Do voter ID rules depress turnout? No.
September 15, 2007| By Colin Gowan
Voter identification rules are a measure designed to ensure the integrity of the electoral system. But liberals argue that requiring citizens to identify themselves when voting depresses voter turnout, especially among racial minorities. They point to a recent study, cited by The New York Times and other left-leaning media, concluding that more stringent ID rules reduce turnout.
But the study used faulty procedures that distorted its findings, according to an analysis from Heritage’s Center for Data Analysis.
Researcher David Muhlhausen carefully re-analyzed the data and found “that voter identification requirements… have virtually no suppressive effect on reported voter turnout.”
In short, “respondents in photo identification and non-identification state are just as likely (regardless of ethnicity or social status) to report voting compared to respondents from states that only required voters to state their name.”
Colin Gowan is an intern at The Heritage Foundation.