To the Editor: In his 23 May 2011 Op-Ed, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach supports voter ID measures that

limit access to the polls by criticizing Brennan Center for Justices statistics on how many citizens lack state-issued photo ID. In fact, our 2006 study finding an estimated 11% of American citizens lack government-issued photo ID tracks with reputable studies conducted both before and since. Prominent political scientists and the Carter-Baker Commission on Federal Election Reform have independently reached similar results, confirming that millions of American citizens lack photo ID. Secretary Kobachs simple comparison between the number of Kansas drivers licenses and the number of voting-age Kansans does not support his conclusion that all voters have photo ID. Kobach does not consider the licenses issued to people between the ages of 16 and 18, to noncitizens, and to people who have since died or moved out of state, just to mention a few groups that will pad the numbers. One cannot draw meaningful conclusions about whether some voters do not have ID from a simple comparison of the number of drivers licenses to the number of Kansans over 18. Millions of Americans live without government photo IDs because of age, disability, poverty, or other reasons. We are troubled that Secretary Kobach, without corroboration, would deny their existence while justifying laws that would keep them from voting. Wendy Weiser, Esq. The Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law New York, NY