UM study: Americans like early voting, voter ID proposals

A new survey by a University of Missouri professor shows that Americans support early voting and voter ID legislation.

They aren't as high on vote by mail and election-day voter registration.

Missouri is considering legislation that would create advance voting and voter ID (where voters would have to show a picture ID to vote). In fact, both ideas have been wrapped into one bill.

"As more states consider adopting election reforms, it’s important to evaluate the public’s opinion," said David Konisky, policy research scholar at the MU Institute of Public Policy.

"People want to see more voter participation, but not at the expense of the integrity of the election process. This is challenging, because many reforms that are thought to make voting easier also are perceived to increase the risk of voter fraud."

Konisky, assistant professor in the Harry S Truman School of Public Affairs at MU, surveyed Americans about their opinion of four voter reforms: early voting, photo ID requirements, vote by mail (VBM) and election day registration (EDR).

Americans expressed strong approval for early voting and photo identification requirements, but less approval for VBM and EDR. Almost half of those surveyed believe that VBM and EDR will increase fraud. People gave the highest approval rating for photo ID requirements, which currently are only utilized in a few states.

"We found an important commonality in opinions of all four reforms – a majority of the public does not believe that any of them will advantage one party more than the others," Konisky said. "This is interesting because the debates about election reforms are incredibly politicized. Election officials and political party members, not surprisingly, worry about the partisan effects of voting reforms, but the public doesn’t seem to be as concerned."

The survey was completed as part of the 2008 Cooperative Congressional Election Survey, a national survey of 32,800 respondents conducted through the collaboration of several universities. The survey was administered in the fall of 2008.