ABSTRACT
Following a wave of Republican victories, a number of state legislatures promoted and, in some cases, passed voter identification laws. In 2011, according to data published by the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) (https://www.ncsl.org">www.ncsl.org), seven states have strict photo identification requirements for voting. In many cases, these laws require potential voters to present state issued photo identification cards to prove their identities. While other states ask for photo identification but permit voting if other requirements are met, the strict photo states only count ballots if the voters provide photo identification at the polling station or to an election official several days after the election. Proponents of these laws argue that voter identification laws will prevent rampant fraud and corruption in American elections. In their book, Who’s Counting: How Fraudsters and Bureaucrats Put Your Vote at Risk, John Fund and Hans von Spakovsky argue that fraud and bureaucratic failings make it easy for individuals to impersonate voters. They argue that voter identification laws will end these practices and improve the integrity of our democracy. And in 2008, a six-member majority on the Supreme Court upheld strict photo identification laws as constitutional, arguing that states had the right to protect the “integrity and reliability of the electoral process.”
