My recent battle with Medicare’s new online registration system made me think a lot harder about how we handle voter registration in this country. What Washington now demands for basic benefits makes the debate over simple voter ID look more than a little upside‑down.
Most Americans still register to vote the old‑fashioned way: a short form, a basic ID, maybe a quick stop at a county or state office, and you’re done. There’s no motion‑photo selfie, no video call with a stranger, no juggling half your life’s documents under a phone camera just to prove you exist. That’s not how my “enhanced” Medicare registration went—and that contrast is exactly where this story is headed.