Date of Award
5-2013
Document Type
Thesis
Department
Political Science
First Advisor
Patrick Donnay
Abstract
In recent years, the topic of voter identification has been a hotly contested issue in state legislatures around the country. Since 2003, nearly 1,000 bills concerning voter ID have been introduced in a total of forty-six states. In 2012 alone, voter ID legislation was pending in thirty-three states. On November 6, 2012, the citizens of the state of Minnesota voted on whether they supported an amendment to the state Constitution that would require all voters to present a valid photo ID in order to vote. Despite poll numbers indicating that a majority of Minnesotans supported the amendment the voter ID measure failed to pass with only 46.16% of the vote, making Minnesota the first state to reject a voter ID amendment. In this study, I analyzed the voting results of the voter ID amendment for each of Minnesota’s eighty-seven counties. I used data from the United States Census Bureau and the Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State to examine the demographics (age, income, education, and race) of each county to help understand why they either voted for or against the amendment. Preliminary analysis shows that counties with a higher percentage of people who would most likely be affected by the law (low income, the elderly, and some minorities) had less support for the voter ID amendment.
Recommended Citation
Asell, Amy, "An Analysis on the Effects of Voter ID Laws and Minnesota’s Decision to Vote Against It" (2013). Political Science Theses and Capstones. 87.
https://pines.bemidjistate.edu/capstone-polisci/87
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