Storm’s A Brewing for Women at the Polls

This past Monday, the Supreme Court agreed to hear a case about proof of citizenship at the polling place that may have sweeping implications for women voters after the current election cycle.

In 2004, Arizona passed Proposition 200, which required its voters to present documents supporting U.S. citizenship—such as a driver’s license, passport, or birth certificate—before registering to vote. The Ninth Circuit recently struck down the law, saying that it conflicted with a federal statute called the National Voter Registration Act, which Congress passed in 1993 to “streamline the registration process” by requiring all states to use a federal form for registration in federal elections.

The Supreme Court’s decision to hear the case is troubling in light of its track record of upholding the constitutionality of state voter identification laws, and has the potential to harm women voters if states are allowed to impose onerous registration requirements like Prop. 200.

As the Center has chronicled, women are less likely to have current identification, which makes it harder for them to vote with laws such as Arizona’s in place. For example, women often change their name upon marriage and lack identification with their current names. Indeed, statistics show that only two-thirds of women have documents reflecting their legal names. And women who want to update their IDs often need to get a copy of their marriage license before doing so, a cumbersome process that is prohibitively expensive for some in this economy.

Women also make up nearly 60 percent of college students and many in this demographic lack state photo ID cards with their current address and name, one of the easiest methods of complying with Arizona’s law. Finally, women make up a greater share of seniors and low-income Americans, two demographics less likely to possess photo IDs due to lack of resources and logistical barriers. Thus, the rights of women voters could be greatly affected by this upcoming case.

Stay tuned for updates!