I am disheartened by the repeated efforts to make it harder to vote, mostly for poor people.
I have an idea to create an incentive the other way - to get the parties to be interested in expanding the number of voters:
Base congressional representation on the number of registered voters, not on the sheer number of people, in a district.
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I just don't understand. Why does having to show an ID make it harder to vote? I have to show an ID to buy a beer, to buy certain over-the-counter medications, to buy rubber cement, to use my own credit card, to give permission for my 9-year-old to get her ears pierced and yet, expecting that you prove who you are before you vote, is some kind of great conspiracy to suppress the vote? How stupid do you think we are? Poorer people are completely capable of getting to a DMV and getting an ID. If they have no means, I'm sure that there are interest groups who will assist them to get there.
Good idea as long as only Americans with legal ID's are allowed to register...
It's an interesting idea, if not a new one: https://twitter.com/todayin1963/status/372780535073869825
I fear that your idea would further exacerbate the problem.
People with higher incomes are more likely to be registered to vote so they will be proportionally better represented. Poorer communities where folks are less likely to register will end up with less representation.
Also you may run into some problems with Article 1 of the constitution.
Voter suppression is not simply about IDs, though that is one tool. Limiting hours and days of voting, especially Sunday voting, are other techniques.
Anonymous, you are right that rich people are more likely to register now; the point of making this change would be to give both parties an incentive to register poor people.
But what good is registering poor people if the result of the new system is a dilution of their voice?
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