Great Lakes Wire

Though voter ID seems like a divisive issue, it is actually a measure that a large majority of the population supports, recent polls show. 

Voter ID has been a topic of debate in recent months, especially coming off of a controversial presidential election last year that saw former President Trump allege that the election was "stolen" from him. Since then, politicians around the country have been calling for stricter voting laws to increase election security. One approach is to enact voter ID laws. 

"Voter ID has always been an extremely popular public policy, with support consistently topping 70%," Jim Hobart, a partner at the national polling firm Public Opinion Strategies, said. "This was true 15 years ago and remains true today. Americans are asked to show their photo ID for a whole host of reasons and regularly do it without complaint, so it should be no surprise that the vast majority of the country is supportive of also having to show a photo ID in order to vote."

Other polls seem to support his firm's findings. The Honest Elections Project’s polling showed that 77% of voters, including strong majorities of Republicans (92%), independents (75%), and Democrats (63%) all support requiring voter ID. By other demographics, 64% of Black voters, 77% of Hispanics, and 76% of low-income voters reject the notion that presenting ID at the ballot-box is a “burden.”

In Michigan, the support for voter ID laws is especially strong. By a margin of 79.7%-16.2%, Michigan voters overwhelmingly support requiring voters to present a government ID when voting in person. A majority of every demographic group supports a government ID for in-person voting, according to the Detroit Chamber of Commerce.

Nationally, voters also overwhelmingly support voter ID laws. Rasmussen found 75% of likely U.S. voters say that showing a photo I.D. to vote is necessary for a “fair and secure election process,” while separate polling from Rasmussen found that 85% of registered voters said it is “common sense” to require photo I.D. A Monmouth University poll indicates 4 in 5 Americans (80%) support requiring voters to show photo identification in order to cast a ballot, while just 18% oppose.

The Washington Examiner reported that “voter ID, a major component of Georgia’s new election law, is popular among people despite criticism about the measure from Democratic leaders, according to recent polls.” According to an April Pew Research Center survey, 76% of Americans, including 61% of Democrats, favor “requiring all voters to show government-issued photo identification to vote.” Polling from the Associated Press “found bipartisan agreement on requiring all voters to provide photo identification at their polling place — something that more than a dozen mostly Republican-led states have implemented…. Overall, 72% are in favor of requiring voters to provide photo identification to vote, while just 13% are opposed. Ninety-one percent of Republicans and 56% of Democrats are in favor.”

There are no current bills that have significant support at a nationwide level to implement a voter ID law, but Republicans continue to push for a path towards increased election security measures.