Bill Passed by House Requires States to Let People Without ID Vote by Mail

The ‘For the People Act’ that the House of Representatives passed on March 3–with only one dissenting Democrat–would allow people to vote in U.S. federal elections without going to a polling place or presenting an identification to prove who they are.

Section 1903 of the 886-page bill is entitled: “Permitting use of sworn written statement to meet identification requirements for voting.”

In “findings” published at the beginning of the massive bill, the House declares “that States and localities have eroded access to the right to vote through…excessively onerous voter identification requirements.”

The bill goes on to conclude that requiring voters to have an identification places a financial burden on them.

On page 23, it says: “Congress finds that…voter identification requirements…burden voters on account of their ability to pay.”

Section 307, which starts on page 186 of the 886-page bill, is called “Promoting the Ability of Voters to Vote by Mail.” It expressly forbids states from requiring voters to provide identification before getting a mail-in or absentee ballot.

Section A of this part of the bill is headlined: “Prohibiting Identification Requirement as Condition of Obtaining Ballot.” This section goes on to stipulate: “A State may not require an individual to provide any form of identification as a condition of obtaining an absentee ballot, except that nothing in his paragraph may be construed to prevent a State from requiring a signature of the individual as a condition of obtaining an absentee ballot.”

Under the terms of the “For the People Act,” when someone votes without an ID a state may not require that ID-less voter to have someone witness their signature of notarize it.

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