Although the question greatly impacts controversial voting issues, given SF board policy, please refrain from bringing up that politicalized facet of the discussion. This article today is a good short summary of the current implementation status.
https://www.npr.org/2025/05/06/nx-s...id-deadline-is-here-heres-why-it-took-so-long
Those using airline travel and seniors without established SS benefits are most likely to be initially impacted. Next may increasingly be used for other federal program purposes. An estimated 9% of legal Americans do not have legal documents. Will not having documents affect you?
https://www.npr.org/2024/06/11/nx-s1-4991903/voter-registration-proof-of-citizenship-requirement
U.S. citizens of color are more likely than white citizens, who do not identify as Latino, to say they lack citizenship documents (3% of people of color compared to 1% of white people) or can’t readily access them (11% of people of color vs. 8% of white people). Independents are more likely to report that they don’t have documents (4%) compared to Democrats (2%) and Republicans (1%). They are also more likely to report not having ready document access (13%) than Democrats (10%) and Republicans (7%)...
And for more than 3.8 million adult citizens, or about 2% of eligible voters, there’s no document to find at all, according to the survey’s estimates. That includes birth certificates. “Older Americans and Black Americans, particularly in the South, are more likely to have been born outside of a hospital setting, meaning they didn't receive a birth certificate automatically,” Kunis points out...
In the US, powerful groups have over decades blocked implementations for national IDs. This link against IDs provides brief history and summarizes the situation well.
https://www.endtime.com/articles-endtime-magazine/why-america-has-always-refused-national-id/
This person has plenty of ID documents including my birth certificate and birth registration from the county of Los Angeles where born. Even though my parents were careful keeping such documentation, 2 of my 6 siblings have been so disorganized as adults that they lost such decades ago and have also never paid IRC or state taxes though have always barely made a living. I was also thoroughly investigated by the FBI after entering the USAF during the Viet Nam War because I worked in a classified electronics field.
Personally, I am one of many that believe in this technology and communication era implementation is inevitable, necessary, ought be mandatory, and could be implemented given oversight without abusing civil rights. Something that cannot be said about the past both in the US and other nations. Lack of IDs causes many problems while allowing those disregarding and breaking laws to spread rot in societies.
