How Will Voter ID Regulations Affect Election Outcomes?

March 8, 2012 - PRLog -- New Rochelle, NY—New rules governing the need to show a government-issued photo ID at the polls in order to vote in an election have sparked debate on whether these rules are too restrictive and will negatively affect voter turnout or are necessary to prevent voter fraud. The debate heats up with two opposing points of view presented in articles in Election Law Journal: Rules, Politics, and Policy (http://www.liebertpub.com/elj), a peer-reviewed publication from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. (www.liebertpub.com) The articles are available free online at the Election Law Journal (www.liebertpub.com/elj) website.

“In today’s political environment, passions and politics often crowd out reasoned disagreement,” says Paul Gronke, Co-Editor of Election Law Journal and Associate Professor of Political Science at Reed College (Portland, OR). “The battle over voter ID has been a poster child for the tendency to rely on anecdote over data and emotion over argument. I am pleased that Election Law Journal can provide a venue for rational discussion over such an important policy issue.”

Hans von Spakovsky, Senior Legal Fellow, The Heritage Foundation, Washington, DC, emphasizes that “it is critically important that states implement measures that help improve the security and integrity of our elections.” In the article “Protecting the Integrity of the Election Process (http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/elj.2011.11107),” von Spakovsky states, “Ensuring fair elections requires that individuals authenticate…their identity when they vote.”

Asserting that new regulations such as voter ID requirements at the polls are burdensome and inequitable, Justin Levitt, Associate Professor, Loyola Law School (Los Angeles, CA), concludes that while regulation of how voters prove their identity at the polls is necessary, the new laws imposed in 2011 “appear unwarranted.” Based on data used to assess cost versus benefit, Levitt states that the burdens created by these laws “make it more difficult for eligible Americans to vote” and they do so “without any meaningful benefit.” He supports his views in the article “Election Deform: The Pursuit of Unwarranted Electoral Regulation (http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/elj.2011.11108).”

About the Journal
Election Law Journal (www.liebertpub.com/elj) is an authoritative peer-reviewed journal published quarterly in print and online by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. Led by Co-Editors Paul Gronke and Daniel P. Tokaji, JD, The Ohio State University, Moritz College of Law, the Journal covers the emerging specialty of election law for practicing attorneys, election administrators, political professionals, legal scholars, and social scientists, and covers election design and reform on the federal, state, and local levels in the U.S. and in 75 countries around the world. Complete tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed online at the Election Law Journal (www.liebertpub.com/elj) website.

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About the Company
Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. (http://www.liebertpub.com) is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research, and law, including Biotechnology Law Report, Gaming Law Review and Economics, and Environmental Justice. Its biotechnology trade magazine, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN), was the first in its field and is today the industry’s most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm’s 70 journals, books, and newsmagazines is available at Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. (www.liebertpub.com)