Citizens of voting age in Georgia and Texas, two states with restrictive and complex voting laws, don’t understand the ID requirements to vote in their states, according to recent surveys. These polls, conducted by VoteRiders and the Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement at the University of Maryland, also show that voting laws in both states disenfranchise tens of thousands of citizens. Recent threats by some members of Congress to require documentary proof of citizenship for registration would prevent even larger numbers of eligible citizens from voting.
Georgia
In Georgia, 21 percent of people are unsure whether they are required to show ID when voting in person, and 2 percent incorrectly say that they are not required to show ID when voting in person. Even more Georgians, 46 percent, do not know the ID must be a photo ID. Younger and less wealthy Georgians are less likely to know that they must show ID to vote in person, as the chart below shows. Few people (4 percent) know that it’s possible to vote with some forms of expired ID, which could leave eligible voters unaware that they can cast a ballot.
Georgians are even less familiar with legal requirements for voting by mail than voting in person. Two in three adults in Georgia are not sure whether they need to include a copy of their identification when voting by mail, and 26 percent inaccurately say they do need to provide a copy.
In addition to creating confusion for voters, Georgia’s restrictive laws prevent eligible voters from casting ballots. More than 76,000 eligible voters do not have an ID they can use to vote, far higher than the 11,779-vote margin of victory in Georgia in the 2020 presidential election. Lack of ID disproportionately affects Hispanic and young Georgians: 5 percent of Hispanic Georgians and 3 percent of Georgians under 30 lack ID they can use to vote.
If documentary proof of citizenship were required to register to vote, 10 percent of adults in Georgia would either not be able to register or have difficulty registering, including 18 percent of politically independent Georgians and 16 percent of Hispanic Georgians who do not have documentary proof of citizenship readily available.
Texas
In Texas, 24 percent of adults are unsure whether they need to show ID when voting in person, and 3 percent incorrectly say they are not required to show ID. Fifty-four percent do not know that it must be a photo ID. Only 17 percent know that there is a way to show other documents to vote with a regular ballot (as opposed to a provisional ballot).
Texans are less familiar with vote-by-mail laws than in-person voting laws. Eighteen percent inaccurately believe they must provide a copy of identification to vote by mail, and an additional 74 percent are unsure. Very few Texans (3 percent) are aware that Texas accepts expired IDs under some circumstances.
More than 250,000 adults do not have the ID they need to vote; fewer than the margin of votes between Ted Cruz and Beto O’Rourke in the 2018 Senate race. Seven percent of Texas adults do not have readily available documentary proof of citizenship, which is especially concerning given Texas lawmakers’ plans to require proof of citizenship for registration.
