Kamala Harris won in several states requiring ID to vote, contrary to claims

The claim

In a post (archived here), an Instagram user claimed that voter ID is only required in two states that voted for Kamala Harris in the presidential election.

The claim has also spread on other social networks, including X, where Elon Musk shared a map of the election results by state (archived here) in relation to voter ID requirements from NewsMax TV, with the caption: "Must be a coincidence." The post has been viewed by more than 110.9 million users so far.

Similar claims, including those suggesting that Harris won only in states that do not require voter ID (example archived here), have been circulating since election day on November 5. 

However, the claims that she won in only two or fewer states with voter ID requirements are incorrect.

In fact

Based on votes counted so far, Kamala Harris has lost the presidential race to Donald Trump in terms of both the popular vote and the electoral college. However, she won the majority of individual votes in 20 states across the U.S.

Among the states that do not require voter ID, Kamala Harris received more votes than Donald Trump in Oregon, California, Hawaii, New Mexico, Minnesota, Illinois, Vermont, New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey, the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Maine. She also won the majority of votes in Washington, which conducts all elections by mail and does not require photo ID for voting. However, in-person voters in Washington may be required to sign a ballot declaration or provide ID to the county auditor.

In states that require photo ID to vote, Kamala Harris received more votes than Trump in Rhode Island and New Hampshire. In New Hampshire, voters without photo ID must sign a challenged voter affidavit and cast a regular ballot. After the election, they will receive a letter to sign and return. In Rhode Island, voters without photo ID can vote provisionally, and election officials will later verify their identity by comparing signatures.

In states that request voter ID but do not require photo identification, Harris received more votes than Trump in Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, and Virginia. In several of these states, voters casting ballots by mail are not required to provide identification, reducing the impact of ID requirements.

The verdict

Harris won in six states that require some form of voter identification, disproving claims that she only won in two or fewer such states.