AFS med Petra Schleiter

Abstract:

The right to vote is becoming increasingly politicized in many democracies and the introduction of Voter ID is an intervention that is central to the battle about the de facto scope of the franchise. Voter ID is justified by governments as a measure to combat electoral fraud and to increase voter confidence in the electoral process. Opponents highlight the potentially adverse effects of these reforms on voter registration and turnout, confidence in the electoral process and perceptions of its fairness. Prior work on the effects of voter ID overwhelmingly focuses on the US. However, the US is not a case from which inferences that generalize can easily be drawn because of the salience of race in politics and the extent of political polarization. This paper examines the behavioural and attitudinal effects of a voter ID reform in the UK, the Elections Act of April 2022, which introduces voter ID in general elections in all parts of the UK and in devolved elections in England.