We can only see the abstract, sadly, so it's hard to say what it's actually found. But, I disagree with the headline, for several reasons.

1. Requiring ID to vote requires definition. The various laws hastily passed in the wake of the 2020 election are not all the same. For example, Texas allows you to use a gun club membership as ID but not a student ID [1]. Other states have different requirements for allowed IDs;

2. There's absolutely no evidence this is even necessary. Example: less than two dozen cases of voter fraud from 2020 [2]. Different states have different numbers but over the years we're talking about possibly hundreds of cases;

3. Strict ID requirements are merely one aspect of an overall and coordinated effort of voter suppression by GOP-led state governments aimed at people who tend to vote Democrat.

4. Voter suppression is endemic within the GOP. Example: the Ballot Security Task Force [3] that resulted in a consent decree with the Federal government to try and curb voter suppression. There is a long history, particularly in the southern states in the post-slavery era of denying the right to vote to African Americans through requirements such as owning property or literacy tests not required by white voters;

5. The GOP is by far the biggest source of voter suppression but it doesn't have a monopoly. Example: efforts by the Gore campaign in Florida in 2000 to invalidate military ballots [4]. Note that such efforts are generally wildly unpopular even in the Demoratic voter base.

6. Margins of error in the effects of voter suppression being well less than 1% doesn't mean they aren't significant. That can swing elections.

7. The rush by GOP-led state houses to pass voter suppression bills under the guise of election integrity should be taken as evidence of the effectiveness of the measures;

8. The intangible part of these voter suppression efforts is to deter minority voters from going to the polls and also as virtue signaling to the Republican base;

9. Even though state IDs themselves can be free the supporting documentation might not be. There are a significant number of Americans who don't, say, have a valid birth certificate. Getting such documents if you were born, say, on a Native American reservation can be extremely difficult. Even if you can get all that, it's often painful to even get various forms of IDs. You might have to travel far out of your way and spend half a day or more to get such ID. Some people have the flexibility with work. Some do not; and

9. Poll access isn't universal. Certain areas may have limited polling places that mean queueing for hours whereas others might allow you to vote within minutes.

All of this is why mandatory voting is so important. It fundamentally undermines democracies if the election process itself is politicized. You see this as some states have given the authority to overturn election results by a political figure (eg the Secretary of State).

Denying the right to vote to convicted felons is an example of something that sounds noble but is nothing more than a form of legal voter suppression.

In Australia, elections are organized by a quasi-government body, the Australian Electoral Commission ("AEC"). You vote on a Saturday so polling places are easy to find (ie schools). In your registered district your name will be in a book and when you show up they just cross off your name. Voting out of district doesn't require any special procedure. You simply fill out your details and these are consolidated later to ensure you didn't vote twice.

It's worth repeating that Democrats aren't necessarily against any form of voter ID as this straw man argument is used a lot. There are degrees of voter ID and allowing a gun club membership card while disallowing a university student ID is clearly intended to target Democratic-leaning voters so it should be exposed for what it is.

[1]: https://www.statesman.com/news/20160923/politifact-take-gun-...

[2]: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/05/04/despite-g...

[3]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballot_Security_Task_Force

[4]: https://www.cnn.com/2015/11/02/politics/bush-gore-military-b...