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Empowering Voters Project: Oppose Expansion of Voter ID Requirements
Contact League of Women
Voters for More Information
The
League of Women Voters urges you to oppose H.56 and S.442. These bills would
expand voter identification requirements and make it more difficult to vote.
The right to vote is the foundation of our democracy, and voting should be as
easy and accessible as possible.
Expansion of voter identification requirements beyond what is mandated by the
Help America Vote Act will suppress voter turnout, be burdensome to voters and
election officials and
create barriers especially
for voters who are disabled, are members of a racial or ethnic minority, are new
citizens or are young voters. It would essentially have a chilling effect on
voter participation.
Background: Under
the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), states must, among other things, require all
voters to provide their driver’s license number or the last four digits of their
social security number when registering to vote. HAVA also requires first-time
voters who registered by mail to produce evidence of their identity before
voting. The League believes
these
requirements for identification are adequate to prevent fraud.
These
bills expand the requirements for showing identification to vote. SD1088 would
require individuals to show photo identification every time they vote; H56 would
require voters to show some form of identification every time they vote. SD1088
was introduced as a local initiative on behalf of the constituents of Wrentham.
Talking Points:
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Voter
disenfranchisement is a greater problem than voting fraud.
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Requiring
identification at the polling place would result in many eligible voters being
turned away from the polls. Many poor and minority voters do not carry
identification, and thus would be turned away in error. These voters, especially
new citizens who may be concerned about government intrusion, are also more
likely to be intimidated by such requirements.
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In November 2001, a
federal court outlawed an identification requirement at the polls in Lawrence,
MA. Both the U.S. Department of Justice and private plaintiffs argued, and the
court correctly found, that “the burden imposed by this requirement will fall
disproportionately on the Latin American community ….”
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ID requirements affect
the population at large, especially those who do not need to drive to their
polling place and thus do not bring identification with them to the polls.
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In comprehensive studies of voter fraud by Demos (a think tank
researching democracy) and by CalTech Professor Michael Alvarez, researchers
concluded that election fraud in the past decade has been extremely rare. Most
reported instances of fraud were investigated and found to be baseless.
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In 2000, the disenfranchisement of thousands of voters in Florida and
elsewhere prompted the passage of HAVA.
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HAVA’s requirements for identification at the time of registration and
for first-time voters who register by mail are adequate to prevent fraud.
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Many Americans live in domiciles as roommates, spouses, or relatives, or
live on a college campus, where their name is not on the lease or on utility
bills. This means they do not have these items as forms of identification at the
polls.
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According to a General Accounting
Office report, only 23 states require proof of identity before a voter casts a
ballot. Massachusetts should not join their ranks.
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