John Fetterman says he opposes voter ID laws because ‘people of color are less likely to have their ID’

Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman (D) spoke out about his opposition to voter ID laws because poor people and “people of color” are “less likely to have their ID at any one given time.”

Fetterman’s comments originate from a 2021 interview with Brian Tyler Cohen.

“In my own state, they are going to pass, attempt to pass a constitutional amendment making sure that universal voting ID for every time you vote, not just when you sign up to vote, but every time you vote,” Fetterman said during the interview.

He added that, “there’s tens of thousands of Pennsylvanians who typically are on the poorer side and are people of color that are less likely to have their ID at any one given time.”

Fetterman is currently running against Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz for the Keystone State Senate seat.

Voter ID laws are not exclusive to the US and can be found worldwide. Out of 47 European countries polled about voter ID, all of them said this was in place, the only exception was the UK.

According to a 2021 Crime Prevention Research Center study, outgoing UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson did say that he supported voter ID.

According to a 2015 study by Project Vote, 87% of Black voters said they had a government ID while 13% said they did not. 90% of Hispanic voters said they had a government ID whereas 10% did not. 95 percent of White American voters said they held a government ID, whereas 5% did not.

Vice President Kamala Harris previously echoed similar sentiments when she said claimed rural Americans had difficulty photocopying.

“I don’t think that we should underestimate what that [compromise on voter ID laws] could mean,” Harris said at the time. “Because in some people’s mind, that means you’re going to have to Xerox or photocopy your ID to send it in to prove who you are. Well, there are a whole lot of people, especially people who live in rural communities, who don’t – there’s no Kinkos, there’s no OfficeMax near them.” 

“Of course, people have to prove who they are,” Harris continued, but “not in a way that makes it almost impossible for them to prove who they are.”