Kansas is considering a voter ID bill. There is an interesting discussion of it in the Lawrence (Kansas) Journal-World:

Democrats also said the bill amounted to a “poll tax” because voters would be required to produce a copy of their birth certificate or passport to show proof of residency to register. A birth certificate costs $12 in Kansas, while a passport is $97.

Douglas County Clerk Jamie Shew said the bill would cause many problems and solve none. Exemptions in the bill would burden poll workers with having to make numerous decisions, he said. For instance, those 65 or older, those with disabilities, or members of the military and their spouses would be exempt from identification at the polls. This would force poll workers to try to determine people’s ages or whether they had a disability, Shew said. The bill opens up the possibility of fake IDs being used because of the numerous accepted photo IDs, including shopper’s cards, he said.

If the law took effect, Shew said he would have to hire another poll worker for each polling place just to handle the identification requirement. That would cost an additional $5,695 for all polling places, he said.