Sudafed and Voting

A theme that I have followed in this blog is the question of whether it's a good idea to require a picture ID of some kind before permitting a citizen to vote. In another article in the New York Times called "Republican Legislators Push to TIghten Voting Rules", Governor Nikki Haley of South Carolina had this quote:

“If you have to show a picture ID to buy Sudafed, if you have to show a picture ID to get on an airplane, you should show a picture ID when you vote,”

Which is pretty convincing comment, on the face of it, isn't it? Except:

  1. Voting is far more important than buying a Sudafed. It's far more serious injustice to be prevented from voting than from buying a Sudafed.

  2. Not all flavors of Sudafed require Picture ID

  3. It's legal to have someone buy a Sudafed for me, it's illegal to have someone vote for me.

  4. Voting is restricted to happening on one specific day. You can always come back tomorrow to buy your Sudafed if you need it

  5. Coincidentally there's a good correlation between people (poor people, elderly people) who don't have a picture ID. These people also happen to skew strongly Democratic.

  6. Coincidentally there's no such correlation between people who want or need to fly