The history of voter ID laws dates back to 1950, when South Carolina became the first state to request that voters
show a document bearing their name at the polls. Hawaii (1970), Texas (1971), Florida (1977), and Alaska
(1980) followed suit in requesting some form of voter ID—but each state also allowed exceptions for voters who
could not verify their identity. By 2000, a total of 14 states were asking voters to show ID at the polls
