Michigan voters shouldn’t have to jump through hoops to express their fundamental right to vote. But if bills pending in the House pass, new voters will have to provide a photo ID when they register and so will voters who request an absentee ballot in person at the clerk’s office.
Supporters of these bills say that the ID requirement is no big deal because IDs are free to some categories of state residents: those who are blind, have had their license suspended due to a disability, or are over 65. Fee waivers are also available to residents in some contexts, but a waiver of that $10 charge is not enough.
It is a fallacy to say the IDs are free.
In order to get a driver’s license or state identification card, Michigan residents must produce no fewer than five documents to prove their identity, legal presence in the U.S., Social Security status, and residency in Michigan. Proving legal presence is the most difficult of these; it requires money, time, and effort.
A birth certificate (Michigan requires a certified copy with a raised seal) is the most typical way to show your legal presence in the U.S. If you do not have a birth certificate, but need to obtain one, you could use the Michigan-approved vendor. Their service costs $36 ($17, if you are over 65), not counting the $8.50 online fee and shipping. Getting the same record from the county clerk is less expensive, ranging from $10 to $22, occasionally with a price break for senior citizens.
So a “free ID” is not free. And the difficulty of getting a government-issued ID is not just financial – it is also about the complexity of the process. You can only request your own birth certificate or that of your child so a friend assisting an elderly person must be very careful.
But a bigger barrier yet to that birth certificate is Michigan’s regulation that to obtain a copy of a birth certificate, you must produce a government-issued photo ID. Of course, if you had a government-issued photo ID, you wouldn’t need the birth certificate in the first place, at least for voting purposes.
The legislators who tell would-be voters to “just get an ID” have no idea what the process really requires.