Brown academics' study on R.I. voter ID law raises questions

While the study — which reported that the law resulted in “significant decline in turnout” — drew attention nationally, the R.I. secretary of state’s office says the report focuses only on driver’s license IDs, not other acceptable forms of identification.

Opponents of Rhode Island’s eight-year-old voter ID law cheered this week when research showing the law stifled voting by low-income residents appeared to confirm their long-held fears.

The study from Brown University academics published by the National Bureau of Economic Research [NBER] found that the photo ID law passed in 2011 and used for the first time in 2014 resulted in a “significant decline in turnout, registration, and voting conditional on registration (for more vulnerable groups of voters) in presidential elections after the law was implemented.”

After making the rounds among national election law watchers Monday, the study was cited in a General Assembly press release Wednesday promoting Sen. Gayle Goldin’s package of voting reform bills, including one to repeal the voter ID law.

Read more: https://www.providencejournal.com/news/20190210/political-scene-brown-academics-study-on-ri-voter-id-law-raises-questions