An Associated Press poll shows that nearly three-quarters of Americans believe that voters should present photo identification before casting their ballots.
According to the March 26-29 survey, 72 percent of U.S. respondents said they favor requiring all voters to provide photo identification before casting their ballots. Another 14 percent of respondents said they neither supported nor opposed the measure, and only 13 percent opposed the requirement.
The poll was conducted via the Internet, house phone and cell phone among 1,166 adults living in the United States and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.6 percent. The sample was randomly selected by the University of Chicago’s National Center for Public Affairs Research (NORC Center) using a probability system to represent the makeup of the U.S. population.
The voting ID requirement, according to NORC, is the most popular among Republicans, with 91 percent of respondents who identify themselves as Republicans saying they support it. However, 72 percent of Independents and even a majority of respondents who identify themselves as Democrats (56 percent) also rushed to support requiring identification in order to vote.
The poll also found that 60% of respondents overall agree that adult citizens should be automatically registered to vote when they are issued a driver’s license or other state-issued identification. Specifically, 76 percent of Democrats and 47 percent of Republicans said they support the measure at least to some extent.
In addition, 53% of participants say citizens should be allowed to register and vote at the polls on voting day. 69% of Democrats say they support same-day voter registration, while only 38% of Republicans support it.
Automatic voter registration and same-day voter registration are all part of the Democratic-backed federal election reform bill, H.R. 1, a far-reaching bill also known as the For the People Act. The law passed the House last month by a vote of 220-210, with members of the House voting largely along party lines.
Critics of H.R. 1 argue that the bill, if signed into law without amendment, would shift the power to determine the electoral system from the states to the federal government in a way that is unprecedented in U.S. history.
Some of the key changes that could reshape the federal-state relationship include prohibiting state legislation requiring voter identification, requiring states to obtain federal approval for changes in voting rules, and creating “independent commissions” to take redistricting powers away from state legislatures.
The bill’s outcome in the Senate is uncertain, as it would require at least 60 votes in a bipartisan Senate to avoid a “filibuster” (i.e., a filibuster or effort to drag things out, where minority lawmakers would have to use long speeches to procedurally block proceedings). (Proceedings).
Biden recently said that if the bill reaches his desk, he will sign it into law.
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