Civitas Poll: Voters Say Photo ID Would Improve Integrity of Elections

Raleigh, N.C. – Requiring voters to show a government-issued photo ID would improve voting security according to those responding to the most recent Civitas Institute poll.

Sixty-nine percent of North Carolina voters said that legislation being considered by the state Legislature to require all voters to show a photo ID when voting would improve the integrity and security of voting in the state.  Twenty-seven percent of voters said it would have no effect, and 3 percent said they do not know.

Analyzing party affiliation, most Unaffiliated (68 percent – 30 percent), Democratic (61 percent – 34 percent), and Republican voters (82 percent – 16 percent) believe that requiring a photo ID to vote would improve security at the polls.

“Voters consistently support North Carolina instituting a requirement that a government-issued photo ID be presented in order to vote,” said Civitas Institute President Francis De Luca.  “These numbers show that voters understand the requirement for a photo ID is reasonable and would improve the integrity and security of the election process in North Carolina.”

A December 2010 Civitas poll asked a similar question and found that 77 percent of voters said they believe requiring a government-issued photo ID to vote would stop voter fraud.  In comparison, 17 percent of voters said they believe it would prevent eligible voters from casting a vote.  Two percent said it would have no effect or make no difference.

The Civitas Poll is the only regular live-caller poll of critical issues facing North Carolina.  For more information on Civitas polling see http://www.nccivitas.org/category/poll/.

Full text of question:

“Currently North Carolina does not require voters to show a government-issued photo ID to vote.  The Legislature is considering legislation to require all voters to show a photo ID when voting. Would requiring voters to show a photo ID improve the integrity and security of voting in North Carolina or have no effect on voting in North Carolina?”

Improve Security – 69%

No Effect – 27%

Other/Don’t Know – 3%

Click here for full results and crosstabs.

This poll of 600 registered general election voters in North Carolina was conducted March 14-16 by National Research, Inc. of Holmdel, NJ.  All respondents were part of a fully representative sample of registered voters in North Carolina.  For purposes of this study, voters interviewed had to have voted in two of the past four general elections or were newly registered to vote since 2008.

The confidence interval associated with a sample of this size is such that: 95 percent of the time, results from 600 interviews (registered voters) will be within +-4% of the “True Values.” True Values refer to the results obtained if it were possible to interview every person in North Carolina who had voted in two of the past four general elections or were newly registered to vote since 2008.

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