April 4, 2023<\/p>\n
Voter ID laws spread and strengthened during the 2022 midterm election cycle. They are continuing to expand as politicians look to 2024. In state after state, legislators are proposing and passing \u2013 and governors are implementing \u2013 new or tougher ID rules for voters.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n More than 25 million voting-age Americans do not have a current government-issued photo ID<\/span><\/a>. Only two types of IDs are common to all <\/span>38 states (and counting) with voter ID laws<\/span><\/a>: a current driver’s license or state ID in the voter\u2019s state.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n As part of its mission to provide voter ID education and assistance, VoteRiders constantly tracks laws and bills dealing with identification to vote. So, here’s the status.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n After the 2020 elections, these states passed laws that were in effect for the 2022 midterms<\/strong>:<\/span><\/p>\n New Hampshire also added an extra ID requirement, effective January 1, 2023, for voters who register to vote in New Hampshire for the first time on election day to mail in proof of their identity if they do not have that documentation with them at the polling place.<\/p>\n Additional voter ID laws passed after 2020 are being litigated. <\/span>Montana\u2019s voter ID law <\/b>was overturned and is currently under appeal in the Montana Supreme Court.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n And in the long-running court battle over <\/span>North Carolina\u2019s restrictive photo ID law<\/b>, the state Supreme Court declared in October 2022 that the law is invalid because justices found it was \u201cmotivated by a racially discriminatory purpose.\u201d However, the balance of power between Democratic and Republican justices on the North Carolina court shifted as a result of the 2022 midterms. Republican legislators recently asked, and the Supreme Court agreed, to rehear the case.<\/span><\/p>\n Voter ID was on the ballot in three states in November 2022, with mixed results.<\/span><\/p>\n Michigan<\/b> voters enshrined their state\u2019s existing law in the constitution, confirming that voters without an acceptable photo ID can still cast a regular ballot if they complete an affidavit.<\/span><\/p>\n In <\/span>Arizona<\/b>, voters rejected a constitutional amendment (Proposition 309) that would have added new ID requirements for in-person and mail-in ballots.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In<\/span> Nebraska,<\/b> voters approved a constitutional amendment (Initiative 432) to require voters to present a photo ID. Lawmakers are now debating what the Cornhusker State\u2019s voter ID law will entail.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n More constitutional amendments are on the horizon in 2023 as legislatures try to bypass their governors\u2019 veto pens. In <\/span>Pennsylvania<\/b>, the legislature missed a deadline to approve a measure that would have put a voter ID constitutional amendment on the ballot during the low-turnout primary in the spring of 2023. Given the current political composition in the House, it\u2019s unlikely they will vote again to add it to the ballot in the near term.<\/span><\/p>\n In <\/span>Arizona<\/b>, another law passed by the legislature in 2022 went into effect in 2023. <\/span>HB 2492 requires election officials to investigate the citizenship status of voters who use the federal voter registration application form without accompanying documentary proof of citizenship. Without such verification, the ballots of these \u201cfederal only\u201d voters will be counted solely for Congressional elections; they are unable to vote in a presidential election – nor state or local elections under a previous law \u2013 nor by mail with an early ballot in any election until satisfactory evidence of citizenship is provided (unless they are\u00a0an absent uniformed services voter or overseas voter as defined in the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting\u00a0Act). The new law, which <\/span>jeopardizes the voting rights of over 200,000 Arizonans<\/b><\/a>,<\/b> fails to provide any system to notify these voters. There are currently eight lawsuits pending over this law, including one from the US Department of Justice.<\/span><\/p>\n Ohio<\/b> legislators wasted no time after the midterms. In a late 2022 lame-duck session, Ohio enacted one of the <\/span>nation\u2019s strictest government-issued photo ID requirements<\/b> for voting in person. To vote by mail, Ohio now requires a government-issued ID number or a copy of the photo ID required to vote in person (which excludes an Ohio-issued Veteran ID card) \u2013 both with the voter\u2019s absentee ballot application and with their ballot.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n One trend that has spread to many states entangles absentee voters in red tape to both request and return their absentee ballots. We saw the consequences of this play out in <\/span>Texas <\/b>in 2022.<\/span><\/p>\n According to the Associated Press, in addition to denying a\u00a0<\/span>huge percentage<\/span><\/a> of vote-by-mail <\/span>applications<\/i><\/strong>, <\/span>Texas rejected nearly 23,000 mail <\/b>ballots<\/i><\/b><\/a> (roughly 13% across 187 counties) during the nation\u2019s first primary on March 1, 2022. \u201cWhile historical primary comparisons are lacking, the double-digit rejection rate would be far beyond what is typical in a general election, when experts say\u00a0anything above 2% is usually cause for attention,\u201d the AP reported.<\/span><\/p>\n Why such an unprecedented number of dismissed applications and ballots?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n Because of a new requirement that voters must provide the ID or social security number they had used to register to vote. Many did not remember which number they\u2019d used and provided the wrong one, or they didn\u2019t know of the new requirement at all. \u201cIt took me three tries and 28 days but I got my ballot and I voted,\u201d a determined 75-year-old Houston voter told the <\/span>AP<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n The 2022 election law in Florida <\/b>requires voters who wish to vote by mail to include <\/span>with their application<\/span><\/i> the number from their Florida driver\u2019s license or state ID, or the last four digits of their social security number, and that number must match the ID number in their voter registration file.<\/span><\/p>\n According to Florida\u2019s county supervisors of elections, <\/span>there is a strong likelihood that many voters will provide the wrong number.<\/b> The reason: most Floridians register to vote when they get their driver\u2019s license, so that number is the one most likely to be on their voter record. But most voters provide the last four digits of their social security number when they\u2019re asked to verify their identities.<\/span><\/p>\n The Florida Secretary of State\u2019s office recently joined the state\u2019s local election supervisors in opposing new identification requirements for mail-in ballots.<\/span><\/p>\n Around the country, legislators are proposing changes, <\/span>most of which would make it harder to vote by restricting the kinds of documents voters can use to prove their identity.<\/b> Here\u2019s a sampling of restrictive bills that have been introduced thus far (as of April 4, 2023):<\/span><\/p>\n So far in 2023:<\/p>\n Since the 2020 election, <\/span>26 states<\/b>, including <\/span>Florida <\/b>and <\/span>Georgia<\/b>, have enacted, expanded, or increased the severity of <\/span>120 election-related criminal penalties<\/span><\/a>. Enhanced investigation and prosecution comprise a key focus of the <\/span>21 anti-voting bills Texas <\/b>legislators prefiled in advance of the 2023 legislative session. Such an intimidating environment compounds the <\/span>disenfranchising impact of confusing, onerous, and ever-changing voter ID laws.<\/b><\/p>\n Voter ID confusion leads to intimidation, which is inherent in these <\/span>complicated, expensive<\/b>, and <\/span>time-consuming laws<\/b>. Indeed, some new laws actually enhance that intimidation because they give partisan poll watchers seemingly unbridled power while simultaneously constraining election officials from controlling inappropriate behavior.<\/span><\/p>\n In 2022 the federal government announced a delay in the implementation of <\/span>REAL ID<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n\n
Voter ID on the Ballot in 2022<\/span><\/h2>\n
ID Laws After the Midterms<\/span><\/h2>\n
Texas and Florida: The Devil is in the Details<\/span><\/h2>\n
More Voter ID Proposals in 2023<\/span><\/h2>\n
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Impact of Intimidation on Voter ID<\/span><\/h2>\n
REAL ID Update<\/span><\/h2>\n