75% Support Showing Photo ID At The Polls

Rasmussen Reports

Support remains high for requiring voters to show photo identification before being allowed to cast their ballots. An increasing number of states across the country are putting that requirement into law.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 75% of Likely U.S. Voters believe voters should be required to show photo identification such as a driver’s license before being allowed to vote. Just 18% disagree and oppose such a requirement. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

Eighty-five percent (85%) of Republicans support a photo ID requirement at the polls, as do 77% of voters not affiliated with either major party and 63% of Democrats. But then support for such a law is high across virtually all demographic groups.

Supporters of photo ID laws say they will prevent fraud at the polls; opponents insist the laws will discourage many including minorities and older Americans from voting.

By a 48% to 29% margin, voters think that letting ineligible people vote is a bigger problem than preventing legitimate voters from casting a ballot.

A plurality (46%) of Democrats thinks it’s more common for eligible voters to be denied their right to vote. Seventy-two percent (72%) of Republicans and a plurality (44%) of voters not affiliated with either party, on the other hand, believe that illegal voting is more prevalent.

Only one percent (1%) say they have ever been illegally denied the right to vote.

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The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on June 6-8, 2011 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

Just after last November’s elections, 17% of voters believed large numbers of people were allowed to vote who were not eligible to vote. Forty-three percent (43%) said that wasn’t the case, but nearly as many (40%) weren’t sure.

Support for showing photo ID prior to voting has ranged from 75% to 82% sinceJune 2006.

The  Political Class, however, is not so sure. While 84% of Mainstream voters believe voters should be required to show photo identification before being allowed to vote, those in the Political Class are evenly divided on the question.

Similarly, while most Mainstream voters (54%) say it’s more common for people to vote illegally than for legal voters to be denied their right to vote, the Political Class is evenly divided.

Just 54% of voters now think American elections are fair. Fifty-three percent (53%) feel most members of Congress get reelected because election rules are rigged to benefit incumbents. Only 17% believe most congressmen get reelected because of the good job they do representing their constituents.

Read more: http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/general_politics/june_2011/75_support_showing_photo_id_at_the_polls