I think what concerns me the most is the current effort to restrict voting, to make it difficult to vote. I am strongly reminded of the situation in the early 60's before the Civil Rights Act.

Sure, for people like me who have a driver's license, and have had the same name and address for many years, the requirement to have a valid government-issued ID (with expiration date) is a trivial thing.

--But for my husband N, who no longer has a driver's license and cannot get to the DMV to get a state-issued ID without first getting a ride (with an assistant) in a wheelchair capable vehicle.

Then he has to pay for the ID card. There is no fee for the senior citizen ID card, but he has to have documents which prove that he is who he says he is. That means a notarized signature (for which you have to show an ID, the very ID that you're trying to get) or a birth certificate (for which you have to pay and in his case, since he was born at home, is problematical).

As you can imagine, without VA assistance, he would be likely just to give up and say the heck with it. However, the VA has issued him a Veteran's ID card--though it doesn't have an expiration date on it, the way a DL does. Some states are requiring that the ID have an expiration date.

--And then there is my friend Jessica, who is getting married in October. She is changing her name--will she get a driver's license in her new name in time to vote? I don't know how efficient the DMV is, and, of course, it will cost her a fee. (I've advised her to wait until after the election to do the name change thing.)

These are just a couple of examples of the hurdles to voting that citizens will face in those states now requiring a government issued ID to vote (ironic that one of the major political parties is anti-govt, but wants govt ID).

The problems are magnified for people who live outside of urban areas, people who are confused and intimidated by bureaucratic red tape (have to get birth certificate first, then social security number...), people who live on a marginal income and for whom $31 is not a trivial expense.

SS number: How many of us have that number memorized? Would you know where to find your SS card (which you shouldn't carry in your wallet BTW).

Some say "those" people shouldn't be voting anyway. I say that universal suffrage should be just what it says. Ours is the polity of all its citizens (We, the People, of the United States...). Government should be facilitating voting in every way possible, not making it more difficult, thus for all intents and purposes, disenfranchising the people who have been marginalized by circumstance or design.

Strategy: get the vote count close enough in swing states that the Supreme Court has to make a decision....