Minnesota State Wire

Polls show that voter ID legislation approved this week by the Minnesota Senate supports an issue that is popular among a strong majority of likely voters.

A March Rasmussen poll shows that 75% of likely U.S. voters believe voters should be required to show photo identification, such as a driver’s license. Only 21% of voters oppose voter ID. 

Public support for voter ID has strengthened over the years. A Rasmussen survey taken in October 2018 had 67% of voters supporting an ID requirement.

Moreover, a recent poll by the Center of the American Experiment, a nonpartisan thinktank, shows that 69% of voters support an ID requirement.

The Minnesota ID bill, now in the state House of Representatives after passing in the Senate on Monday, requires valid photo identification for in-person, absentee and mail-in voting. The bill would also appropriate money so that those without a proper photo ID can get one at no cost. Under this bill, if a voter attempts to vote without an ID, they would be able to cast a provisional ballot and could later confirm their identity.

Thirty-six other states require ID in some form to vote.

The law is imperative to return voters’ confidence in the election system, according to Sen. Scott Newman (R-Hutchinson), the sponsor of the legislation.

“There is a reason that voter ID is so overwhelmingly popular,” Newman said in a statement. “It is a common sense, easy way to restore credibility, integrity and security in the elections process.”

The Senate Republican Caucus cited a 2008 U.S. Supreme Court case, Crawford v. Marion County, that upheld an Indiana law requiring a photo ID to vote.

“Specifically, the court held there are 'legitimate state interests' in voting laws requiring photo ID, including deterring, detecting and preventing voter fraud, improving and modernizing election procedures, and safeguarding voter confidence in elections,” caucus members said in a statement. “Finally, the court also held that federal law authorizes states to use a photo identification requirement to determine an individual’s eligibility to vote.”

Current Minnesota law does not require photo identification at the polls for registered voters.