Voter Identification

Voter identification laws are intended to authenticate a person’s identity as a qualified voter before she receives a ballot or before her ballot is counted. They are measures that are meant to ensure that a voter is the person she says she is and that she is not attempting to cast a ballot in someone else’s name.

Historically, the first voter identification laws were voter registration requirements that were implemented in the early 1900s in response to progressive reforms. Several states passed laws between 1971 and 2000 that requested some type of physical documentation by a voter at the polls. However, these were not requirements, because provisions existed in the law for voters to cast a regular ballot regardless of whether or not they had the ...