Voter identification laws in the United States

Voter ID laws in the United States are laws that require a person to provide some form of official identification before they are permitted to register to vote, receive a ballot for an election, or to actually vote in elections in the United States.

Voter ID laws by state, as of April 2022:[needs update]
  Photo ID required (strict)
  Photo ID requested (non-strict)
  Non-photo ID required (strict)
  Non-photo ID requested (non-strict)
  No ID required to vote
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At the federal level, the Help America Vote Act of 2002 requires a voter ID for all new voters in federal elections who registered by mail and who did not provide a driver's license number or the last four digits of a Social Security number that was matched against government records.[1] Though state laws requiring some sort of identification at voting polls go back to 1950, no state required a voter to produce a government-issued photo ID as a condition for voting before the 2006 elections. Indiana became the first state to enact a strict photo ID law, which was struck down by two lower courts before being upheld in Crawford v. Marion County Election Board by the U.S. Supreme Court.[2][3][4] As of 2021, 36 states have enacted some form of voter ID requirement.[2][5]

Voter ID requirements are generally popular among Americans, with polls showing broad support across demographic groups, though they are also a divisive issue.[6][7] Proponents of voter ID laws argue that they reduce electoral fraud and increase voter confidence while placing only little burden on voters. Opponents point to the lack of evidence of meaningful fraud[8][9] and studies that failed to find voter ID laws increasing voter confidence or decreasing fraud.[4][10] They further argue that the laws, pushed mainly by Republicans, are partisan and designed to make voting harder for demographic groups who tend to vote for Democrats, such as low-income people, people of color, younger voters and transgender people.[11][12]

While research has shown mixed results,[13][14] studies have generally found that voter ID laws have little if any impact on voter turnout or election outcomes.[15] Voter ID laws are more likely to impact people of color.[16][17] Research has also shown that Republican legislators in swing states, states with rapidly diversifying populations, and districts with sizable black, Latino, or immigrant populations have pushed the hardest for voter ID laws.[18][19][20] Lawsuits have been filed against many voter ID requirements on the basis that they are discriminatory with an intent to reduce voting,[21] with parts of voter ID laws in several states have been overturned by courts.[22][23][24] A 2019 study and a 2021 study found voter ID laws have a negligible impact on voter fraud, which is extremely rare.[25][10]

  1. ^ Tokaji, Daniel P. "The Help America Vote Act: An Overview". The E-Book on Election Law: An Online Reference Guide. Moritz College of Law. Retrieved March 13, 2013.
  2. ^ a b Lee, Suevon; Smith, Sarah (March 9, 2016). "Everything You've Ever Wanted to Know About Voter ID Laws". ProPublica. Retrieved October 2, 2012.
  3. ^ Greenhouse, Linda (April 29, 2008). "In a 6-to-3 Vote, Justices Uphold a Voter ID Law". The New York Times.
  4. ^ a b "Explainer: Voter identification". electionlab.mit.edu. June 10, 2021. Retrieved September 2, 2024.
  5. ^ "Voter Identification Requirements – Voter ID Laws". National Conference of State Legislatures. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
  6. ^ Cillizza, Chris (June 25, 2021). "Analysis: Voter ID requirements are really popular. So why are they so divisive?". CNN. Retrieved September 1, 2024.
  7. ^ Rakich, Nathaniel (April 2, 2021). "Americans Oppose Many Voting Restrictions — But Not Voter ID Laws". FiveThirtyEight. Retrieved September 1, 2024.
  8. ^ Cottrell, David; Herron, Michael C.; Westwood, Sean J. (October 26, 2017). "An exploration of Donald Trump's allegations of massive voter fraud in the 2016 General Election". Electoral Studies. 51: 123–142. doi:10.1016/j.electstud.2017.09.002.
  9. ^ Gilbert, Michael D. (September 5, 2014). "The Problem of Voter Fraud". Columbia Law Review. 115 (3): 739–75.Virginia Public Law and Legal Theory Research Paper No. 2014-56; Virginia Law and Economics Research Paper No. 2014-15.
  10. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference :24 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ "Map: 29 million Americans live under new voter ID laws put in place since 2020". NBC News. March 12, 2024. Retrieved September 1, 2024.
  12. ^ Schouten, Fredreka; Shelton, Shania (May 2, 2023). "Republican-controlled states target college students' voting power ahead of high-stakes 2024 elections". CNN. Retrieved September 1, 2024.
  13. ^ "'The Results are Clear': Voter ID Laws Hurt Black and Latino Voters". Bloomberg.com. February 5, 2016. Retrieved September 27, 2024.
  14. ^ Wines, Michael (September 25, 2021). "Wisconsin Strict ID Law Discouraged Voters, Study Finds". New York Times.
  15. ^ Lopez, German (February 21, 2019). "A new study finds voter ID laws don't reduce voter fraud — or voter turnout". Vox. Retrieved September 27, 2024. Still, the overall research so far suggests that voter ID laws don't have much, if any, effect on turnout. If true, these laws are not swinging the great majority of elections.
  16. ^ Hopkins, Dan (August 21, 2018). "What We Know About Voter ID Laws". FiveThirtyEight. Retrieved September 27, 2024. So even if voter ID laws haven't swung election outcomes, they can deny thousands of people their right to vote — denials that fall disproportionately on black and Latino citizens. Whether voter ID laws swing elections is far from their only important consequence.
  17. ^ Skelley, Geoffrey (May 17, 2021). "How The Republican Push To Restrict Voting Could Affect Our Elections". FiveThirtyEight. Retrieved May 17, 2021.
  18. ^ Hicks, William; McKee, Seth; Smith, Daniel (February 21, 2016). "The Determinants of State Legislator Support for Restrictive Voter ID Laws". State Politics & Policy Quarterly. 16 (4): 411–431. doi:10.1177/1532440016630752. S2CID 27742794.
  19. ^ Highton, Benjamin (2017). "Voter Identification Laws and Turnout in the United States". Annual Review of Political Science. 20: 149–167. doi:10.1146/annurev-polisci-051215-022822.
  20. ^ Hopkins, Dan (August 21, 2018). "What We Know About Voter ID Laws". FiveThirtyEight. Retrieved August 21, 2018.
  21. ^ Shanton, Karen (May 2014). "Voter ID in the Courts: An introduction to legal challenges to voter ID laws" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 7, 2015. Retrieved September 5, 2024.
  22. ^ Ariane de Vogue, "Voting challenges head toward the Supreme Court: 4 cases to watch", CNN, July 19, 2016; accessed July 30, 2016
  23. ^ Wines, Michael; Blinder, Alan (July 30, 2016). "Voter ID Laws Take a Beating in U.S. Courts". The New York Times. p. 1.
  24. ^ Cite error: The named reference wapost was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  25. ^ Lopez, German (February 21, 2019). "A new study finds voter ID laws don't reduce voter fraud — or voter turnout". Vox. Retrieved September 27, 2024.