Sunny Hostin says voter ID laws is ‘vestige of post-slavery laws,’ will negatively affect women

Hostin’s comments came following a discussion on The View with guest Elie Mystal. Mystal, who wrote the book “Bad Law,” suggested that the US should eliminate voter registration laws.

"The reason Democrats don’t want voter ID is because they make it much more difficult for elderly people, people who don’t travel… poor people don’t have cars, don’t have driver’s licenses,” Hostin claimed. “It’s sort of a vestige, I think, of post-slavery laws where black people had to prove their right to vote, and oftentimes they couldn’t vote because they couldn’t pass some crazy test.”

She added that women, particularly married women, are also negatively affected because their passport may “reflect something that’s different on your birth certificate or on your driver’s license.”

“Really the bottom line is voter suppression,” Hostin declared.

Hostin also claimed that fewer voter ID laws increase voter participation and argued “most democracies do it that way,” suggesting the US is an outlier. However, Hostin’s claim does not bear out in many western countries. European countries such as Germany, France, Italy, Sweden, Norway, and many others all require some form of identification for their citizens to vote.

As of November 2024, 35 states require voters at the polls to present identification to cast their ballot. 23 of these states require voters to show identification that includes a photograph.

Republicans have sought to make voter identification a nationwide requirement. President Trump signed an executive order last month titled “Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections” that declared federal election-related funds will be conditioned on states using the national mail voter registration form, which now requires proof of citizenship.