Proposed additional ID requirements for voting could disenfranchise more than 1 in 4 Detroit adults
More than 1 in 4 Detroiters cannot easily produce up-to-date documentation of their U.S. citizenship that matches their current name, according to a new survey from the University of Michigan's Detroit Metro Area Communities Study, in partnership with Outlier Media.
A new survey reveals that over one-quarter of Detroit adults struggle to readily produce up-to-date proof of U.S. citizenship to match their current name, raising concerns about potential voter disenfranchisement. The University of Michigan's Detroit Metro Area Communities Study, in partnership with Outlier Media, found that 27% of Detroiters could not quickly locate a citizenship document like a birth certificate, passport, or naturalization papers.
Among those facing difficulties, the poorest households and younger adults were most affected. Among Latino residents with a findable document, one-quarter reported that some of their citizenship documents are expired. Additionally, women are twice as likely as men to report a name mismatch on their citizenship documents. Changing a name due to marriage or divorce can further complicate the situation, as a woman's birth certificate may become misaligned with her current ID.
The study suggests that if proposed additional documentation requirements for voting are implemented, they could create significant barriers for citizens who already possess the necessary documents but find them hard to access.
Written by urgent.news from Phys.org's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
