Ohio is one of a number of states in which Republicans are pushing laws requiring photo ID at the polls. Ignoring the philosophical problems with placing additional obstacles in front of any potential voter, is there any empirical reason to believe that voter ID laws will have a measurable impact on election results? There are actually two questions here; (1) how likely are people impacted by the proposed restrictions likely to vote in the absence of such restrictions, and (2) how often will the potential absence of these votes make a difference?
I'm not sure if this is the appropriate forum for questions like this, or if not, what the appropriate forum would be. In any case, I am hoping that there is enough first-hand knowledge in the Kos community to shed light on my question.