By Michael Bielawski
Almost all states that do not require a photo ID to vote went for Democrat Kamala Harris, and vice versa; nearly all of those that did require IDs went for the Republican Donald Trump, according to media reports.
An MSN story reports, “Of the 19 states won by Vice President Kamala Harris during the 2024 presidential election, 18 of them don’t require voters to show photo identification to vote, according to a National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) review of laws in effect as of April 2024.” That state is Pennsylvania; after the MSN story was written, Nevada (also a photo ID state) was declared a Trump state.
Vermont is among 15 states that don’t require any form of ID to vote, and nine more require an ID but don’t need a photo.
“Vermont does not require voters to present identification while voting in most cases. However, first-time voters who registered by mail are required to present identification [for example, drivers’ license or a billing envelope] at the polls,” Ballotpedia reports.
A Newsweek report adds, “In states that mandate photo ID, voters must present a government-issued document with their name and photograph, such as a driver’s license or U.S. passport.”
Vermont “one of the easiest places to vote in the country”
In an article titled, “Vermont has become one of the easiest places to vote in the country, but gaps remain” Vermont Public examines how few hurdles there are to vote in the Green Mountain State.
“After a series of changes, many over the last decade, Vermont has become one of the easiest places to vote in the country, vaulting to the top of measures like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Elections Performance Index — and, according to officials, even influencing voter turnout,” the report states.
Vermont embraces universal mail-in ballots, meaning ballots are sent automatically to all voters on the checklist. The Vermont Public story notes how voter participation has subsequently jumped.
“Vermont tried universal mail-in voting in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. That timing coincides with a jump in general election participation, from about 63% in 2016 to 73% in 2020,” it states.
Data anomalies
However, the Vermont Secretary of State’s Office continues to see unexplained anomalies in their election data reporting, as highlighted by VDC. This includes spanning two documents concerning election turnout for 2022 there are three tallies for voter turnout and three for voter registration. The SOS office has declined to offer any explanation.
Dr. Douglas Frank, a Nobel Prize-nominated physicist, and former military fraud detector Col. Shawn Smith, both participated in a public event on election integrity in Vermont this summer. They highlighted vulnerabilities for fraud in both mail-in and electronic voting and data inconsistencies as highlighted by VDC.
Trump sounds off alleged fraud
The President-elect has taken on a controversy concerning one alleged incident including ballots that appeared to have been filled out by the same person.
“In Lancaster they found 2600 ballots all done by the same exact hand. The same pen, the same penmanship, the same everything. Then they try to say this is a conspiracy theory. The whole world watches this. Even third world countries say they take fingerprints before they vote. In California they’re not even allowed to ask for Voter ID, if they do ask, they can go to jail,” Trump wrote on X.
Some media calls story a hoax
Some mainstream media outlets call the Lancaster story a hoax, although Politifact appears to confirm the outlines of the story. But they admit when it comes to photo ID, the states that Kamala won do not require it. Snopes notes that first-time voters are required to show ID in some – not all – such ‘no ID states.’
Laws changing
Nationally, voter ID requirements generally have increased since the 2020 election. NBC News reported on the latest states to set new ID laws.
“Eight states have enacted voter ID laws since the 2020 election, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures: Arkansas, Idaho, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio and Wyoming,” they report.
The author is a writer for the Vermont Daily Chronicle. The author has a 2024 ballot sent to his address that was not intended for him, but he chose not to take advantage of this oversight.