Starting Saturday, You’ll Need Photo ID To Enter Most D.C. Businesses

Somehow, the Left wants you to believe it is racist to ask for photo identification to vote, but not discriminatory to ask for photo ID in order to enter restaurants, bars, movie theaters, or gyms in the name of COVID-19 safety.

On Saturday, Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser’s vaccine mandate is set to go into effect in Washington, requiring nearly every business and entertainment venue located in the nation’s capital to verify that patrons are vaccinated against COVID-19 with at least one shot. As part of that mandate for patrons over the age of 18, customers will have to show photo ID as proof their name matches the vaccination card they present for entry. Despite that, the District does not require photo identification for most voters with two exceptions.

As The Daily Wire has previously reported, Bowser announced the new vaccine mandate in late December to supposedly help fight the surging coronavirus cases. Starting January 15, that order will now be enforced. Dozens of establishments such as cafes, nightclubs, hotel common rooms, bowling alleys, concert halls, and more will now be required to hang a poster in the storefront window notifying “Vaccination Required.”

“Attention: Per Mayor’s Order 2021-48, COVID-19 Vaccination is REQUIRED to enter this business” the sign reads before noting that customers age 12 and up must show proof of vaccination such as an official completed CDC vaccination card. Those over the age of 18 must also show a photo ID.

According to the D.C. government website, adults can show official identification cards such as a photo a state-issued driver’s license or limited purpose driver’s license, any other state-issued identification card, passport, DC one card, or a student ID.

In the past Democratic Party leaders and others in the media have suggested that requiring ID to vote is tantamount to enacting “New Jim Crow” laws because they argue black Americans are less likely to have voter ID than their white counterparts.

This past summer, President Joe Biden criticized Georgia for enacting a new voting law that included a voter ID requirement to cast a ballot. Biden called the law, “Jim Crow in the 21st Century.”

“Instead of celebrating the rights of all Georgians to vote or winning campaigns on the merits of their ideas, Republicans in the state instead rushed through an un-American law to deny people the right to vote,” he added. “This law, like so many others being pursued by Republicans in statehouses across the country is a blatant attack on the Constitution and good conscience.”

According to the left-wing American Civil Liberties Union, “Minority voters disproportionately lack ID. Nationally, up to 25% of African-American citizens of voting age lack government-issued photo ID, compared to only 8% of whites”

Despite that, Democratic politicians seem to have no problem requiring photo ID to essentially participate in daily life.

This irony was noted by numerous folks on Twitter, including an employee for The Babylon Bee, who tweeted, “democrats really went from ‘it’s racist to need an ID to vote’ to ‘you need an ID to leave your house’ within two years. whew.”

democrats really went from “it’s racist to need an ID to vote” to “you need an ID to leave your house” within two years. whew. https://t.co/Nx5kaqnJzS

— MJ (@morganisawizard) January 11, 2022

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