Voter ID on Nov. 3: 36 states ask for identification at the polls
Whether you need to show ID depends on your state. Here is what the National Conference of State Legislatures lists, and what happens if you do not have one.
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Whether a voter must show identification at the polls on Nov. 3 depends entirely on the state.
States that ask for ID
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 36 states request or require voters to show some form of identification at the polls:
Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
The rules inside that group differ a great deal. Some states require a photo ID; others accept documents without a photo, such as a utility bill or bank statement. Ballotpedia counts 24 of the 36 as asking for photo ID. NCSL’s current page does not break out photo and non-photo states, so we could not confirm that count against NCSL.
States that verify identity in other ways
In the other 14 states and the District of Columbia, most voters are not asked for a document at the polls. Election officials there confirm identity in other ways, such as matching a signature. NCSL lists those states as California, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Vermont.
An exception that applies everywhere
Under the federal Help America Vote Act, some first-time voters who registered by mail may have to show identification in any state, if the identifying number they gave when registering could not be verified, the Congressional Research Service explains.
If you do not have the ID your state asks for
In most states that ask for ID, a voter without it still has options, such as casting a provisional ballot or signing an affidavit, NCSL reports. What happens next, including whether the voter must return later with ID for the ballot to count, depends on state law.
Check your state’s exact list of accepted documents before you go. Vote.gov links to every state election office.
