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Fact Brief

Do all states require identification to vote?

Do all states require identification to vote?
Photo by Jesse Paul / Unsplash

No.

North Dakota requires voter ID at the polls but requirements vary by state.

The North Dakota News Cooperative is partnering with Gigafact to produce timely Fact Briefs, which are quick, evidence-based fact checks about trending claims relevant to North Dakota.

As of September 2026, 36 states have laws requesting or requiring some form of voter identification, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Of those, 14 are “strict,” requiring a voter to present ID for their vote to count. The remaining 22 are “non-strict,” with many allowing voters without ID to cast a provisional ballot that will be counted if a verification process determines the voter is eligible.

Fourteen states and Washington, D.C., use other methods to verify voters, such as a signature, which is checked against their information on file.

The right-leaning Heritage Foundation found that in seven swing states, documented cases of voter fraud over the past 13 to 38 years totaled less than 100 each, out of millions of ballots cast. That’s 0.00015% or less as a percentage, according to the center-left Brookings Institution.

This Fact Brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

About Fact Briefs:

Fact Briefs are bite-sized, well-sourced explanations that offer clear "yes" or "no" answers to questions, confusions, and unsupported claims circulating online. They rely on publicly available data and documents, often from the original source. Fact Briefs are written and published by newsrooms in the Gigafact network. Each brief is limited to 150 words or fewer and is not intended to provide an in-depth analysis, but rather to deliver concise, definitive answers grounded in verified information.

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