OPINION:
President Trump announced recently 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 3½-1 margin. Even a majority of Democratic voters by more than a 2-1 margin — along with about 70% of Black, Hispanic and low-income respondents — favor such IDs, though Democratic politicians will strongly oppose Mr. Trump’s initiative.
Democrats’ stance contrasts with that of 2005, when the bipartisan Commission on Federal Election Reform, co-chaired by former President Jimmy Carter and former Secretary of State James Baker III, recommended that states use “REAL ID” cards for voting. The commission included prominent Democrats such as Sen. Tom Daschle of South Dakota and former Rep. Lee Hamilton of Indiana.
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.
The commission was concerned that voter photo IDs “could disenfranchise eligible voters,” but it felt that REAL IDs would alleviate those concerns. The commission viewed the IDs as necessary to “enhance confidence” in voting and ensure that those who voted were American citizens.
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 require government-issued photo IDs to vote. Only parts of the United Kingdom, excluding Northern Ireland and several localities, lack a photo 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.
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. Among the remaining 12, 10 require voters to pick up absentee ballots in person with a photo ID, often further limiting eligibility to voters who can prove hospitalization or military service.
Turnout in Mexico increased after sweeping reforms were enacted in 1991. Inconveniently, people had to apply for the IDs in person 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.
You would think voter turnout would plummet, but that was not what happened. In the three presidential elections after Mexico’s reforms, 68% of eligible citizens voted, compared with only 59% in the three elections before the changes. As confidence that their votes were counted properly increased, people were more willing to vote.
Requiring voter photo IDs increased voter turnout in other countries and U.S. states. In 2021, President Biden labeled Georgia’s election reform bill “Jim Crow in the 21st century” and “Jim Crow 2.0,” with more restrictive ID rules for absentee voting. The voter turnout rate in the 2022 midterm elections exceeded the rate of the 2018 midterms.
It is hard to see how anyone can function in the United States without a government-issued photo ID. IDs are needed to enroll in Medicaid and other welfare programs, verify employment eligibility, open a bank account, cash a check, stay in a hotel, fly on an airplane, get certain medicines from pharmacies and much more.
Democrats claim they 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 annually. The weakest support comes from those making more than $200,000.
If banning voter IDs is the hallmark of democracy, Democrats will need to start castigating Canada, France, Mexico, Sweden and others as anti-democratic countries.
• John R. Lott Jr. is the president of the Crime Prevention Research Center.
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