Dr. John Lott has a new op-ed at the Washington Times about President Trump’s call for voter IDs.
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President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social that he will soon issue an executive order requiring voter identification for all voters nationwide. A recent Rasmussen Report survey shows that voters support government-issued photo IDs for voting by a 3.5-to-1 margin.
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Even a majority of Democratic voters by more than a 2-to-1 margin—along with about 70 percent of black, Hispanic, and low-income respondents—favor such IDs, though Democratic politicians will strongly oppose Trump’s initiative.
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Democrats’ stance marks a contrast with 2005, when the bipartisan Commission on Federal Election Reform (co-chaired by Democratic former President Jimmy Carter and Republican former Secretary of State James Baker III) recommended states use “REAL ID” cards for voting. The commission included such prominent Democrats as Senator Tom Daschle (D-SD) and former Congressman Lee Hamilton (D-IN). The REAL ID Act of May 2005 requires states to verify an individual’s full legal name, birth date, address, Social Security number, and U.S. citizenship before issuing a driver’s license or personal ID card.
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The commission was concerned about the possibility that voter photo IDs “could disenfranchise eligible voters,” but the felt that REAL IDs would alleviate those concerns. The commission viewed the IDs as necessary to “enhance confidence” in voting and ensuring that those who voted were American citizens.
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The U.S. remains unusual among democracies for lacking strict anti-fraud measures in voting. Research from the Crime Prevention Research Center, which I head, found that 46 of 47 European countries currently require government-issued photo IDs to vote. Only parts of the United Kingdom—excluding Northern Ireland and a number of localities—lack a photo voter-ID requirement. Some countries don’t even accept driver’s licenses for voter identification; the Czech Republic and Russia require passports or military IDs, for example. Many others, including Colombia and Mexico, use national ID cards or biometric voter IDs. Canada also mandates a government-issued photo ID for voting.
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Most countries either ban absentee voting or require photo IDs to obtain an absentee ballot. In Europe, 35 of 47 countries bar domestic absentee voting altogether, and among the remaining 12, ten require voters to pick up absentee ballots in person with photo ID—often further limiting eligibility to voters who can prove hospitalization or military service.
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Turnout in Mexico increased after sweeping reforms were enacted in 1991. Inconveniently, people had to go in person to apply for the I.D.s and then pick them up at a later date. For some Mexicans, that means trips each way of almost 100 miles. Absentee ballots are completely banned.
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You would think that voter turnout would plummet, but that’s not what happened. In the three presidential elections after Mexico’s reforms, 68% of eligible citizens voted compared to only 59% in the three elections before the changes. As people’s confidence that their votes were actually properly counting increased, they were more willing to vote.
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Requiring voter photo I.D.s increased voter turnout in other countries and U.S. states. Then President Joe Biden labeled Georgia’s election reform bill in 2021 as “Jim Crow in the 21st Century” and “Jim Crow 2.0.,” but the more restrictive ID rules for absentee voting actually saw voter turnout rate in the 2022 midterm exceeded the rate in the previous 2018 midterm.
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It is hard to see how someone functions in the United States without a government-issued photo IDs. They are needed for enrolling in Medicaid or other welfare programs, verifying employment eligibility, opening a bank account, cashing a check, staying in a hotel, flying on an airplane, getting certain medicines are pharmacies, and much more.
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Democrats claim that they care want to protect the poor and minorities, yet the strongest support for government issued photo IDs for voting comes from those making less than $30,000 per year while the weakest support comes from those making over $200,000. The people Democrats claim will be hurt strongly support such anti-fraud requirements.
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If banning voter IDs are the hallmarks of democracy, Democrats will need to start castigating Canada, France, Mexico, Sweden, and others as anti-democratic countries.
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