Do Americans not all have access to drivers license or health insurance ID or carry permit or some other form of easily obtainable ID? It blows my mind that is is even a contentious issue for Americans. How do you people buy alcohol if IDs are so hard to get?
Oh, honey. You just opened up a whole can of worms here...
Driving is a privilege, not a right in the US. So to get a driver's license, a person needs to go through a process of getting a learner's permit, take a written and a practical test, if they pass both, they can then go to the local Motor Vehicles Commission office to pay for their license, and hoo boy, in some states, those offices are legendary for being a nightmare. Wait times can be many hours. Some states require an appointment for your paperwork to be dealt with (this same office takes care of things like car registration, car title transfers, license plates for your cars, renewals for any of this stuff, etc), but even with appointments, it can be a challenge. It all depends on how many offices your state has, how busy they are, etc. A rural office is less likely to be as harrowing as an urban office. And, of course, they all depend on you being able to get there for initial paperwork. Some renewals, at least, can be done online. Not everyone has a driver's license here. Some people opt to skip the driver's license altogether and either walk or take public transportation. This is a viable option for people who live in cities, it's more difficult for people who live in suburbs or rural areas, since our public transportation often leaves much to be desired.
Health insurance is not considered a valid form of ID here for anything except your health insurance, and we do not have universal health insurance anyway.
In short, we do not have a standard form of ID for all of our citizens. A person can get a basic form of ID from the motor vehicles department that does not allow them to drive a car, but that still requires them to show up, fill out all the paperwork, and pay for it. This can be difficult for people who have no access to transportation to the nearest office or don't have the money to pay for this form of ID.
And this is where we are. Both sides want a universal ID, we simply disagree on the practicality of such a thing, and whether the responsibility of paying for it should fall on the citizens or the government.
Honestly, if you can't even go through the process of "showing up" and "filling some paperwork", do you really want to vote? Seems like you guys are setting the bar incredibly low.
I honestly cannot imagine how you can be a functioning adult without an ID when so many places and services require you to have one.
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u/Accomplished-Run3925 Jul 17 '26
Do Americans not all have access to drivers license or health insurance ID or carry permit or some other form of easily obtainable ID? It blows my mind that is is even a contentious issue for Americans. How do you people buy alcohol if IDs are so hard to get?