How about this y o u v e e v e r w a n t e d t o k nowaboutvoteridlawsVoting law opponents contend these laws disproportionately affect elderly , minority and lowincome groups that tend to vote Democratic . Obtaining photo ID can be costly and burdensome . While many states with strict laws offer a free state ID for people without any other way to vote , these IDs require documents like a birth certificate that can cost up to $ 25 in some places . According toa studyfrom NYU ' s Brennan Center , 11 percent of votingage citizens lack necessary photo ID while many people in rural areas have trouble accessing ID offices . A lawsuit filed against Alabama in early December 2015 cites the example of a high schooler who can ' t vote because she lacks a driver ' s license . According to the suit , she needs to get a state issued voter ID at the DMV , but the one nearest to her is only open one day per month and there ' s no public transportation to another DMV 40 miles away roundtrip . During closing arguments in a 2012 case over Texas ' s voter ID law , alawyer for the statebrushed aside geographical obstacles as the reality to life of choosing to live in that part of Texas . Former Attorney General Eric Holder and others havecomparedthe laws toa poll tax , in which Southern states during the Jim Crow era imposed voting fees , which discouraged blacks , and even some poor whites until the passage ofgrandfather clauses from voting . Given the sometimes costly steps required to obtain needed documents today , legal scholarsarguethat photo ID laws create a new financial barrier to the ballot box . links within omitted , cuz I ' m lazy