The Voter ID Act Unreasonably Restricts the Freedom to Vote

The right to vote is the cornerstone of American democracy, and Congress should be working to enhance — rather than restrict — access to the ballot for eligible voters. In this factsheet, Campaign Legal explains how the Voter ID Act, H.R. 9368, would unfortunately impose significant new barriers to participation, overhauling the way voters nationwide prove their identity at the polls. This bill, which mirrors the voter ID provisions in the deeply unpopular SAVE Act, would require voters to show photo identification before casting a ballot in a federal election. But it only allows an unreasonably narrow list of acceptable forms of identification, fails to account for the diversity of Tribal identification practices, and does not provide a meaningful affidavit or fail-safe voting process for eligible Americans who do not possess one of the bill's limited types of qualifying documentation. For these reasons, the Voter ID Act would infringe on the rights of millions of Americans and undermine the core principles of our democracy.