An Identity Crisis? An Analysis of the Effects of Florida's Voter Identification Law.

Despite the United States Supreme Court's recent decision declaring state voter identification laws constitutional, the effect of such laws on voter turnout is still a matter of debate. Opponents charge that voter identification requirements make it more difficult for minorities, the elderly, and the poor to participate. Moreover, some argue that voter identification laws systematically advantage the Republican Party by disproportionately limiting the participation of Democratic voters. We scrutinize these claims by determining which registered voters lack a DMV-issued photo ID. Extending the recent work by Hood and Bullock (2008), which examines the effect of Georgia's voter ID law, we focus our attention on the effect of these requirements in the State of Florida, which has one of the most restrictive voter identification laws in the U.S. Our analyses will be derived from a merged dataset composed of voter registration/vote history data from the State of Florida's Division of Elections and driver's license/state-issued photo identification data from the Florida Department of Motor Vehicles. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]