With all the action on voter identification laws in many states that require presentation of a valid, State, tribal, school, or Federal ID to become enabled to vote, I have a couple questions. To wit,
The 24th amendment to the U.S. Constitution:
Section 1.
The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election for President or Vice President, for electors for President or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax.
Section 2.
The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
More after the orange squiggles...
Now, mind you, this has to have been thought about before, considering that several states have established photo ID requirements. But my thought is, there will always be some people whose only recourse to the options offered is to gain a state-issued ID (or perhaps purchase certified copies of their birth certificates). Either way, it occurs to me that considering the ID or certificate involved may be needed by some only for the explicit purpose of providing legal ID for voting.
Now if there is a fee charged to gain this documentation, in a sense, doesn't that serve as a de facto poll tax, per description in the 24th amendment? Yes, I cannot fathom that this hasn't been considered before, and forgive me if this has been discussed before. But the principles involved in gaining the protections to the electorate in 1964 with the 24th amendment seem to be darned close to--if not identical--to where we are today.
Now I know some will say that the license fees are not taxes per se, but if it smells like an impediment for discouraging those "we don't really want to be voting" then it functions the same way. And even if it bars one soul from otherwise being allowed to vote, it seems to be a de facto poll tax to me. PLEASE let me know that you think, or where I am wrong.