Recently, proponents of Initiative IL26-126 posted another series of claims about Initiative IL26-126 without providing any evidence to support their claims. In this article, we will provide evidence that at least three of their claims are provably false.
Here is the real problem and the real solution
To be clear, we do have a huge problem with the lack of accuracy of our voter rolls. But this problem will not be solved by taking 3.5 million legal voters off the voter rolls in our state – resulting in hundreds of thousands of legal voters not having the documents to get back on the voter rolls. Nor will it be solved by forcing voters to get an “enhanced” drivers license connected to an extremely insecure centralized national mega database that would allow thousands of people from around the nation to remotely access our voter rolls. Our voter roll problem will only be solved when our existing federal voter registration laws are followed here in Washington state. Federal law prohibits registering non-citizens to vote. It is time to enforce that law – and not making things even worse than they already are by promoting a poorly written and poorly researched Initiative that will wind up doing the exact opposite of what its proponents claim it will do.
False Claim #1: Polls show bipartisan backing for Voter ID
We have previously published an entire article about this subject including all three major polls on this subject taken in 2021 to 2024. You can read the article at this link:
https://washingtonvoterrightscoalition.org/5-false-claims-about-the-proof-of-citizenship-initiative
Here are a few quotes from this article with links to the polls associated with the quotes:
“There are no polls showing support for requiring every legal voter to get an “Enhanced” Drivers License or Real ID Card… What the polls actually show support for is requiring normal ID such as your normal Drivers License when voting. They do not show support for either creating a national centralized Real ID Database or for disenfranchising tens of thousands of legal Washington voters.”
“For example, a March 2021 poll by Rasmussen Reports indicates that 75% of Americans support voter ID laws that require voters to show photo identification before voting — including 60% of Democrats. Only 21% oppose such laws. Note that support is for normal picture ID – not for requiring every voter to forced to find their birth certificate in order to get back on the voter rolls if they refuse to get an enhanced drivers license!”
“A 2021 NPR poll found that 80% of Americans want voter ID. However, a majority of Americans believe ensuring access to voting is more important than rooting out fraud, the latest NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist survey finds. At the same time, there was broad agreement that people should have to show identification when they go to the polls. By a 56% to 41% margin, survey respondents said making sure that everyone who wants to vote can do so is a bigger concern than making sure that no one who is ineligible votes.”
“A 2024 Gallup poll found that 83% of Americans favored first time voters to require proof of citizenship when registering to vote. This included 96% of Republicans, 84% of Independents and 66% of Democrats. But look more closely at all of the above questions. The support is for first time voters to provide proof of citizenship – not for requiring ALL current voters to take extra steps to provide proof of their own citizenship. In addition, the Gallup poll did not define the term “proof of citizenship.”Also, the support is for showing a normal Drivers License when voting – not for forcing existing legal voters to be removed from the voting rolls.”
In short, if this Initiative makes it to the 2026 General Election, it will lose in a landslide – taking the rest of the Washington State Republican party down with it.
False Claim #2: Thirty-six states have ID laws without disenfranchisement.
While many states have Voter ID laws, not a single state requires an “Enhanced Drivers License” to remain on the rolls – no state ever has and no state ever will – for the simple reason that it is a violation of federal law to remove a person from the voter rolls simply for refusing to get on an insecure, national mega database. According to federal election laws, there are only five reasons a voter can be removed from the voter rolls:
It is also a violation of federal law to require a person to show an original birth certificate in order to register to vote.
The claim that “Thirty-six states have ID laws without disenfranchisement” comes from this article:
The title of the article is: “Thirty-six states have laws requesting or requiring voters to show some form of identification at the polls. “
Note that these 36 states request or require some form of ID in order to vote. They do not require an original birth certificate in order to register to vote because it is doing so would be against federal law. Also, they do not require “real ID” data mining in order to vote as this is also a violation of federal law. I go over all the federal election laws in this article:
https://washingtonvoterrightscoalition.org/3-the-initiative-violates-federal-laws
Here are the existing laws with photo ID required in the 10 states with the darkest color and non-photo ID requested or required in the 26 states with the second and third darkest color.
None of these states would require an original birth certificate or passport in order to register to vote for the simple reason that doing so would be against federal law. In short, Initiative IL26-126 is radically different from the voter ID laws in any other state in the nation!
False Claim #3 States like Georgia saw turnout rise after implementation… Georgia’s ID laws boosted turnout, proving access isn’t harmed.
Initiative IL26-126 is completely different from the voter ID law in Georgia. In 2005, Georgia passed a law similar to Initiative IL26-126. This law was found to be unconstitutional. In response, in 2006, Georgia passed a new voter ID law creating a FREE Georgia Voter ID card – not an enhanced (Real ID) drivers license - in order to vote.
To get a Free Georgia Voter ID card, the voter must provide:
A photo identity document or approved non-photo identity document that includes full legal name and date of birth plus any documentation showing the voter's date of birth plus evidence that the applicant is a registered voter in the State of Georgia plus any documentation showing the applicant's name and residential address.
These Georgia requirements are much less stringent that the requirements of a “certified” original birth certificate required by Initiative IL26-126. For example, a wallet birth certificate is acceptable in Georgia but is not acceptable under Initiative IL26-126.
In addition, there are no illegal provisions to register to vote in Georgia – only a free and easy to obtain Voter ID card to actually vote. So Georgia voter ID laws, while they are among the strictest in the nation, are nothing at all like the requirements in Initiative IL26-126.
See this article for the legal history of voter ID laws in Georgia.
False Claim #4 Unverified Voters could have changed the outcome of the 2020 and or 2024 Washington Governor’s race
Initiative Proponents correctly noted that there are likely 717,000 voters in the Washington State voter data base lack the last 4 digits of their Social Security Number – but all except 40,000 of them have their drivers license associated with their voter registration. Proponents claim that these 717,000 registered voters without Social Security numbers could have affected the 2020 and or 2024 Washington Governors races. However, this is based on the assumption that all 717,0000 Drivers License but no Social Security Number voted. However, it is likely that fewer than 10% of them voted based on the following reasons.
In an earlier article, I used US Census data to estimate that the number of non-citizens in Washington state was about 600,000. Even if all 600,000 got drivers licenses, and therefore were illegally registered to vote by the Washington Department of Licensing, it is unlikely that more than a tiny fraction would actually vote because there are huge penalties for non-citizen voting including that they could be deported. Most of these 600,000 non-citizens are here legally either to work or go to school. Many of them will get licenses and therefore get ballots. Very few of them have Social Security numbers (but some who work do). Here is a quote from a recent study I did of this issue – looking at voting estimates in other states.
“The final number we need to estimate is the percent of these illegally registered voters who actually voted. The percent in other states ranged from 1% in Oregon to 25% in Ohio to nearly 30% in Texas. Given that actually voting illegally in a US election is a serious crime, but also given that Washington state uses all mail in ballots, making it easier for illegal aliens to vote once they are registered, I am going to use 10% to 20% as my “best guess.”
So if the number of non-citizens is 717,000, then 10% would be 71,000 and 20% would be 142,000. In 2024, Bob Ferguson beat Dave Reichert for governor by 433,550 votes. In 2020, Jay Inslee won re-election over Loren Culp by 545,177 votes. In 2022, Patty Murray defeated Tiffany Smiley for U.S. Senate by about 343,000 votes. Therefore, it is extremely unlikely that non-citizen voting had any effect on the outcome of any of these three Washington state races.
Summary
It is sad that the proponents of Initiative IL26-126 have resorted to a series of poorly researched and provably false claims to promote their Initiative. Even sadder is the fact that we have repeatedly asked to meet with them to discuss our concerns about this Initiative and thus far, they have refused to meet with us. We hope at some point, they will stop making these false claims, and instead do some basic research, or just take a few minutes to read any of the articles we have posted on our website:
https://washingtonvoterrightscoalition.org/
We are certain that if the proponents of Initiative IL26-126 would take the time to do this basic research, they would realize that their ill-fated Initiative is not just badly written, it is a serious violation of federal election laws – and should therefore be withdrawn.