Voter ID Laws: A View from the Public

The study was produced by:

Paul Gronke
Reed College

William D Hicks
Appalachian State University; University of Florida

Seth C. McKee
Texas Tech University

Charles Stewart III
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - Department of Political Science

James Dunham
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)


The proliferation of voter identification laws in American has spawned a growing literature examining their effects on participation and the factors conditioning their enactment.

In this study, they move in a different direction, focusing on public opinion toward these laws.  Superficially, it appears that voter ID is a valence issue.

Public opinion shows broad support, primarily as a way to safeguard the integrity of the ballot box.

They explore this supposed consensus on voter ID, probing the rationales and explanations put forth for requiring strict photo ID.  Specifically, they draw upon a battery of questions in the 2014 Cooperative Congressional Election Study (CCES) to determine the degree to which respondents’ attitudes toward voter ID laws are influenced by beliefs about the prevalence of voter fraud, knowledge of existing voter ID laws, and opinions regarding the possible intentions and purposes for photo voter ID laws.

Their findings make it evident that although large majorities favor strict photo ID laws, the factors associated with support for these laws vary by partisanship.  It is not simply that Republicans strongly favor strict photo ID laws and Democrats are split on the matter.  Instead, Republican popular support for strict photo ID laws cuts across virtually all demographic groups, while Democratic support is much more likely to vary as a function of factors such as ideology, education, attention to politics, and racial resentment in the case of white respondents.

The partisan division in public opinion over voter ID laws strongly suggests an elite-to-mass message transmission reminiscent of the broader state of polarized party politics.

One of the main complaints you continually hear is the cost of getting the necessary documentation to get the ID card.  So here is my solution.

Many states are looking at electronic poll books to replace the manual poll book look-up to verify your eligibility to vote.  It gives the poll worker the ability to see if you are in the correct poll site, already voted by absentee ballot, or voted at another poll site.  Then you use a signature pad, like during a retail purchase, and receive your ballot.

To replace having to carry a separate photo ID card, I would add to the electronic record your photo.  Since most of the required information is collected at a DMV, when you get your driving licensee or non-driving ID.  You already provided all of the required verification documents.

CLICK HERE to download the 36 page study (PDF).











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