State's Voting ID Types And Their Future

In 34 States, you'll need to show ID to Vote on Election Day.

Voter ID Laws can either be:

Strict: If Voter has No Voter ID, a Voter must cast a Provisional Ballot and later show Proof of Identit. Strict States require Voters to cast a Provisional Ballot and later provide Additional Proof of Residency to their Election Officials, in order for their Vote to Count.

Non-Strict: In which a Voter can Sign an Affidavit affirming their Identity to Vote. Non-Strict States allow Voters without the Required Documentation to Cast a Sworn Affidavit, or Reasonable Impediment Declaration, or to have a Poll Worker Vouch for them in order to Vote.

In some States, you may also need to Submit a Photocopy of your ID with your Ballot Application or with your Ballot itself.

Voter ID Laws come in Two Categories:

- Photo: States with Photo ID Requirements mandate Voters to bring a: State-Issued Driver's License; Non-Driver ID or Voter Card; U.S. Passport; or a Military, Tribal, Student, or State Employee Card, to the Polls in order to Vote. Most States have Exemptions to these Rules for Voters who Cannot be Photographed due to their Religious Beliefs.

- Non-Photo: Non-Photo ID States allow Voters to bring Official Government Mailings or other Recent Documents that bear the Voter's Name and Address, like a Utility or Rent Bill, Pay-Stub, or Bank Statement.

Different States have varying Requirements on whether a Photo ID must be Current or if it can be Expired, in order to be used to Vote, so be sure to both Verify the exact Requirements with your State and Local Election Offices and Check if your State's Registry of Motor Vehicles has Extended the Expiration Deadlines for Licenses or ID Cards during the Pandemic.

Multiple Nonprofit Organizations dedicated Significant Resources to helping Voters get an ID in their State in the Pandemic.

One Group, VoteRiders, is almost entirely Devoted to helping People get IDs this Fall. The Group's Founder and Board Chairwoman, Kathleen Unger, a longtime Voting Expert and Lawyer, recently said: "Based on a Brennan Center study showing that up to 11% of voting-age Americans do not have a current government-issued photo ID, that translates into about 25 million eligible voters. "There are many millions more who are so confused and intimidated by these complicated and onerous voter-ID laws that they won't vote, even though they have a valid ID."

Voter ID Laws weren't in use in any State before the 21st century, until the 2002 Help America Vote Act required, some First-Time Voters who Registered-by-Mail to present Identification for Voting in Federal Elections, opening the door for States to impose similar Requirements.

Indiana was the First State to impose a Voter ID Law for the 2006 Election, with Dozens of States following suit in the Next several years.

In the mid-2010's and 2020's, Republican State Legislatures and Attorneys argued that such Laws are Justified to Prevent In-Person Voter Impersonation, a type of Voter Fraud that Multiple comprehensive Studies have found is Vanishingly Rare to the point of being almost Non-Existent.

A 2014 Study from Loyola University Law School Professor and Elections Scholar, Justin Levitt, found just 31 Credible Cases of Voter Impersonation between 2000 and 2014, a time period during which over One Billion Votes were Cast.

In 2020, currently only 17 Cases of Absentee Voter Impersonation were Conficted.

The Conservative Heritage Foundation, which maintains a Non-Exhaustive but Comprehensive Database of Coter Fraud Cases, has Documented just 13 Cases: Criminal Convictions, Civil Penalties, or Official/Judicial Findings, of In-Person Voter Impersonation in the past 20 years compared to 186 Cases of Voter Registration Fraud and 193 Cases of Absentee Ballot Fraud.

An Analysis from the Brennan Center for Justice also found that Many Reported Cases of Voter Impersonation are due to Clerical Mistakes or Identity Mismatch, and Not actual Malice, concluding that an American is more likely to be Struck by Lightning than Commit Voter Impersonation.

Some Studies have also found that ID Laws can Disproportionately Disenfranchise Low-Income Voters and Voters-of-Color. While many States now provide State ID Cards at No Cost to the Voter, obtaining the Underlying Documents, like a Birth Certificate or Social Security Card, can be Costly.

"The folks who are disproportionately impacted by these ID laws are those who do not have a current driver's license in their states," Unger said. "And who are they? They are communities of color...they are students and other young people, they are older adults who are no longer driving if they ever did. They are voters with disabilities. They're low-income individuals and they're women, because some states require an exact match between the name on your ID and the name by which you're registered to vote."

Black Americans and Voters-of-Color are Less likely than Whites to hold the Required ID to Vote and therefore are more Burdened by Voter ID Laws, Multiple Studies have found. A Nationwide Study of Validated Voter Data from 2017 found that Gaps between Black and White Turnout, and Latino and white Turnout, were Significantly Wider in States with Strict Voter ID Laws than in States with Non-Strict Voter ID.

Similar State-Level Studies from: Indiana, Michigan, and Texas, also found that Black and Latino Voters are Less likely to Possess the Proper Photo ID Identification to cast a Ballot.

The Possible Future:

In New York City, we use a Voter ID that contains Your: Assembly District, Election District, Voter ID Number, and Bar-Coded Voter ID Number.

When you arrive at the In-Person Voting Site, an E-Book System scans your Bar-Code, you then Sign on the Screen.

The Poll Worker, then can view your Voter-Roll Photo and Signsture for a Match, see if you alredy Voted, or the Status of a Mailed Ballot and if Not Counted, the Voter can Discard it and Vote In-Person.

Then the On-Demnd Printer will Print Your Ballot, or the Poll Worker will already have Printed the Ballots for her Table by Assembly and Election District.

The Voter then goes to a Privacy Booth to Vote, then has the Ballot Scanned.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker