General Discussion

I think any proposal should include making a basic Real ID free to the individual. States can decide how to pay for that, but it could not be a separate fee charged to individuals. The federal government could reimburse states if they so chose.

And there should be a requirement that every citizen be able to obtain these IDs easily. No games like moving the only locations issuing them out to the middle of a deep red area where most inner-city Democrats can't easily get in order to obtain one--or vice versa.

But this still doesn't address vote-by-mail or absentee voting. Those are both more difficult identification issues that require some thought.

We have a myriad of technology-based options at our disposal, and it is inevitable that one day we will vote electronically from wherever we choose with solid multifactor authentication making it a reliable option--but right now we do not--and should not--trust the government with our biometric identities in order to make it happen. That data would be used in many other ways that we would not want.

Democrats need to propose reasonable reforms now, but they also need to be looking towards what the future of voting will be and begin to shape it in ways that are fair to everyone. Otherwise, someone like Elon Musk will eventually be put in charge of it by Republicans--and we DO NOT want that.