Books
Voting Rights under Fire by Call Number: Robeson KF4893.B76 2015ISBN: 9781440832475Publication Date: 2015-05-26
America Votes! by Call Number: Camden Law Library KF4886 .A86 2016ISBN: 9781634254229Publication Date: 2016-09-07
Voting Requirements by State
Strict Photo ID: States require voters to show a photo id, if they cannot they must vote using a provisional ballot, and may have to later return and show a photo ID to have their vote counted.
Strict Non-Photo ID states do not require a photo id, but do have strict standards regarding what documents (like a bank statement with the voter’s name and address) that they’ll accept.
Non-strict states will let voters vote without acceptable identification if they sign an affidavit of identity, for instance (like in Colorado for instance.)
No documents required: These states do not require any documentation to vote.
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Strict Photo ID |
Strict Non-Photo ID |
Photo ID Requested |
ID requested; photo not required |
No Document Required to vote |
|
Georgia Indiana Kansas** Mississippi Tennessee Virginia Wisconsin |
Arizona North Dakota Ohio |
Arkansas Alabama Florida Hawaii Idaho Louisiana Michigan North Carolina* Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Texas |
Alaska Colorado Connecticut Delaware Iowa Kentucky Missouri Montana New Hampshire Oklahoma Utah Washington West Virginia |
California District of Columbia Illinois Maine Maryland Massachusetts Minnesota Nebraska Nevada New Mexico New Jersey New York Oregon Pennsylvania Vermont Wyoming
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*North Carolina’s Voter ID law is currently on hold by a federal district court.
**Kansas’s strict voter id law was recently struck down by the 10th circuit court.
Go here for more information.
Absentee Ballot Voting
Absentee ballots are taking on increasing importance in light of COVID-19. Providing safe access to voting is essential as conditions change. Often states have requirements regulating how close to an election you can send in an absentee ballot for it to count. Most states verify absentee ballots through signature verification where the voter signs an affidavit confirming who they are. Some states further require a witness to sign confirmation of that fact too (such as Mississippi, North Carolina and Oklahoma), or the voter needs to send a photocopy of their id with their ballot, such as Arkansas and Alabama.
Voter ID Laws
Voter Identification Laws are laws requiring voters to have some sort of identification to vote. The laws have been controversial, with some saying they suppress voters and target minorities and even student voting by making it more difficult for them to vote, while others argue that they are necessary to prevent voter fraud, and argue that voter id's are not difficult to get. The current research data is mixed on the actual results are of voter id laws, though a majority of all voters seem to support some form of Voter ID laws. As voting slowly starts to shift to online methods, the issue of voter ID remains important.