{"id":19093,"date":"2024-02-14T19:41:09","date_gmt":"2024-02-14T19:41:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.voteriders.org\/?p=19093"},"modified":"2024-02-14T19:41:09","modified_gmt":"2024-02-14T19:41:09","slug":"millions-lack-id-ahead-of-2024-elections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.voteriders.org\/millions-lack-id-ahead-of-2024-elections\/","title":{"rendered":"New Report Confirms Millions of Americans Lack ID Ahead of 2024 Elections"},"content":{"rendered":"

BY ERIN CARDEN, DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS COORDINATOR, VOTERIDERS \u2014 FEBRUARY 14, 2024<\/p>\n

Many people mistakenly believe that most citizens in the United States already have government-issued photo identification.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The truth is, <\/span>millions of Americans do <\/b>not<\/b><\/a>.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

As the country\u2019s leading organization focused on <\/span>voter ID education and assistance<\/span><\/a>, we know from our on-the-ground work that far too many citizens lack the ID they need to find employment, secure stable housing, access life-saving medical care, and increasingly, <\/span>to vote<\/span><\/a>. In the face of an explosion of voter ID laws across the country in recent years, we also know that Americans are increasingly confused and intimidated by complicated and ever-changing voter ID requirements.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Today, <\/b>38 states<\/b> \u2014\u00a0more than ever before \u2014 require or request a specific type of ID to cast a ballot. <\/b>In 2023 alone, eight states passed new or stricter voter ID requirements. <\/span>Even more<\/span> new voter ID laws are expected in 2024 as state legislatures convene this year.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As the 2024 election cycle heats up, it\u2019s critical that VoteRiders<\/a> continues to sharpen our understanding of the voter ID landscape.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Last year, a<\/span>longside the Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement (CDCE) at the University of Maryland, the Brennan Center for Justice, and Public Wise, VoteRiders embarked upon a multiphase research project to provide the public with crucial information on voter ID<\/a> \u2014 which had not been updated in nearly 20 years. We released <\/span>the results<\/span><\/a> from the first phase of this research in April 2023, and our findings<\/a> are already helping VoteRiders, democracy organizations, the media, policy-makers, and others better understand the state of play with respect to the voters who lack ID.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now we\u2019re excited to release the results of the next phase of that research<\/a>, which involves a new national study fielded in fall of 2023. This time we examined not just <\/span>who <\/span><\/i>in America lacks ID, but also <\/span>why<\/span><\/i>. Given that it <\/span>had been nearly 20 years since a public survey examined ID access in America, we<\/span> also wanted to find out what people do and do not know about the voter ID laws in their states.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As VoteRiders\u2019 <\/span>Legal Director<\/span><\/a> wrote in a <\/span>Democracy Docket<\/span><\/em><\/a> op-ed:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Our findings confirmed what we at VoteRiders have known for quite some time through our work across the country: voter ID laws are wreaking havoc on the voting process, confusing voters, and restricting the right to vote. And these rules harm some communities more than others \u2013 effectively distorting our electorate and undermining our democracy.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Other key findings<\/a> from the analysis include:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n