FOR

IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 9, 2017

Contact: Symone Sanders, ssanders@prioritiesusaaction.org

PRIORITIES USA UNVEILS FINDINGS OF VOTER SUPPRESSION STUDY SHOWING SIGNIFICANT
DECREASE IN VOTER TURNOUT IN 2016 ELECTION IN STATES WITH STRICT ID LAWS

Analysis Also Suggests Voter ID Requirement Contributed to Democratic Losses in Wisconsin

WASHINGTON, DC Priorities USA and Civis Analytics on Tuesday released the results of a study
on the effects of voter suppression laws, which found a significant decrease in turnout during
the 2016 election in states requiring voters to present a form of identification before casting a
ballot. Whereas turnout increased in states with no change in voter ID laws between the 2012
and 2016 elections, turnout decreased in states where a strict voter ID law was instituted
before the most recent election. This effect was particularly pronounced in African-American
communities, where turnout decreased by as much as 5 percent.

Americans fundamental right to vote is under attack by Republican governors and state
legislatures around the country, said Guy Cecil, Chairman of Priorities USA. Under the false
pretense of combatting voter fraud, Republicans are passing laws that make it more difficult
and time-consuming for average citizens to participate in the democratic process. Priorities is
committed to fighting back against these laws where theyre proposed and educating the public
about their harmful effects.

Priorities USAs study found that in states with no change in their voter ID laws between the
two most recent presidential elections, turnout increased 1.3 percent. However, in states that
implemented non-strict voter ID laws, meaning voters without acceptable ID could only cast
provisional ballots, turnout increased by a mere 0.7 percent. In states that implemented strict
ID laws, requiring voters without ID to both cast provisional ballots and take additional action
after Election Day to ensure their vote was counted, turnout dropped by 1.7 percent.

The study also produced a county-level turnout analysis showing that counties with both high
concentrations of African-American voters and strict voter ID laws experienced a decrease in
turnout (5.0 percent) beyond that of demographically similar counties with no change in ID laws
(2.2 percent). A comparison of Wisconsin, which recently passed a strict voter ID law, and
Minnesota, which has seen no change in voter ID laws since the 2012 election, revealed a
significantly higher drop-off of African-American voters in Wisconsin than in Minnesota.

The turnout effects associated with voter ID laws have real and significant consequences in
close elections, and there is evidence that Wisconsins voter ID law may have swung the states
vote against Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election. Priorities study estimates that if turnout in
Wisconsin had increased at the same 1.3 percent rate seen in states with no change in ID laws
instead of decreasing by 3.3 percent, over 200,000 more Wisconsin voters would have cast
their ballot in 2016. A detailed analysis of these theoretical lost voters reveals that they
would have skewed more African-American and more Democratic than Wisconsins actual 2016
electorate and in a state that Hillary Clinton lost by 20,000 votes, those additional 200,000
votes could very well have changed the final outcome.

The study is being released on the heels of Priorities USAs research project analyzing swing
voters and turnout voters in the 2016 election in order to glean lessons that can be applied to
strengthen Democrats in elections in 2018, 2020 and beyond. The initial analysis, conducted via
polling and focus groups, has now continued with an examination of the impact of voter
identification laws.

To read the memo, click here.