Thread by @Pianobirdy

@AriBerman "How many Americans don't have government-issued picture identification? And how, in this era of post-9/11 security and digital commerce, could anyone function without it?"
npr.org/2012/01/28/146…

@AriBerman Birth certificates needed to obtain a new photo ID. Difficulties for seniors & those born in rural areas:

Birth certificates not regularly generated in 1930s & earlier. Many of these people were delivered by midwives who often misspelled babies' & parents' names on birth docs.

@AriBerman Ruthelle Frank, 84, was denied a new voter ID because she lacked a birth certificate. The state's vital records office found her birth certificate, but there were other problems — both her parents' names were misspelled, rendering the document invalid. Cost to correct it: $200.

@AriBerman Christine Krucki, born in Lublin, Wisconsin, in 1925. First voted in the 1948 presidential election & had voted ever since. Her Polish last name, “Zaszczurynski,” was spelled “Zaszcronynska” on her birth certificate, and her married name didn't match that.
thenation.com/article/a-90-y…

@AriBerman His name had to match his birth certificate — & it didn't. When he was 14, his mother married, changed his last name. For a new doc changing his name to the one he had used for 51 years, he had to go to court, a process that would cost him more than $250. 
washingtonpost.com/politics/court…