Fraud fighter or ballot blocker? Although voter ID legislation has dwindled, controversy over the laws continues.

• Author: Underhill, Wendy
• Position: ELECTIONS

Until recently, the phrase "voter ID" was as politically charged as "immigration," "same-sex marriage" and "collective bargaining."

"Voter ID" is shorthand for a requirement that voters show a poll worker some kind of document proving their identity so they can receive a ballot on Election Day. Exactly what documents are accepted depends on the state.

It's also shorthand for a familiar argument. Proponents argue that showing an ID is a simple security measure to prevent voter fraud. Opponents counter that voter impersonation rarely occurs and that requiring an ID makes it hard for some citizens--often the poor and elderly--to vote.

Legislative activity reflected the debate: From 2011 to 2013, 15 states adopted or strengthened their voter ID laws. But lately, the voter ID controversy seems to have lost some of its oomph. This year, there have been a third fewer active bills on voter ID than there were in 2011, 2012 or 2013, and many of the 2014 bills are 2013 holdovers that have languished.

Does that mean the conflict is over? Maybe. "There's not the same kind of momentum there used to be," says veteran elections observer Doug Chapin, director of the Program for Excellence in Election Administration at the University of Minnesota and author of the Election Academy blog.

Or maybe not. "But the issue is far from gone," Chapin goes on to say. "The next year will show if it's an actual cease-fire or merely a pause in the bombing."

Eligible citizens should be able to vote, and ineligible voters should be prevented from doing so. Over this, there has been little or no debate. But the consensus breaks down over which principle is more important: access to the ballot box or prevention of voter fraud.

Among the 12 states that enacted or strengthened voter ID laws in 2011 and 2012, all but Rhode Island did so with solid Republican majorities, loud Democratic outcries and partisan friction hot enough to start a fire. Last year, Arkansas, North Carolina and Virginia joined Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas, the other states with the strictest photo ID laws. Arkansas lawmakers overrode the governor's veto. And legislators in North Dakota decided to require all voters to show some form of ID, although it doesn't need to include a photo.

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