Reply #8: does this bill enact the Carter/Baker recommendation?

[OnTheOtherHand]

I don't think so. Koehler is criticizing a specific bill; he may believe, but didn't assert, that "voter ID's are 'straight-on vote suppression.'"

If I'm not mistaken, Carter/Baker expressly calls for the card to be free to people who don't otherwise have qualifying ID. Again if I'm not mistaken, the bill calls for the card to be free for people who demonstrate that they can't pay for it. That's a lot worse. And the requirements for getting the card seem pretty onerous, too.

I know folks who don't oppose voter ID in principle, but think this is an awful bill, because it doesn't provide adequate (in the Carter/Baker language) "procedural and institutional safeguards to make sure that the rights of citizens are not abused and that voters will not be disenfranchised." I also know folks who do oppose voter ID in principle because they think the current signature requirement in many states suffices. Regardless, there is enough for us to disagree about without attacking Koehler for a position he didn't state.