So You Think It's Easty To Get An ID Card? Think Again

One of the constant replies I receive when talking to people about the so-called Voter ID laws now running rampant in our country is, "I just don't believe people can't get ID."   My instant response usually goes, "No, it is hard and not all people's lives are just like yours."

So often today we get caught in our insular bubbles that keep us from inter-acting with people whose lives are different from ours.   I mean real interaction as in "walk a mile in my shoes."

So I decided to check in with my youngest daughter, who spent her first year after college graduation with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps-Northwest working in a day drop-in shelter for the homeless in Tacoma, Washington.   Here's her account of just how hard it is for people to get ID.

In Tacoma, we budgeted out for ten checks per month to help people pay to get IDs (replacement, first time, renew, etc.) on a first come, first serve basis. On the first day of every month, people would be lined up outside waiting for us to open the doors, and then lined up waiting outside our office for it to open, where usually the first ten people in line were there to get an ID check. Almost never would we have any checks left on the second day of the month. We also (until we didn't have the budget for it) gave out a bus ticket with each check, so that people would have a way to get to the appropriate office where they needed to go for their ID. People would call us in the middle of the month since they had been referred to us hearing that we helped people get IDs and we would have to tell them we give out ten checks per month, if you want a chance at getting one you need to be here at exactly the time we open on the first day of the month.

Here's why it's not realistic to say, "I don't believe people would have a hard time getting an ID." Let's use me as a hypothetical situation. I'm sitting here (since you asked about this) and thought, what would I do if I needed to get an ID? (Which I actually do, still, since I don't have one for Illinois yet.)

The first thing I did was look up on the Internet where the closest DMV to me is. (Putting aside the fact that I am sitting at a computer with easy Internet access. Recalling that even to get my library card - some libraries differ about rules for internet access, in Tacoma you had to plug in your card number to use the computer, I had to present them with utility bills, since I didn't have an Illinois issued ID.   Again: I possibly need an ID to access a computer to look up on the Internet HOW TO GET AN ID)

I found out that there really aren't any close to where I live - the closest one is downtown. Which is still almost 3 miles away from where I live. Now, I am going to be fine because I happen to work close to where the office is and have the luxury of being able to step out of the office over the lunch hour and head over there. But for those "not just like" me, they would first need to be able to get the 3 miles to the office. I have a transportation card paid for by my work place and a bike and access to people with cars and enough money to pay for a cab. Others would need to come up with $4.50 in cash (exact change) to be able to take public transportation to and from the office (or: find more for a cab, or have a friend with a car, or own a bike, or, walk. It takes about an hour to walk from where I live to downtown).

But, let's not forget, when I was looking up the nearest location of the DMV, I was also checking to see when it was open. And the hours of the nearest location to me are: 8 am - 5 pm Monday - Friday, closed on Saturday and Sunday. Work a full-time job from 8 am - 5 pm? (Or multiple part time jobs? Or a night shift job, so that you'd rather be sleeping from 8-5?) One that might not allow you to travel to the closest office (which could be miles away) over a lunch break? (assuming that you have one, and won't get fired on the spot for being five minutes late to get back)? What exactly are you going to do about this? Have kids that you need to get home to, pick up from school, drop off at school, etc.?

Let's also not forget that I'm living in a major city of almost 3 million people. This means there are multiple office locations where I could go to, a solid public transportation system, etc. Poverty and homelessness are real things in the suburbs and in rural areas as well, which opens up all sorts of other issues in terms of access, transportation, etc. when you aren't talking about living in a big city. Correct me if I'm wrong but Minnesota voter ID affects the whole state, not just Minneapolis and St. Paul and Rochester and Duluth.

Let's also not forget that usually to get an ID, you need some other form of ID. From a story I recently wrote: A similar situation is that when someone tries to get an ID card, they will be asked to supply secondary proof of identity like a birth certificate. Don't have your birth certificate? Off you get sent to go get it. Oh, you only had enough money for one bus ride? How are you going to get to this other office to track down your birth certificate? When are you going to do it? Finally make it to the office where you can get your birth certificate? Well, they're PROBABLY going to ask to see your identification before they give you your birth certificate!!!

I remember at Nativity House (Tacoma) a man came in who had just lost everything in a fire and was in this exact situation - all of his forms of ID had burned in the fire and he couldn't get one without the other. When I do go get my ID I'm going to need to bring with me pretty much everything short of the name of my first born child: I'll need my passport, social security card, copy of my lease or some utility bills, pay stub, bank statement, etc. Don't have a job? Don't have a bank account? Aren't paying utility bills because you don't have your own place to live?

And, if by a miracle all these other things fall into place, you still have pay for the ID. We kept a list in the office of how much everything cost - for renewal, replacing a lost ID, getting issued a new one, etc. The cheapest amount was maybe $15, the most up to about $50.

I could probably keep going, but the moral of this story is yes: Not everyone is like you. Not everyone has internet access, a car, a bus pass, disposal income for public transportation, flexible job hours, friends or family members to ask for help, an address, a bank account, etc., etc., etc.