More Research Shows Voter ID Laws Hurt Minorities

Ever since photo voter ID laws began popping up in states during the late 2000s, there’s been a partisan war over whether they’re good for democracy. Voter ID’s most loyal followers are Republicans, who believe they are needed to combat voter-impersonation fraud. Democrats are voter ID’s most loyal enemies, concerned that the laws suppress voter participation, especially for people of color. There have been a variety of studies that aim to hash this out, most of them producing mixed results that either side could exploit.

But a trio of political scientists at the University of California San Diego say they’re getting closer to the truth about the impact of voter ID laws: “For Latinos, Blacks, and multi-racial Americans there are strong signs that strict photo identification laws decrease turnout.”