Study: Voter ID Laws May Have Blocked 200,000 Wisconsin Voters From 2016 Election
- 7 years ago
A new study by the liberal group Priorities USA has found that Wisconsin’s tightened voter ID laws may have kept 200,000 mostly Democratic and African-American votes out of the 2016 presidential election.
A new study by the liberal group Priorities USA has found that Wisconsin’s tightened voter ID laws may have kept 200,000 mostly Democratic and African-American votes out of the 2016 presidential election.
The report notes that “while states with no change to voter identification laws witnessed an average increased turnout of +1.3% from 2012 to 2016, Wisconsin’s turnout (where voter ID laws changed to strict) dropped by -3.3%.”
It goes on to say, “If turnout had instead increased by the national-no-change average, we estimate that over 200,000 more voters would have voted in Wisconsin in 2016. For context, [Hillary] Clinton lost to [Donald] Trump in Wisconsin by only 20,000 votes.”
Though he managed to edge her out by a small margin, he still collected the state’s 10 electoral votes.
As Priorities USA explains, “we identified high propensity voters registered in Wisconsin (who had voted in 2012 and 2014) who were still alive in 2016 but did not cast a vote. We then compared their demographic make-up to that of the Wisconsin electorate, and found that the lost voters skewed more African-American and more Democrat.”
According to an Associated Press report, “Under the Wisconsin law, voters must present a driver's license, state ID, passport, military ID, naturalization papers or tribal ID to vote.”
While advocates cite voter fraud as a reason to have the requirements in place, those opposed to the restrictions argue that they represent efforts to keep older and minority voters out of the voting process.
Before the study was released, there had been speculation that 300,000 Wisconsin voters were prevented from voting due to voter ID laws.
However, the watchdog site PolitiFact determined that while some may have been turned away for that reason, the number is likely not that high and it would be difficult to estimate since such figures are not tracked.
A new study by the liberal group Priorities USA has found that Wisconsin’s tightened voter ID laws may have kept 200,000 mostly Democratic and African-American votes out of the 2016 presidential election.
The report notes that “while states with no change to voter identification laws witnessed an average increased turnout of +1.3% from 2012 to 2016, Wisconsin’s turnout (where voter ID laws changed to strict) dropped by -3.3%.”
It goes on to say, “If turnout had instead increased by the national-no-change average, we estimate that over 200,000 more voters would have voted in Wisconsin in 2016. For context, [Hillary] Clinton lost to [Donald] Trump in Wisconsin by only 20,000 votes.”
Though he managed to edge her out by a small margin, he still collected the state’s 10 electoral votes.
As Priorities USA explains, “we identified high propensity voters registered in Wisconsin (who had voted in 2012 and 2014) who were still alive in 2016 but did not cast a vote. We then compared their demographic make-up to that of the Wisconsin electorate, and found that the lost voters skewed more African-American and more Democrat.”
According to an Associated Press report, “Under the Wisconsin law, voters must present a driver's license, state ID, passport, military ID, naturalization papers or tribal ID to vote.”
While advocates cite voter fraud as a reason to have the requirements in place, those opposed to the restrictions argue that they represent efforts to keep older and minority voters out of the voting process.
Before the study was released, there had been speculation that 300,000 Wisconsin voters were prevented from voting due to voter ID laws.
However, the watchdog site PolitiFact determined that while some may have been turned away for that reason, the number is likely not that high and it would be difficult to estimate since such figures are not tracked.