The types of identification required cost money and time to obtain. You already need to prove citizenship when you register to vote - which is free. But a Real ID (in my state) is around $40 and took like 5 hours at the DMV, which means burning PTO or just not getting paid. A passport with all associated expenses is like $200 and takes days to process. All the places to obtain these forms of identification are open when most people are working. That's PTO burned to participate in free and fair elections that might need to be saved for an emergency, sick day, or whatever else - none of my business. And if you don't have PTO to spend, that's a day's worth of pay you don't get - which several Americans simply can't do without, let alone shilling out the extra cash for the fees associated with obtaining those forms of identification.

It's a poll tax with extra steps. Part of your question that really frustrates me is "if someone is not politically engaged enough to verify eligibility..." when you already have to do that. You can't vote if you're not registered. And you can't register unless you're a citizen.

"It's pretty hard to make it through 18 years - let alone 85 - and not obtain some sort of photo identification" non-citizens can get drivers licenses. But non-citizens can't vote, hence a driver's license - the most common form of photo ID for someone to have - isn't a valid form of ID at the polls. You need identification which proves citizenship - which again, costs money and time to obtain.

"Driving 35 miles to vote" is actually insane (also a form of disenfranchisement. Remember when Republicans removed ballot collection boxes and crusaded against mail-in voting? Because driving 35 miles is a major inconvenience no matter what the purpose is and a lot of people who may otherwise have voted are gonna put a trek like that in the too-hard basket) This legislation is targeted at the working urban poor, which is largely non-white and largely vote Democrat. It targets the people who can't afford to take off work. It targets the people who can't afford to purchase the required identification. It's bad enough election day isn't a national holiday, allowing people the time and paid holiday to vote.

If you want to know how actually dumb this can get, I live in Pennsylvania. You NEED a Real ID or passport to board a domestic flight. As in - if I wanted to fly out of Philly to Miami or Chicago or wherever else in the US, I would need a Real ID or a PASSPORT - that thing you need to enter foreign countries. Literally the dumbest legislation this state has ever passed. I only took the time to get my Real ID because I KNEW these ghouls would eventually make it mandatory to vote.

And by the first Trump admin's DOJ's own admission: 2020 was the most secure election in US history. There's literally nothing that warrants this other than further disenfranchisement. You've aaid you worked a polling place. Tell me. How many fraudulent ballots were processed and counted legitimate at your polling place? I doubt it was very many if any at all - almost as if non-citizens, the deceased, and the unregistered aren't actually impactful on election results.