4. They put a guy on the commission the author doesn't like politically. That doesn't mean a whole lot to me. Specifically the idea of voter id laws do not bother me, but this person is taking the idea of voter id laws as a systematic attack on voting rights.

Having had to deal with trying to get friends registered to vote in KS, I do have problems with voter id laws in the Kobach style.

Needing a birth certificate sounds like a low bar, until you encounter someone who doesn't have one. Then it is a fucking pain.

- They have to pay to get one.

- They have to know how to get one.

- They have to have the information to get one.

- They have to plan ahead of time to get one.

- They have to believe in the system enough to jump through all of the hoops above.

I'm pretty happy that I've gotten several friends to register and then go vote. But, I've never done it with any of my friends who didn't have a birth certificate on hand.

It disproportionately disadvantages people who are already disillusioned with and poorly served by our government. It prevents them from having a voice on the local level (people w/o citizenship proof can still vote federally in KS), where their voice will have the biggest impact.

Interesting to note: my friends without birth certificates can still register to vote federally in Kansas. But the fact that they won't be trusted to vote locally was a big enough red flag to them that they've decided not to vote at all.

but this person is taking the idea of voter id laws as a systematic attack on voting rights.

Kobach isn't doing himself any favors in his attempts to dispel this view.

He asked for public information.

Which, interesting to note, isn't the same as asking for information that his own department is willing to provide.

 How would Kobach use this data? Look at his efforts in Kansas. His Interstate Crosscheck program compares registration lists among states to search for double voting, but because it uses very rudimentary data—only voters’ first and last names and date of birth—it generates thousands of false matches, leading to misleading claims about the prevalence of double voting that results in legitimate voters being removed from the rolls.

I've been bitten by this.

Having done everything right, only to be turned away from the polls?

It sucks. I'm now paranoid about checking every week to make sure I'm still registered in the run up to elections.