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Effects of Identification Requirements on Voting: Evidence from the Experiences of Voters on Election Day

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 January 2009

Stephen Ansolabehere
Affiliation:
Harvard University

Extract

At the heart of the efforts to improve elections in the United States are two important values: access and integrity. To guarantee the right to vote, the polls must be accessible to all who wish to vote. To guarantee legitimate elections, only eligible people should be allowed to vote, and all votes must be tabulated correctly. These values have different implications for administrative procedures, ranging from the implementation of registration systems to the choice of voting equipment to the set up of polling places and training of poll workers. Often these values work hand in hand, but at times they are at odds. Such is the case with the authentication of voters at the polls (see National Commission on Federal Election Reform 2002).

Type
Symposium
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 2009

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References

Alvarez, R. Michael, Bailey, Delia, and Katz, Jonathan. 2008. “The Effect of Voter Identification Laws on Turnout.” Voting Technology Project Working Paper #57, December 2. http://www.votingtechnologyproject.org/media/documents/wps/vtp_wp57b.pdf.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ansolabehere, Stephen. 2008. “Access versus Integrity in Voter Identification Requirements.” New York University Annual Survey of American Law 63 (4): 613–30.Google Scholar
Ansolabehere, Stephen, and Persily, Nathaniel. 2008. “Vote Fraud in the Eye of the Beholder: The Role of Public Opinion in the Challenge to Voter Identification Requirements.” Harvard Law Review 121 (7): 1737–74.Google Scholar
National Commission on Federal Election Reform. 2002. To Assure Pride and Confidence in the Electoral Process. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press.Google Scholar
National Council of State Legislatures. 2008. “Requirements for State Voter Identification.” http://www.ncsl.org/programs/legismgt/elect/taskfc/voteridreq.htm.Google Scholar