By Erin Carden
In 2023, only two types of ID were common to states with voter ID laws: a current driver’s license or a state ID. Information on the American public’s possession of voter ID hadn’t been updated in nearly 20 years, so we partnered with the Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement (CDCE) at the University of Maryland, the Brennan Center for Justice, and Public Wise on a multiphase research project to better understand how many voters in the US lack ID.
Our report found that as of 2020, 29 million eligible voters lacked a current driver’s license, and over 7 million lacked a current government-issued photo ID.
We released the next research phase in 2024 which involved a new national study fielded in the fall of 2023. This time, we examined not just who in America lacks ID but also why.
As our Legal Director wrote in a Democracy Docket op-ed:
“Our findings confirmed what we at VoteRiders have known for quite some time through our work across the country: voter ID laws are wreaking havoc on the voting process, confusing voters, and restricting the right to vote. And these rules harm some communities more than others – effectively distorting our electorate and undermining our democracy.“
This time, our research revealed that over 34.5 million Americans either don’t have a driver’s license or state ID OR have one that doesn’t have their current name and/or address on it. This could possibly cause difficulties voting in states with strict photo ID laws, like Arizona.
We also found evidence of racial gaps in these numbers: citizens of color are almost 4x more likely to not have a current government-issued photo ID compared to white citizens.
Another key takeaway from our study is that voter ID laws create widespread voter confusion. Over half of Americans living in states that require photo ID to vote in person don’t even know their state’s laws and don’t realize they’ll need this type of identification to cast a ballot successfully. 35% of citizens who live in states that don’t have a photo ID law either mistakenly think it’s required to vote in person or are unsure what their state’s voter law even is.
Because it can be really challenging to get.
19% of Americans without a driver’s license said they didn’t have one because of bureaucratic or economic barriers, such as not being able to afford the license or not having underlying documents like a birth certificate or Social Security card. On average, a copy of a birth certificate costs $50, more than five hours of minimum wage work in many states.
The barriers voter ID laws create for eligible voters have only worsened. At the start of the 2025 legislative session, House Republicans reintroduced the SAVE Act. This bill would require every American to show a document proving US citizenship (such as a passport or birth certificate) to register to vote or update their voter registration.
Our research shows that under the SAVE Act, millions of eligible US citizens would be unable to vote because 21 million Americans—1 in 10 adult citizens—don’t have easy access to proof of citizenship documents. US citizens of color are also more likely than white citizens not to have documents that prove their citizenship. For example, older Black voters in the South and Indigenous Americans who were not born in a hospital may not have a birth certificate at all.
The SAVE Act will also increase the likelihood of being wrongfully purged from state voter rolls. The bill includes measures that would mistakenly flag lawfully registered US citizen voters as ineligible and allow states to purge their voter rolls without notifying voters before removing them. This would mean already-registered Americans wouldn’t even know they were removed from the rolls until they showed up to vote and learned they were no longer registered.
Like other voter ID laws, the SAVE Act is a solution in search of a problem. Current Federal laws already have checks and balances to ensure that only US citizens register and vote. Every state requires that voters confirm their US citizenship when they register, under penalty of perjury. The existing penalties for non-US citizens who attempt to vote in federal elections are steep and severe, including criminal penalties, fines, and deportation.
To build the democracy we all want and deserve, every eligible voter must have an equal opportunity to defend their future and have a say in the decisions that affect their lives.
Let’s keep showing up—together.
Erin Carden is VoteRiders’ Digital Communications Coordinator.
February 13, 2025.
