The following is a guest post from Kathleen Unger, President/CEO of the incredibly crucial VoteRiders organization:
We strongly disagree with the Vox journalist’s assertion that voter ID laws have an insignificant impact on voter turnout. We base our view on our on-the-ground experience in Texas in 2014 and in Wisconsin during this electoral cycle.
Rather than parsing studies (most of which were conducted before the onslaught of strict and onerous voter ID laws), I would simply characterize voter ID in one word: confusion. We at VoteRiders have found voter ID confusion in three layers.
The first level of confusion is nationwide: Voters have been hearing about voter ID especially since 2011, compounded by all the litigation, court rulings and media coverage. Importantly, poll workers are confused, and they ask people for their voter ID even in the 18 states plus DC that do not have voter ID laws. These laws are complicated, and poll worker training is lacking.
The second tier of voter ID confusion is surprisingly pervasive: Many (most?) people do not really understand that voter ID is different from and in addition to voter registration! We believe that they conflate the two, hearing “voter ID” and yet thinking “voter registration.” Indeed, we see this mistake on a regular basis in media headlines. The blurring between the two requirements – and the impact – is certainly unknown and unanalyzed. Bottom line, it’s not enough to register to vote in a majority of states for your vote to count.
The third level of this three-layer confusion cake is in two parts. The first applies to all those who do not have the requisite identification under their state’s law. Ten years ago, a study by the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law School “found that 11% [about 21 million] of voting-age American citizens—and an even greater percentage of African American, low-income, and older citizens—do not have current and valid government-issued photo IDs.” More recently, we know from expert testimony accepted by the courts that hundreds of thousands of registered voters in each of a number of states do not have an acceptable ID under their state’s law. For instance, over 300,000 (i.e., nine percent) registered Wisconsinites and at least 600,000 registered Texans lack a qualifying ID. Moreover, there has been an enormous upsurge in voter registrants for this election, totaling 200 million voters. If people were not interested in voting, why do they bother to register?
We discovered the second section of this third layer of confusion as a result of VoteRiders’ on-the-ground voter ID outreach and assistance efforts in Texas in 2014. We are finding the same to be true today: More people are interested in confirming that their ID is valid to vote than those who seek help to secure their voter ID. A study that corroborated our experience in Texas was conducted by Rice University and the University of Houston: Confusion over Texas’ voter photo identification requirement potentially discouraged as many as nine percent of registered voters from going to the polls in the November 2014 elections in the most competitive Congressional district. People were intimidated by the complicated voter ID law and did not vote, even though they had a valid ID!
Without comprehensive and thoughtful government assistance and education, we believe voter ID laws sadly deny the fundamental right to vote to those who do not have acceptable identification. Of equal concern, these laws are so confusing and intimidating that an equal if not greater number of our fellow citizens do not vote even though they have the proper credentials. Using Wisconsin as an example and extrapolating from the aforementioned Texas study, almost 604,000 registered voters – 18% of registered Wisconsin voters – may well not have their votes counted on November 8. A significant impact on voter turnout? You betcha!
Kathleen Unger
President/CEO, VoteRiders™
VoteRiders, a 501(c)(3) non-partisan non-profit, is the only organization that focuses exclusively on voter ID. We inform and help citizens to secure their voter ID as well as inspire and support organizations, local volunteers, and communities to sustain voter ID education and assistance efforts. We concentrate especially on helping voters obtain the documents required by a state’s voter ID.