Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-b95js Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-13T01:06:01.711Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Empirical Effects of Voter-ID Laws: Present or Absent?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 January 2009

Jason D. Mycoff ,
Michael W. Wagner  and
David C. Wilson
Jason D. Mycoff
Affiliation:
University of Delaware
Michael W. Wagner
Affiliation:
University of Nebraska
David C. Wilson
Affiliation:
University of Delaware
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

The effect of voter-identification (voter-ID) laws on turnout is a hot-button issue in contemporary American politics. In April of 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed Indiana's voter-ID law, the nation's most rigorous, which requires voters to arrive at the polls with a state-issued photo ID containing an expiration date (Crawford v. Marion County 2008). In a famous incident highlighting how Hoosiers were dealing with their state's voter-ID law, representative Julia Carson (D-IN) was initially blocked from voting during Indiana's 2006 primary election for failing to comply with Indiana's voter-identification standard. Carson identified herself with her congressional ID card; since that card did not include an expiration date and therefore did not meet Indiana's voter-identification law, she was turned away at the polls before later being allowed to vote (Goldstein 2006). The rising wave of public, political, and legal debate crested two years later in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling and during the Indiana primaries, with reports of a dozen nuns being denied ballots at the polls due to their lack of appropriate identification (Urbina 2008).

Type
Symposium
Information
PS: Political Science & Politics , Volume 42 , Issue 1 , January 2009 , pp. 121 - 126
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alvarez, R. Michael, Bailey, Delia, and Katz, Jonathan N.. 2007. “The Effect of Voter Identification Laws on Turnout.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, Chicago, IL.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ansolabehere, Stephen. 2007. “Access versus Integrity in Voter Identification Requirements.” Paper presented at the New York University Law School's Election Law Symposium for the Annual Survey of American Law.Google Scholar
Barreto, Matt, Nuño, Stephen, and Sanchez, Gabriel. 2009. “The Disproportionate Impact of Voter-ID Requirements on the Electorate—New Evidence from Indiana.” PS: Political Science and Politics 42 (January): 111–16.Google Scholar
Berinsky, Adam J. 2005. “The Perverse Consequences of Electoral Reform in the United States.” American Politics Research 33 (4): 471–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brady, Henry E., Verba, Sidney, and Schlozman, Kay Lehman. 1995. “Beyond SES: A Resource Model of Political Participation.” American Political Science Review 89: 271–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Campbell, Angus, Converse, Philip E., Miller, Warren E., and Stokes, Donald E.. 1960. The American Voter. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Crawford v. Marion County Board of Elections. 2008. 553 U.S.Google Scholar
Downs, Anthony. 1957. An Economic Theory of Democracy. New York: Harper Collins.Google Scholar
Eagleton Institute of Politics, and The Moritz College of Law. 2006. “Report to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission on Best Practices to Improve Voter Identification Requirements Pursuant to the HELP AMERICA VOTE ACT OF 2002 Public Law107-252.” Rutgers University and The Ohio State University.Google Scholar
Goldstein, Amy. 2006. “Democrats Predict Voter ID Problems; Laws May Create Election Day Turmoil.” Washington Post, November 3, A01.Google Scholar
Gronke, Paul, Galanes-Rosenbaum, Eva, and Miller, Peter. 2007. “Early Voting and Turnout.” PS: Political Science and Politics 40 (October): 639–45.Google Scholar
Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles. 2008a. “Check Average Visit Times.” http://www.in.gov/bmv/3319.htmGoogle Scholar
Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles. 2008b. “Voter Services.” http://www.in.gov/bmv/3210.htm.Google Scholar
Indiana Secretary of State. 2008. “U.S. Supreme Court Upholds Indiana's Voter ID Law.” New release, April 28. http://www.in.gov/sos/press/2008/042808.html.Google Scholar
Muhlhausen, David B., and Sikich, Keri Weber. 2007. “New Analysis Shows Voter Identification Laws do not Reduce Turnout.” The Heritage Center for Data Analysis. http://www.heritage.org/Research/LegalIssues/upload/cda_07-04.pdf.Google Scholar
Mycoff, Jason D., Wagner, Michael W., and Wilson, David C.. 2007. “The Effect of Voter Identification Laws on Turnout.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, Chicago, IL.Google Scholar
Nagler, Jonathan. 1991. “The Effect of Registration Laws and Education on U.S. Voter Turnout.” American Political Science Review 85: 393–405.Google Scholar
Rosenstone, Steven J., and Hansen, J.M.. 1993. Mobilization, Participation, and Democracy in America. New York: MacMillian.Google Scholar
Tolbert, Caroline J., Grummel, John A., and Smith, Daniel A.. 2001. “The Effects of Ballot Initiatives on Voter Turnout in the American States.” American Politics Research 29: 625–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Urbina, Ian. 2008. “Voter ID Battle Shifts to Proof of Citizenship.” The New York Times, May 12, A01.Google Scholar
Vercellotti, Timothy, and Anderson, David. 2006. “Protecting the Franchise, or Restricting it? The Effects of Voter Identification Requirements on Turnout.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, Philadelphia, PA.Google Scholar
Wolfinger, Raymond E., and Rosenstone, Steven J.. 1980. Who Votes? New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar