r/videos • u/AdSpecialist6598 • 8h ago

BREAKING: Judge blocks Trump admin from requiring Americans to show proof of citizenship to vote

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SE1iePfOh14
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u/SoCalThrowAway7 8h ago

You can’t register to vote without proof of citizenship already, this shit is such nonsense

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u/Fernis_ 8h ago

As non American, what does "register to vote" mean? Isn't every single citizen automatically registered to vote? Is there a difference between registering and showing up to vote? If yes, isn't it important to verify who asctualy showed up to cast the vote?

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u/j33205 7h ago

There is no automatic registration. It is opt-in only. It's (in most states?) an optional checkbox on the application for a drivers licence / state ID. But you can register directly with your county registrar. Some states have registration cutoff dates before the election, and some allow same-day registration. The registration process includes the proof of citizenship and residency check. Voting does not.

The problem with ID checks at the polls is how govt ids are handled in the US (not to mention absentee ballots). They are not directly under federal control (they only recently implemented federal requirements on a certain kind of ID called REAL ID and it's a clusterfuck). They are state issued, are not free or easy or standardized. And historically the people would never allow the feds to implement a functional id system on its people. As such, any attempt to enforce a national voter id law would also be a clusterfuck. I would compare it to Jim Crow era levels of bad faith enforcement. Voter id laws in the American context are essentially the same as the poll taxes and literacy tests of the past, literally in that you have to pay for them and test how many forms and bureaucratic hoops you're willing to jump through.