), it would seem like too much trouble to acquire said documents. and lacking internet access i would not know what i would have to do to get a copy of my birth certificate (if i even HAVE a birth certificate) and lacking transportation or time to go to the library (maybe i have a bunch of kids and have to work three jobs to keep them from starving) i would not be able to go to the library because maybe i'm working during all the library's open hours.


• of course, if i were very poor and very interested in voting, i would go to whatever length i would need in order to register to vote. so we cannot use the argument that it would be too hard for the people who really care because i imagine that if they really cared they would do whatever it takes to make sure they can vote.


• i wonder how many of the very poor care about voting?


• ok so let's say that i'm the above very poor person (which, in light of the lack of a job, i'm afraid i might be!) and because of some unwise financial decisions in my past i have very bad credit and therefore have no credit card. all three paychecks go to feeding my kids so i really don't have a hundred bucks lying around to apply for a passport (plus the twenty or so bucks to acquire a copy of my birth certificate)... so hmm what do i do?


• the government has said that it would provide funds so that i can get the documents that i need to prove my citizenship (but how?)... that might require another form that might not yet be available. or maybe there is a form for a government reimbursement of what i had to pay, but i don't have a way to pay for these things to begin with. hm.


• ok so i have hit a dead end. i don't know what to do from here. any suggestions? from this perspective the requirement for a proof-of-citizenship ID seems like something out of my reach. in the opposition's words, a "modern day poll tax."


• i hope the bill gets shot down as-is. they need to decide how to guarantee that everyone will have the right to vote.


• biometrics? a national fingerprint registry... but there's the big brother theme and the cost of the biometric ID system (maybe an as-yet-unheard-of tech company will donate the necessary items?) but even then you would still have to prove your citizenship in order to have your fingerprints registered to this (fictitious?) biometric id registry.
  what to do, what to do?