Replication Data for: The Legislative Legacy of Voter Identification Laws

Does the implementation of voter identification (ID) laws intensify conflict between legislative parties? We examine the consequences of the American states' modern wave of voter ID requirements for polarization in their legislatures. We theorize that these laws alter legislative candidates' perceived uncertainty about their districts' median voters, which creates centrifugal forces on their ideological positions and ultimately magnifies partisan divisions. To test this theory, we leverage plausibly exogenous variation in voter ID law implementation induced by the timing of post-enactment legal challenges. We find empirical support; a law going in force widens interparty ideological distance. This divergence may be stronger for Republican parties, does not appear in other contentious policies, and is not an artifact of the legislative agenda. Thus, a crucial legacy of these laws is the amplification of political conflict. By creating conditions that stifle compromise and bipartisanship, voter ID requirements indirectly threaten the quality of American democracy.