Americans Affirm Voter ID Laws

The voting public -- even Democrats -- approves of common sense voter ID laws.

Jan LaRue

If photo ID laws are the bane to minority voting rights that leftists and assorted federal judges claim, you’d expect the public to agree. Not even close.

Eighty percent of Americans, white and nonwhite across party lines support photo ID laws, according to a Gallup poll taken Aug. 15-16:

• Nonwhite: 77%
• Republicans: 93%
• Independents: 83%
• Democrats: 63%

Last July, the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals held that Texas’ “strict photo ID law” discriminated against or disproportionately affected black and Latino voters who allegedly face hardships in obtaining the necessary documents, which include any of the following:

• Election identification certificate
• Dept. of Public Safety personal ID card U.S. military ID
• U.S. citizenship certificate
• U.S. passport
• License to carry a concealed handgun issued by the Department of Public Safety

The National Conference of State Legislatures website provides detailed information on each state’s voter ID law as of Aug. 19. ......... More