For non-drivers we have State ID's, mine is Real ID Law rubber stamped so counts as State and FEDERAL ID, since it is its de facto national level ID. But there is an issue for many homeless some don't have any ability to identify themselves save an out of date ID or their word. One I know has only a lost family Bible entry co-signed by a minister that he was born and has no living relatives so can't get an ID at all, and he can't remember of he even had a SSN. He is in the hospital after a medical emergency and they need him on government programs but can't apply with identification and can't get identification and he can't go to any nursing home unless they can get him the benefits first, so have to keep him until he is "fit to go" and that could be months. He is not unique around here one was the son of migrant workers legally here as nationalized citizens, but can't remember which state he was born in and the county so is not able to get a birth certificate and no birth certificate of some other documents you cannot get a Federally approved ID. And no State I'm aware of offers a State Only ID option.
This is a nice example, also here it happens. Technically a homeless never registered c/o a municipality, or who has forgotten his identity without having an Identity Card, is "stateless" [since to get a National ID in Italy you have to be resident c/o a municipality]. Here there are association [charity associations] who try something about: they give a place of residence [usually c/o an institution taking care of homeless persons] to the individual; once the individual has got a place of residence he can declare his identity to the municipality asking for an Identity Card. It's clear that without a birth certificate the municipality can reject the request ... Unfortunately, without at least some clues, the municipalities tend not to issue real Identity Cards, but just residence certificates.
The US Constitution refers to the "people" of America which would limit voting to permanent residents of the United States. Tourist and temporary residents in the United State and/or those living in foreign countries (even if they happen to be US citizens that immigrated to another country) should not be allowed to vote as they are not the American People. The national origin of an American (and the term "American" includes both citizens and non-citizen permanent residents) has no meaning or importance. Why not limit voting rights to just "WASP Male Property Owners" like a racist Southern politician? http://saggigga.wordpress.com/2010/10/12/andrew-johnson-americas-most-racist-president/ I find it truly unsettling that racists in America today somehow think that a future American citizen, which is what the permanent immigrant alien represents, would be less concerned about the future of the United States than a US citizen. These immigrants come to the United States for personal and economic freedom which is exactly why every US Citizen should be living here. The interests of the immigrant are no different than the interests of American citizens. The entire argument against allowing non-citizens to vote today is because overwhelmingly they're Mexicans and that is racist. It isn't because their interests in the future of America is any less but solely because, for the most part, they're Mexicans. That was why the right to vote was revoked for non-citizen in the first place - RACISM. In the late 19th Century and early 20th Century it was because they were Chinese or Irish Catholics or whatever as opposed to being "WASP Males" from England. Today it's the non-WASP Hispanics but the racism is still the same.
