Researchers have warned that laws requiring voters to show certain forms of photo identification at the poll would discriminate against racial minorities and other groups.
Now, the first study has been released showing that the proliferation of voter ID laws in recent years has indeed driven down minority voter turnout, and by a significant amount.
In a new paper entitled “Voter Identification Laws and the Suppression of Minority Votes”, researchers:
- Zoltan Hajnal, University of California, San Diego
— Nazita Lajevardi, University of California, San Diego
— Lindsay Nielson, Bucknell University
used data from the annual Cooperative Congressional Election Study to compare states with strict voter ID laws to those that allow voters without photo ID to cast a ballot.
They found a clear and significant dampening effect on minority turnout in strict voter ID states. “Democratic turnout drops by an estimated 8.8 percentage points in general elections when strict photo identification laws are in place,” compared to just 3.6 percentage points for Republicans.
The analysis shows that strict photo identification laws have a differentially negative impact on the turnout of Hispanics, Blacks, and mixed-race Americans in Primaries and General elections. Voter ID laws skew democracy in favor of whites and those on the political right.
Note: An updated version of the paper, not currently available on the web, includes data from the 2014 elections.
Do not know if this paper is in draft form that was peer reviewed yet.
CLICK HERE to read the 34 page (PDF) web paper.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
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