In charts: Trump puts voter ID, election laws at center stage as midterms near
Most U.S. states have some form of voter ID, but their laws vary. President Trump is pushing for national voter ID requirements.
Most U.S. states have some form of voter ID, but their laws vary. President Trump is pushing for national voter ID requirements.
As the midterm congressional races near, election-related laws are the subject of debate and change in states across the country 鈥� and a priority for President Donald Trump.
A prominent issue is whether voter ID laws 鈥� already on the books in most states 鈥� work to verify registered voters at the polls.
President Trump has pushed for the SAVE America Act, which would require people to show proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections and a government-issued photo ID to cast a ballot. The Monitor鈥檚 recent coverage describes the bill and what鈥檚 at stake. Polls have found that most Americans support voter ID and proof of citizenship requirements. The bill is unlikely to pass, as Senate Democrats oppose it, saying it鈥檚 already illegal for noncitizens to vote, and the bill鈥檚 provisions could make it harder for people to vote.
The Constitution gives states, not the federal government, the authority to administer elections. Our charts with this story show the variety of current state laws.
The Trump administration says voter ID is needed in part to prevent unauthorized immigrants from voting. That occurs, but experts say it is extremely rare. A Heritage Foundation database finds that noncitizens voted 100 times in presidential elections between 2000-2024, during which almost 950 million votes were cast.
Mr. Trump has long sought to sow doubt about how elections are run, including his ongoing claims, without evidence, about widespread fraud in the 2020 election he lost to Joe Biden.
Over the past year, the Department of Justice has obtained data from a partisan audit of 2020 election results in Maricopa County, Arizona, and seized 2020 ballots in Fulton County, Georgia.
Last week, the DOJ demanded ballots from Wayne County, Michigan. In that case, the agency wants 2024 ballots, saying it is investigating whether fraud occurred and citing three examples of fraud from 2020.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat, says the examples cited by the DOJ are proof Michigan鈥檚 election security measures work. She said the Trump administration is 鈥渨eaponizing鈥� the Justice Department and said the DOJ is 鈥渞ecycling debunked 2020 election conspiracy theories as justification鈥� for requesting the ballots.
The 2020 election was fair and the results were accurate, according to multiple studies and investigations from sources including a voter data expert Mr. Trump hired and a study, led by Republicans, that examined why postelection lawsuits failed.
The Trump administration鈥檚 actions are taking place as Americans get ready to vote in the midterms in November, and as Mr. Trump faces poor job performance reviews. Several recent public opinion polls show his disapproval rating at 62% or higher. Political analysts forecast that Democrats are likely to win back the House of Representatives in the midterms, and have a chance to win the Senate.
As campaigning heats up so, too, has redistricting. Last summer, President Trump urged Texas to draw new congressional district maps, outside the usual cycle, to try to gain five new Republican House seats. Other states, both Republican- and Democratic-leaning, followed. The most recent was Virginia, whose voters approved redistricting on April 21.
Monitor national desk editor Scott Blanchard contributed to this story.