OPINION:
Data from the 2022 elections show, once again, that commonsense election integrity reforms like those passed in Georgia, Florida, and Texas do not “suppress” turnout. The whole voter suppression narrative is just propaganda.
In 2019, the National Bureau of Economic Research released a report examining the effects of voter ID using turnout data from 2008 to 2018. Their conclusion? Voter ID “laws have no significant negative effect on registration or turnout, overall or for any subgroup defined by age, gender, race, or party affiliation.”
Recently, the National Academy of Sciences published another study, examining the claim that voter ID laws help Republican candidates and hurt Democrats. Examining elections from 2003 to 2020, the study concluded that, while voter ID initially seemed to give Democrats an advantage, by 2012 that had virtually disappeared.
Voter ID requirements don’t give either political party an advantage. They do, however, seem to increase turnout; apparently, they “motivate and mobilize supporters of both parties.”
Which brings us to last year’s elections.
In 2021, Georgia passed a round of election reforms. One extended the state’s voter ID requirement to absentee ballots. President Biden denounced the measure, calling it a “Jim Crow” law that would “effectively deny the right to vote to countless voters.” The two top Democrats in Congress — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California — made similar claims.
So, what actually happened with these new reforms in place? A University of Georgia survey of voters found 0% of black voters said they had a poor voting experience. In fact, 96.2% described their voting experience as excellent or good; 96% of white voters said the same thing.
Moreover, 91.6% of black voters said either that their voting experience in 2022 was actually easier than in 2018 or there was no difference. Among white voters, 93.4% said the same.
According to the U.S. Elections Project, Georgia’s turnout of the voting-eligible population (VEP) in 2022 was six percentage points above the national average and higher than the turnout in Delaware, New York, and California — the home states of Mr. Biden, Mr. Schumer and Mrs. Pelosi.
Florida’s 2022 election reforms strengthening ID requirements for absentee ballots received similar criticism. The League of Women Voters called it “undemocratic, unconstitutional, and un-American.”
Yet Florida’s VEP turnout was 2.8 percentage points higher than the national average and, just like Georgia, better than the turnout in Delaware, New York, and California.
Texas extended its voter ID requirement to absentee ballots in 2021. Mr. Biden denounced it as “un-American” and an “assault on democracy.” What did Mr. Biden consider an “assault on democracy?”
The law simply required anyone requesting an absentee ballot to include the last four digits of their Social Security number, or the serial number of their Texas driver’s license or the personal ID card or election certificate that the state provides for free.
What about the people who, by some weird circumstance, don’t have any of these easily obtainable IDs or even a Social Security number? The state would still send them an absentee ballot if they simply affirmed that they do not have any of these documents.
This is an “assault?”
In 2018, before these reforms were in place, Texas ranked 42nd in the nation in terms of VEP turnout. In 2022, with the new reforms, Texas ranked 40th. Texas actually improved its performance relative to other states with its new, “un-American” reforms in place. The Texas turnout lagged that of Mr. Biden’s home state of Delaware by only 0.7 percentage points.
The reports are in, and they are unanimous: reforms that improve the integrity of the elections don’t suppress votes. In fact, they seem to help increase voter confidence in elections, which in turn can help to increase turnout.
Mr. Biden, Mr. Schumer and Mrs. Pelosi all owe apologies to legislators in Georgia, Florida and Texas. And they owe it to the public to stop the hateful propaganda and start supporting election integrity.
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Hans von Spakovsky is a senior legal fellow at The Heritage Foundation and the manager of its Election Law Reform Initiative. This article is drawn from Heritage’s new study, “The Latest Election Data Show – Once Again – That ‘Voter Suppression’ Claim Is Just Propaganda.”