State and Local Officials and Voter ID

Abstract

Abstract The fight over voter identification (voter ID) remains white hot. States continue to pass voter ID laws; litigation regarding the constitutionality and legality of those laws rages. However, the focus on the legality of voter ID laws can lead to insufficient attention being paid to the role state and local officials and poll workers play in enforcing those laws. Whether a voter can cast a ballot and have her vote counted may depend on a state or local official's interpretation of a voter ID law. Voter ID laws tend to address one question—is the putative voter the person listed in the pollbook?—by asking a different question—has the putative voter produced acceptable identification? Structuring the inquiry that way is problematic because it may lead to disfranchising people who should be allowed to vote but do not have proper identification. As importantly, the answer to the second question depends on how forms of identification are defined and how a poll worker decides whether the putative voter'...