Examining the Effects of Perceptions of Voter Suppression and Voter Fraud on Support for Voter Identification Laws in the United States
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.6000/1929-4409.2023.12.10Keywords:
Voter ID laws, voter suppression, election integrityAbstract
Democracy is fundamentally grounded in the people's right to vote, but what happens when the same mechanisms meant to protect the electoral process become barriers? This study examined the relationship between perceptions of voter suppression and voter fraud and support for voter restrictions, such as requiring identification to vote. The study utilized data from the American National Election Studies 2020 Times Series Study, examining a sample of 5,264 voters. Results revealed that voter support for voter ID laws depends on their perceptions of voter integrity and suppression. The more confidence voters have in the integrity of elections and the more they believe in voter suppression, the less likely they are to support voter identification requirements. Other demographic factors are considered.
References
Ahlquist, John S., Kenneth R. Meyer, and Simon Jackman. 2014. “Alien Abduction and Voter Impersonation in the 2012 Us General Election: Evidence From a Survey List Experiment.” Election Law Journal, 13(4):460–475. https://doi.org/10.1089/elj.2013.0231 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1089/elj.2013.0231
Alvarez, R. M., Delia Bailey, and Jonathan N. Katz. 2008. “The Effect of Voter Identification Laws on Turnout.” Social Science Working Paper, 1267R. California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA. (Unpublished) https://resolver.caltech.edu/ CaltechAUTHORS:20170728-165011731 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1084598
Alvarez, R. M., Thad E. Hall, Ines Levin, and Charles Stewart, III. 2011. “Voter Opinions About Election Reform: Do They Support Making Voting More Convenient?” Election Law Journal, 10(2):73-87. https://doi.org/10.1089/elj.2010.0083 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1089/elj.2010.0083
American National Election Studies. 2021. ANES 2020 Time Series Study Full Release [dataset and documentation]. July 19, 2020, version. www.electionstudies.org
Ansolabehere, Stephen. 2009. “Effects Of Identification Requirements On Voting: Evidence From the Experiences of Voters on Election Day.” PS: Political Science and Politics, 42(1):127–130. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1049096509090313 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1049096509090313
Ansolabehere, Stephen, and Nathaniel Persily. 2008. “Vote Fraud In the Eye of the Beholder: The Role of Public Opinion in the Challenge to Voter Identification Requirements.” Harvard Law Review, 121(7):1737–1774. http://www.jstor.org/stable/ 40042715 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1099056
Banks, Antoine J. and Heather M. Hicks. 2016. “Fear and Implicit Racism: Whites’ Support for Voter ID Laws.” Political Psychology, 37(5):641-658. https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.12292 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.12292
Barreto, Matt A., Stephen A. Nuno, and Gabriel R. Sanchez. 2009. “The Disproportionate Impact of Voter Id Requirements On the Electorate—New Evidence from Indiana.” PS: Political Science and Politics, 42(1):111–116. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1049096509090283 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1049096509090283
Brennan Center for Justice 2017. “Debunking the Voter Fraud Myth.” January 31, 2017. Retrieved from: https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/debunking-voter-fraud-myth
Brown-Iannuzzi, Jazmin L., Erin Cooley, William Cipolli, and B. Keith Payne. 2023. “Who Gets to Vote? Racialized Mental Images of Legitimate and Illegitimate Voters.” Social Psychological and Personality Science, 14(3):356-365. https://doi.org/10.1177/19485506211039408 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/19485506211039408
Clarke, Kristen. 2012. “Redrawing the lines: Race, Democracy, and the 2010 Redistricting Cycle.” Pp. 39–47) in America Votes!: A Guide to Modern Election Law and Voting Rights, edited by B. E. Griffith. American Bar Association.
Commission on Federal Election Reform. 2005. Building Confidence in US Elections: Report of the Commission on Federal Election Reform. Center for Democracy and Election Management, American University.
Dimcock, Michael. 2019. “Defining Generations: Where Millennials End and Generation Z Begins.” Retrieved from: https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2019/01/17/where-millennials-end-and-generation-z-begins/
Downs, Anthony. 1957. “An Economic Theory of Political Action in a Democracy.” The Journal of Political Economy, 65(2):135-150. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1827369 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/257897
Eggers, Andrew C., Haritz Garro, and Justin Grimmer. 2021. “No Evidence for Systematic Voter Fraud: A Guide to Statistical Claims About the 2020 Election.” PNAS, 118(45):1-7. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2103619118 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2103619118
Esposito, Francesco M., Diego Focanti, and Justine S. Hastings. 2019. Effects of Photo ID Laws On Registration and Turnout: Evidence From Rhode Island. National Bureau of Economic Research. Working Paper 25503. https://doi.org/10.3386/w25503 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3386/w25503
Freeman, Brian, Michael Fields, and Raymond Rodriguez. 2009. Voter Suppression: New Hampshire’s Response to a National Problem. Rockefeller Center at Dartmouth College. PRS Policy Brief 0809-02. March 9, 2009. Retrieved from: https://rockefeller.dartmouth.edu/sites/rockefeller.prod/files/prs_brief_0809-02.pdf
Fraga, Bernard L., and Michael G. Miller. 2022. “Who Do Voter ID Laws Keep From Voting?” The Journal of Politics, 84(2):1091-1105. https://doi.org/10.1086/716282 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/716282
Gronke, Paul, William D. Hicks, Seth C. McKee, Charles Stewart, III, and James Dunham. 2019. “Voter ID Laws: A View from the Public.” Social Science Quarterly, 100(1):215-232. https://doi.org/10.1111/ssqu.12541 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/ssqu.12541
Hajnal, Zoltan, Nazita Lajevardi, and Lindsay Nielson. 2017. “Voter Identification Laws and the Suppression of Minority Votes.” Journal of Politics, 79(2):363-742. https://doi.org/10.1086/688343 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/688343
Help America Vote Act of 2002, H.R. 3295, 107th Cong. (2002).
Henninger, Phoebe, Marc Meredith, and Michael Morse. 2021. “Who Votes Without Identification? Using Individual-Level Administrative Data to Measure the Burden of Strict Voter Identification Laws.” Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, 19(2):256-286. https://doi.org/10.1111/jels.12283 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jels.12283
Hicks, William D., Seth C. McKee, Mitchell D. Sellers, and Daniel A. Smith. 2015. “A Principle or a Strategy? Voter Identification Laws and Partisan Competition in the American States.” Political Research Quarterly, 68(1):18–33. https://doi.org/10.1177/1065912914554039 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1065912914554039
Hood, M. V., and Charles S. Bullock, III. 2012. “Much Ado About Nothing? An Empirical Assessment of the Georgia Voter Identification Statute.” State Politics and Policy Quarterly, 12(4):394-414. https://doi.org/10.1177/1532440012452279 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1532440012452279
Kane, John. V., and David C. Wilson. 2021. “Controversy and Costs: Investigating the Consensus on American Voter ID Laws.” Political Behavior, 43(1):397-421. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-020-09643-0 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-020-09643-0
Kane, John V. 2017. “Why Can’t We Agree On ID? Partisanship, Perceptions of Fraud, and Public Support for Voter Identification Laws.” Public Opinion Quarterly, 81(4):943-955. https://doi.org/10.1093/poq/nfx041 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/poq/nfx041
Levitt, Justin. 2007. The Truth About Voter Fraud. Brennan Center For Justice. Retrieved from: https://www.brennancenter.org/ our-work/research-reports/truth-about-voter-fraud DOI: https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1647224
Manheim, Lisa M. and Elizabeth G. Porter. 2019. “The Elephant in The Room: Intentional Voter Suppression.” The Supreme Court Review, 2018(1):213-255. https://doi.org/10.1086/702577 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/702577
Michael, Jared D. 2020. “Protection or Suppression? Reevaluating the Constitutionality of Voter ID Laws in Light of New Empirical Evidence.” Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics and Public Policy, 34(1):395.
Minnite, Lorraine C. 2007. The Politics of Voter Fraud. Project Vote. Retrieved from https://www.projectvote.org/wp-content/uploads/2007/03/Politics_of_Voter_Fraud_Final.pdf
Minnite, Lorraine C. 2010. The Myth of Voter Fraud. Cornell University Press.
Minnite, Lorraine C. 2014. “The Misleading Myth of Voter Fraud in American Elections.” Scholars Strategy Network, January 27, 2014. Retrieved: https://scholars.org/contribution/misleading-myth-voter-fraud-american-elections
Mycoff, Jason D., Michael W. Wagner, and David C. Wilson. 2009. “The Empirical Effects of Voter Id Laws: Present or Absent?” PS: Political Science and Politics, 42(1):121–126. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1049096509090301 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1049096509090301
National Conference of State Legislatures. 2014. Voter Id: State Requirements. Retrieved from https://www.ncsl.org/elections-and-campaigns/voter-id
National Conference of State Legislatures. 2023. Voter Id: State Requirements. Retrieved from https://www.ncsl.org/elections-and-campaigns/voter-id
Pastor, Robert A., Robert Santos, Alison Prevost, and Vassia Stoilov. 2010. “Voting and Id Requirements: A Survey of Registered Voters in Three States.” The American Review of Public Administration, 40(4):461–481. https://doi.org/10.1177/0275074009342892 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0275074009342892
Perez, Efren O. 2010. “Explicit Evidence on The Import of Implicit Attitudes: The IAT And Immigration Policy Judgments.” Political Behavior, 32(4):517-545. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40960953 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-010-9115-z
Pew Research. 2021. Republicans and Democrats Move Further Apart in Views of Voting Access. Retrieved from https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2021/04/22/republicans-and-democrats-move-further-apart-in-views-of-voting-access/. July 21, 2023.
Sheagley, Geoffrey, and Adiano Udani. 2021. “Multiple Meanings? The Link Between Partisanship and Definitions of Voter Fraud.” Electoral Studies, 69. P. 102244. Article 102244. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electstud.2020.102244 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electstud.2020.102244
Sobel, Richard. 2009. “Voter Id Issues in Politics and Political Science.” PS: Political Science and Politics, 42(1):81–85. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1049096509090222 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1049096509090222
Stewart, Charles. 2022. “Trust in Elections.” Daedalus,151(4):234-253. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/48696783 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1162/daed_a_01953
Udani, Adiano. 2017. “Postponing the Day of Reckoning? Examining Contextual Effects on Public Support for Voter Identification Policies.” Social Science Quarterly, 98(5):1456-1467. https://doi.org/10.1111/ssqu.12363 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/ssqu.12363
United States Census Bureau. 2022. Citizen Voting Age Population by Race and Ethnicity. Retrieved from: https://www.census. gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census/about/voting-rights/cvap.html
United States Senate. Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights. 2011. New State Voting Laws: Barriers to the Ballot? Retrieved from: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CHRG-112shrg71326.pdf. United States Government Printing Office, Serial No. J-112-39.
Vercellotti, Timothy, and David Anderson. 2006. “Protecting the Franchise, or Restricting It? The Effects of Voter Identification Requirements on Turn-Out.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, Philadelphia, PA.
von Spakovsky, Hans A. 2012. “Protecting the Integrity of the Election Process.” Election Law Journal: Rules, Politics, and Policy, 11(1):90-96. https://doi.org/10.1089/elj.2011.11107 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1089/elj.2011.11107
Wilson, David C., and Paul R. Brewer. 2013. “The Foundations of Public Opinion on Voter Id Laws Political Predispositions, Racial Resentment, and Information Effects.” Public Opinion Quarterly:962–984. https://www.jstor.org/stable/24546179 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/poq/nft026
Wilson, David C., Paul R. Brewer, and Phoebe T. Rosenbluth. 2014. “Racial Imagery and Support for Voter ID Laws.” Race and Social Problems, 6(4):365-371. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12552-014-9131-4
https://doi-org.10.1007/s12552-014-9131-4
Court Cases
Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee, 594 U.S. ___ (2021). https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/594/19-1257/
Crawford v. Marion County Election Board, 553 U.S. 181 (2008). https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/553/181/
Guinn v. United States, 238 U.S. 347 (1915). https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/238/347/
Shelby County v. Holder, 570 U.S. 529 (2013). https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/570/529/
Smith v. Allwright, 321 U.S. 649 (1944). https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/321/649/
South Carolina v. Katenbach, 383 U.S. 301 (1966). https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/383/301/
United States v. Reese et al., 92 U.S. 214 (1876). https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/92/214/
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Policy for Journals/Articles with Open Access
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post links to their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work
Policy for Journals / Manuscript with Paid Access
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Publisher retain copyright .
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post links to their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work .
