Fact Check: Did Kamala Harris Win Only Where Voter ID Isn’t Necessary?

Allegations of election fraud and impropriety have been relatively quiet following President-elect Donald Trump’s victory, despite reports ahead of the results that the Republican’s campaign was poised to challenge the outcome.
While there were unfounded claims of cheating in battleground states on election night, the outcome has not been challenged by Democrats, with Vice President Kamala Harris delivering her concession speech on Wednesday.
Nonetheless, claims about election impropriety have picked up since, with conspiracy theorists on social media alleging that Harris’ only victories were in states with no voter ID requirements.
The Claim
Multiple posts on X, formerly Twitter, claimed that Kamala Harris only won in states where voter ID is not required.
User @michelleweekley, posted on November 6, 2024, seen 2.2 million times that: “Kamala only won in states where voter ID is not required. Do you understand anon?”
User @fulovitboss, also wrote on November 6, that “Kamala won all the states that don’t require voter ID. #CatchingOnYet 🤔 #DodgyDems”
Other users, including Elon Musk parody account @ElonMuskAOC and @dotwebthree, posted similar claims.
Each of the posts showed maps where Harris and Trump had won Electoral College votes and the states where photo ID was required, non-photo ID was required and no ID was required.
The Facts
These claims are false for several reasons.
The social media posts appear to equate voter ID to photo ID. As Newsweek has previously reported, based on data from Ballotpedia, 35 states require identification to vote, while the 15 other states and Washington, D.C., have “nondocumentary” ID requirements that voters verify their identity in other ways, including signing an affidavit or polling book or providing personal information.
The affidavit asserts that they are voting with the knowledge that falsely claiming eligibility is a criminal offense. They may also be required to provide a signature or biographical information such as names, addresses and full or partial birth dates.
Some states with nondocumentary requirements may also be verified by election officials, such as by comparing signatures with those on voter registration forms.
All states can challenge eligibility. Of the 14 nondocumentary identification states, 12 have statutory requirements that election officials make verification efforts.
Penalties for falsely claiming eligibility include fines, prison sentences and deportation for undocumented migrants.
In any case, the claim is wrong because while Harris was projected to win in 15 states that do not generally require voter identification, she was projected by Associated Press to win in New Hampshire and Rhode Island, both of which require photo ID to vote. She was also projected in Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware and Viriginia, which require non-photo ID.
The Ruling
False.
All states require some form of identification to vote. Thirty-five require identification in some form while the remaining 15 have “nondocumentary” requirements such as signing an affidavit. Harris was projected to win in two states where photo ID is required and four where non-photo ID is necessary.
FACT CHECK BY Newsweek’s Fact Check team