SIU Poll: Nearly 10% of Voters Don't Have I.D.
By WestKyStar Staff
CARBONDALE, IL - With a month left until election day, a recent statewide poll shows that nearly one in ten registered voters in Illinois don't have a current photo I.D.
The poll was conducted by the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, and shows that 9.4 percent of voters do not have a current, unexpired, state-issued I.D. Most respondents, 90.3 percent, said they had and I.D., while .3 percent were not sure. The poll results were reported by The Saluki Times at SIU.
Most states have laws that require voters to provide I.D. when they show up to vote. Those who like it believe voter fraud is less likely to occur because of it, while some argue that it keeps lower income people and minorities from voting, because they might not have proper identification.
Currently, Illinois voters are only required to sign their name. Based on these figures, if stricter laws were enforced in the state, up to 685,000 of 7.3 Illinois residents might not be able to vote.
The poll was conducted September 4-10, and included 1,261 registered voters. The margin of error in the poll is plus-or-mius 2.77 percent.