During a night when Republicans faced loss after loss after loss across the country, a handful of states approved ballot measures to establish voter identification laws and require proof of citizenship to vote.
Eight states approved referenda targeting election security, a longtime focus of the Trump administration and Republicans in general — even while electing Democrats.
North Carolina and Ohio passed referenda amending their state constitutions to require photo ID to vote while electing Democrats statewide. Roy Cooper, the Democratic former governor, defeated Michael Whatley, the former chair of the Republican Party, handily, besting him by 19 points — the same margin by which the referendum passed. Democrats flipped five North Carolina House seats, with one more race yet to be called with a Democratic challenger in the lead.
In Ohio, former Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown beat incumbent Republican Jon Husted by just shy of five points. Republican Governor Mike DeWine appointed Husted in 2024 to fill the vacant seat left by now–Vice President JD Vance. The statewide photo ID referendum passed by 30 points. Nevada, which unseated its Republican governor on Tuesday, passed a constitutional amendment to enshrine photo identification to vote in person and require voters to provide the last four digits of their driver’s license number or Social Security number to vote by mail. It passed by nearly 25 points.
In addition to voter ID referenda, four states — Kansas, Arkansas, South Dakota, and Alaska — approved ballot measures to require proof of citizenship in order to cast a ballot.
Similar referenda in Arizona and California appear to be failing, but, as of this writing, are “too close to call,” according to NBC News.
Voter ID laws remain popular across the political spectrum, despite intense opposition from Democrats who think the policies are a mechanism of discrimination against minority voters. Ninety-five percent of Republicans and 71 percent of Democrats support requiring voters to show government-issued photo ID to vote, according to an August 2025 Pew poll.