FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 4, 2026 | 10:30 AM
Contact: [email protected]
Following the outcome of voter ID ballot measures in the 2026 midterm election, VoteRiders released the following statement:
Yesterday, voters in six states decided whether to adopt new or stricter voter ID laws – the most voter ID measures ever on statewide ballots in a single year. Voters in California and Colorado rejected proposals that would have made voting harder for eligible citizens by imposing new ID barriers to the ballot box. Early returns indicate that Arizona voters will also stand up for voting rights and reject an initiative that would have imposed sweeping changes to mail voting. Voter ID ballot measures passed in Nevada, North Carolina, and Ohio.
Voter ID measures are often presented as neutral safeguards, but their true costs fall on eligible voters and the election officials who serve them. Voter ID laws block eligible voters from the ballot box every election, sow confusion, and drain millions of dollars in taxpayer resources. When ID laws are written into state constitutions, it becomes far harder to undo them in the future when these laws cause problems.
In California, Proposition 39 was decisively rejected, with voters standing up en masse to protect ballot box access across the Golden State. In Arizona (where votes are still being counted) and Colorado, yesterday’s results likewise show that communities are defending their right to cast a ballot without unnecessary, costly, and invasive ID requirements.
In North Carolina and Ohio, existing voter ID laws are now written into the state constitutions, making them much harder to change in the future. VoteRiders will continue helping voters in both states navigate ID requirements, and working alongside partners to protect voting access.
In Nevada, voters approved a brand-new constitutional requirement: photo ID to vote in person, or sensitive ID numbers on mail ballot envelopes. Because it is now part of the constitution, the legislature cannot soften these requirements when they inevitably shut eligible voters out. Lawmakers now have to put new rules in place on a tight timeline ahead of the 2028 election, when Nevada will be one of the most closely watched states in the country. VoteRiders will ramp up outreach to Nevada voters, partners, and election officials immediately, and encourages any Nevada voter in need of free ID help to contact us as soon as possible.
States that have adopted new ID laws have found that public education takes time and money, and that the voters least likely to hear about a change are often the ones most affected by it. VoteRiders’ immediate priority is making sure no eligible voter loses their freedom to participate because of an ID they don’t have or a rule they don’t understand.
Voters with questions about ID rules for voting or in need of free ID help can reach VoteRiders at VoteRiders.org/FreeHelp or 866-ID-2-VOTE (866-432-8683).
Even as challenges to voting access mount, VoteRiders will keep doing what we’ve done for over a decade: giving every eligible voter trusted, clear information about ID requirements and helping them get the ID they need to vote with confidence.
— Lauren Kunis, VoteRiders CEO & Executive Director
