A letter to the LJ editor.

[gamerchick]

In November 2004, I had just moved to Minneapolis after an extended time spent living abroad. My annual salary as a graduate student and Spanish teacher was $12,000, and budgeting each month was an exercise in extreme austerity (my checking account balance frequently dipped into the single digits for weeks at a time). I did not own a car, worked

Comments

[bluealoe]

*applauds* Well-said. So many people, especially those in poverty, have difficulties getting photo ID. They shouldn't be barred from voting.

[gamerchick]

Glad you think so. (c: I wonder if the people who support such a ridiculous amendment and who insist that getting photo ID is really easy, no seriously it is!, have just never been poor. The two years I spent in poverty are not something I care to repeat - and I had a serious family- and fiance-shaped safety net that a lot of people aren't fortunate enough to have. It changed my perspective on so many things, for the better, I like to think.

[bluealoe]

After I graduated college, I had two years of living under the poverty line. For one of those years I was on food stamps, and I can tell you those who claim poor people are abusing food stamps have never gone through the long, drawn-out, complicated, bureaucratic, humiliating experience of applying for assistance. It's not something you just walk in and get, like a lot of people seem to think. So yeah, I understand about getting photo ID...not quite as complicated as food stamps, but still hard to get for many people.

During my poorest days, I was still lucky...I had a place to live, a car, and a job (though not full-time), and I had a family that would help out if anything really bad happened. I can't imagine how I would have made it without those advantages. It really does change your perspective on life.

[ziabandito555]

I've had this argument with people about the nature of identification and you provide a clear example of why demanding photo ID is unreasonable. Thank you for that and I wish I could vote in Minnesota.

[gamerchick]

You're welcome. You know how to vote in NM to make sure the virus doesn't spread, shall we say. (c;