Voter ID
Every voter should demonstrate that they are who they say they are before voting. That form of proof should not include restrictive documentation requirements like overly burdensome photo ID or redundant proof of citizenship requirements that serve to block millions of eligible American citizens from voting.
Improvements in voting technology and modernization of our voter registration system will both increase efficiency and close the door on mistakes and fraud. Where there are clear policy solutions that resolve concerns about both election integrity and free and fair access to the polls, American citizens should not be subject to costly restrictive documentation requirements that limit access to the polls.
Studies show that as many as 11 percent of eligible voters do not have government-issued photo ID. That percentage is even higher for seniors, people of color, people with disabilities, low-income voters, and students. Many citizens find it hard to get government photo IDs, because the underlying documentation like birth certificates (the ID one needs to get ID) is often difficult or expensive to come by. At the same time, voter ID policies are far more costly to implement than many assume.
The Brennan Center conducts research on voter ID, proof of citizenship, and in-person voter fraud. Brennan Center attorneys also assist policymakers and advocates seeking to oppose unnecessarily restrictive ID and proof-of-citizenship requirements and improve the security of elections without compromising American citizens’ right to vote.
Our research, publications, and other work on voter ID include:
- Letters to the Department of Justice regarding some of the most restrictive new laws passed in 2011, urging that the Department deny the laws "preclearance" under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.
- Congressional responses and actions related to the recent wave of voter ID legislatin and other suppressive legislation.
- Voting Law Changes in 2012, our full report on the new restrictive voting laws passed or proposed in 2011, including new photo ID requirements.
- A comprehensive list of all the photo ID laws passed in 2011 state legislative sessions.
- A comprehensive legislative round-up of the restrictive ID bills passed by state legislatures in 2011.
- Responses to unsubstantiated allegations of fraud that have misinformed the push for ID laws.
- A survey to determine the extent to which American citizens possess government-issued photo ID and documentary proof of citizenship. We reported that 11 percent of voting-age American citizens—and an even greater percentage of African American, low-income, and older citizens—do not have current and valid government-issued photo IDs. These findings have been confirmed by multiple independent studies.
League of Women Voters v. Rokita
The League of Women Voters of Indiana and the League of Women Voters of Indianapolis challenged Indiana’s Voter ID Law under provisions of the Indiana State Constitution. The Indiana law is the most restrictive ID law in America, and will exclude many eligible voters from participating in our democratic process. On November 9, 2009, various parties filed amicus briefs in support of Plaintiffs. On June 30, 2010, the Supreme Court of the State of Indiana affirmed the decision of the trial court and granted the defendant’s motion to dismiss.
Common Cause/Georgia v. Billups
Case challenging the constitutionality of a Georgia law requiring voters to present photo ID as a condition of voting.
Crawford v. Marion County Election Board
Determining which American citizens are able to exercise their right to vote and which Americans are not, the Indiana voter ID case is the most important voting rights case since Bush v. Gore.
In Debate, GOP Candidates Present Blurred View of MLK’s Vision
Candidates sparred over laws to restore the right to vote to former prisoners, and attacked the Voting Rights Act.
All I want for Christmas is for the Department of Justice to block South Carolina’s discriminatory voter ID law.
Expanding the Vote Abroad, Suppressing It At Home
I can clearly recall the image sprawled across the cover of my local newspaper back in 2005: a photograph of a group of Iraqi women, dressed in niqabs, proudly waving their purple inked thumbs shortly after casting their ballots in the first election following the fall of the Hussein regime.
Illustrations by Risko
Department of Justice Decision on Voter ID Law Protects South Carolina Voters
Statement: "The Justice Department has followed the law, nothing more and nothing less."
Civil Rights Groups Press Department of Justice to Block New Texas Voter ID Law
In a letter sent earlier today, the groups analyzed additional data submitted to the Justice Department by Texas last month. The data show that the new law, which imposes a government-issued photo ID requirement for voting, will disproportionately burden minority voters and produce discriminatory effects.
Study: New Voting Restrictions May Affect More than Five Million
New voting laws could make it significantly harder for more than five million eligible voters to cast ballots in 2012, according to the first comprehensive study of the laws’ impact.
Statement for Congressional Forum: “Excluded from Democracy”
The Brennan Center's Lawrence Norden speaks on new state voting law changes and the potential negative effects for voters at a Capitol Hill forum called by members of congress.
New State Voting Laws: Barriers to the Ballot?
The Brennan Center submits written testimony for the Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights hearing: "New State Voting Laws: Barriers to the Ballot?"
United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary
Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights
Letter to the Department of Justice on South Carolina’s Section 5 Submission
In conjunction with the ACLU, the Lawyer's Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and the League of Women Voters of South Carolina, we submitted this joint letter to the Department of Justice pointing out how voter ID provisions in a recently passed South Carolina law are racially discriminatory. Our letter urges the Department of Justice not to approve the new law under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.
Seniors, minorities, young people and the poor could lose their right to vote.
Congressional Response to Wave of Voting Restrictions
As individual states have been introducing and passing new laws that restrict access to the ballot box, members of Congress are responding at the federal level. They have introduced legislation, announced Congressional hearings, drafted letters, and given passionate floor speeches to stand up for the right to vote. This page will be updated as new Congressional actions are initiated.
Letter to the Department of Justice on Texas’s Section 5 Submission
Texas's new law, which imposes a government-issued photo ID requirement for voting, will disproportionately burden minority voters and produce discriminatory effects.