Letters to the Editor

Letter: Photo ID hurdles

In his recent letter, Rolf Bilet had some fun comparing the difficulty of showing a photo ID to vote with showing a photo ID to buy liquor. Evidently, he is not aware that not all people are so fortunate as to have a photo ID to start with.

Such people include many seniors, students and people who cannot afford a car, as well as urban residents who have ready access to bus transportation. It is a simple fact that minorities have a smaller percent of photo IDs compared to the rest of the population.

Some states offer a free voter photo ID if voters do not have another form of valid voter ID, but not all do. Alaska has 30 DMV offices and one sticks out: Utqiagvik. I wonder how many people fly to Utqiagvik to get a photo ID?

A few years ago, a legislator from South Anchorage was pushing a photo ID requirement for Alaska, but it is evident that that push failed. I am not sure why but I suspect that it had to do with the difficulty many Alaskans, especially those in the Bush, would have getting a photo ID, as well as the cost the state of Alaska would incur if the state were willing to insure that voters had a decent chance of meeting the photo ID requirement. Not that long ago, the state was trying to shut some DMV offices down.

John Jensen

Anchorage

Have something on your mind? Send to letters@adn.com or click here to submit via any web browser. Letters under 200 words have the best chance of being published. Writers should disclose any personal or professional connections with the subjects of their letters. Letters are edited for accuracy, clarity and length.

ADVERTISEMENT