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January 8, 2008

Study: ID requirement lowers voter participation

States requiring voters to present identification before casting ballots have lower political participation levels, a new Brown University study says.

The study also indicates "voter I.D. policies discourage legal immigrants from becoming citizens, particularly for blacks and Hispanics, reducing odds of naturalization by more than 15 percent," according to a university news release summarizing the study.

The study was released by the American Communities Project at Brown’s Initiative in Spatial Structures in the Social Sciences. It reports that since 2000, and in part because of post Sept. 11, 2001, security concerns, state requirements for voter identification have increased.

Nineteen states required some documentation of a voter’s identity by 2004, sometimes as a photo I.D. Supporters say identification is needed to prevent voting fraud, such as voting by noncitizens or people who are otherwise ineligible to register. Critics say that I.D. policies effectively suppress voter participation, particularly among minorities, the study says.

The report, co-authored by director John Logan and graduate student Jennifer Darrah, concludes that voter I.D. is a factor with negative influence on civic participation in this country.

“At a time when many public officials express regret that immigrants seem to lag in their participation in mainstream society, even small suppressive effects on naturalization -- the formal step to becoming an American citizen -- work in the wrong direction and should be taken into account as people evaluate the benefits and costs of more stringent identification requirements," the report states.

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney

Among the report's findings:

* In states with a voter I.D. policy in 2000, the odds of naturalization for foreign-born residents of the United States were cut by more than 5 percent, with greatest impact on Hispanics.

* In election years 1996 to 2004, the odds of being a registered voter among citizens 18 and older were higher for whites by about 15 percent in states with voter I.D. requirements. But that "was more than counterbalanced" by a reduction in white voter turnout. "In 2004 alone the net effect was to reduce white turnout in these states by about 400,000 votes."

* During that same period, voter I.D. policies reduced Asians’ registration and diminished voter turnout by blacks and Hispanics by about 14 percent and 20 percent respectively. Minority voting in applicable states in 2004 was down by more than 400,000 votes.

* The "suppressive effect" of voter I.D. disproportionately affected not only minorities, "but also people with less than a high school education and less than $15,000 income, tenants, and recent movers."

Posted by Mike McKinney at 7:01 AM | Permalink

Comments

Give me a break. If that is to much actual work for you to accomplish in the process of electing the next leader of the free world, don't vote.

Anthony Cassino | January 8, 2008 7:35 AM link

I hear it also dramatically cuts down on dead people and illegal aliens negating legitimate votes.

You want to talk about voter disenfranchisement? How about having your vote canceled out by someone who's not even legally in this country or by some shifty union foot soldier driving from polling place to polling place voting for the dead?

Greg | January 8, 2008 8:04 AM link

Seriously, if you can't take the time to get a legitimate form of ID, then how can you be granted the PRIVILEGE of casting a vote?

Dan | January 8, 2008 8:43 AM link

My guess is that the lower number of participants in voting because of having to show ID is due to less dead people and illegal aliens voting. If you can't even be bothered to get an ID for voting, an important part of our democracy, then you have not business voting in the first place.

Dana | January 8, 2008 9:07 AM link

It has been shocking to me every time I've voted that I've never been asked for ID. This seems so basic. Isn't a vote as important as cashing a check?

I think the Founding Fathers (who envisioned a *republic*) would approve of requiring an ID, at the very least, for the privilege of voting!

Elizabeth | January 8, 2008 9:39 AM link

I'm pretty sure that voting, in a democracy, is a right, not a privilege.

Concerned Person | January 8, 2008 10:33 AM link

Do these people not use cash or a bank account. Every time I go to the bank to open an account, I have to provide ID? How do they function in life without ID?

erin | January 8, 2008 11:07 AM link

This "study" supports a political agenda, period.
There is no reason why you can't ask for ID before voting. They ask your name already but how does anyone really know who it is? This is a no brainer but it will probably hurt some agendas and so they twist it into a disenfranchisement issue. If you can't get an ID that's legit maybe you shouldn't vote?

bill | January 8, 2008 11:32 AM link

January 8, 2008

Study: ID requirement lowers voter participation

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