S-4155-119
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration.
Sponsored by Jon Husted (R-OH)
What it does
This bill would require voters to present a government-issued photo identification document as a condition of casting a ballot. Voters who do not present qualifying photo ID would not be permitted to cast a regular ballot. The bill is pending in the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration; specific details about accepted ID types, provisional ballot procedures, and any free ID provisions are not available in the bill text provided.
Who benefits
Voters and election administrators who believe photo ID requirements strengthen confidence in election integrity. State and local governments that already have photo ID laws and would see their standards aligned with federal requirements. Candidates and parties who believe uniform ID standards reduce the potential for fraudulent voting. Voters who already possess qualifying photo ID — a majority of the adult population — would experience no change in their voting process.
Who is hurt
Voters who do not currently possess qualifying photo ID, who studies estimate at roughly 11% of U.S. citizens — disproportionately including elderly individuals, low-income voters, racial minorities, people with disabilities, young voters, and rural residents who may lack transportation to ID-issuing offices. Voters whose IDs have expired or whose names do not exactly match registration records. State governments that do not currently require photo ID and would face implementation costs. Civil rights and voting advocacy organizations that would face increased litigation and outreach burdens.
Supporters argue
Supporters argue that photo ID is a routine requirement for everyday activities — boarding a plane, opening a bank account, purchasing alcohol — and that applying the same standard to voting is a reasonable, minimal burden that protects the integrity of the ballot. They contend that a 2023 Gallup poll found roughly 80% of Americans, including majorities across racial and partisan groups, support voter ID requirements, and that 35 states already have some form of voter ID law, demonstrating broad democratic acceptance. Supporters further argue that clear, uniform federal standards would reduce confusion across jurisdictions and that free ID programs can mitigate access concerns.
Opponents argue
Opponents argue that in-person voter fraud — the specific problem photo ID addresses — is empirically rare, with the Brennan Center for Justice documenting an incident rate of roughly 0.00004%, meaning the law imposes real costs on millions of legitimate voters to solve a statistically negligible problem. They contend that the roughly 21 million citizens who lack qualifying photo ID are disproportionately Black, Latino, elderly, and low-income, making the requirement function as a structural barrier to voting for already-marginalized groups. Opponents further argue that without robust free ID programs and accessible issuance infrastructure, the requirement amounts to a de facto poll tax prohibited by the 24th Amendment.