Voter ID Laws and Voter Turnout

In recent years, many states have enacted laws imposing strict identification requirements for voting. Proponents contend such laws are necessary to prevent voter fraud while opponents claim the laws disenfranchise legitimate voters, particularly black and Hispanic voters. This paper uses data from 2000 to 2014 federal elections to examine whether these new identification laws reduce voter turnout, either overall or among minority groups. The results provide no evidence that strict identification laws affect overall turnout or black turnout. However, the results do indicate a small reduction in Hispanic turnout, but this effect is statistically significant only if state fixed effects are not included in the estimation.