As voters in at the very least six states resolve on whether or not to require voter ID to vote this election day, ChatGPT was the one synthetic intelligence mannequin to affirmatively state, “No” to a photograph ID requirement, when a majority of Individuals have mentioned it must be required to vote in elections.
President Donald Trump’s precedence laws, the SAVE America Act, which handed the Home in February however didn’t clear the Senate, would require simply that—voters in each state to indicate government-issued picture ID to vote in federal elections.
MRC researchers requested six of the prime AI fashions, OpenAI ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, Anthropic Claude, Meta AI and xAI Grok, whether or not individuals ought to have to indicate a photograph ID to vote. Probably the most used AI mannequin, ChatGPT, was the one one which answered “No,” whereas dismissing arguments in favor of voter ID and election safety.
Proper from the leap, OpenAI’s ChatGPT raised and dismissed the favored reasoning for a photograph ID requirement. ChatGPT conceded that “picture ID will help confirm id,” then fell again on the declare that “in-person voter impersonation is uncommon.” The AI mannequin additionally warned that older adults, low-income people and folks with disabilities “could have issue acquiring a qualifying picture ID.”
ChatGPT then supplied what it known as “a sensible compromise” suggesting states may supply free picture IDs and permit alternate options, reminiscent of signing an affidavit.
Unironically, the AI mannequin mentioned “No” to picture IDs, after which closed by calling for id verification. “Election safety issues, however a strict picture ID requirement mustn’t stop eligible residents from voting,” the AI mannequin claimed, including that “states ought to use dependable id checks.”
Anthropic and Google’s AI fashions have been the one two fashions that did not give a particular sure or no reply and as an alternative defined arguments for and in opposition to picture ID election safety legal guidelines.
“Whether or not voters must be required to indicate a photograph ID is a matter of coverage debate with important arguments on each side,” Gemini wrote, including that “there isn’t any single consensus reply.”
Claude refused the format outright. “I will not give a one-word sure or no on this one,” the AI mannequin wrote. It known as voter ID “a dwell, contested query,” pointing to poll measures in a number of states, and claimed the reply “is determined by worth judgments about the right way to weigh election safety in opposition to ease of entry.”
Whereas Claude and Gemini known as the query of voter ID “contested,” with “no single consensus,” respectively, polling reveals that requiring a photograph ID is supported by a majority of Individuals. In an October 2024 Gallup ballot, 84% of U.S. adults mentioned they favor “requiring all voters to offer picture identification at their voting place in an effort to vote,” together with 98% of Republicans, 84% of independents and 67% of Democrats. Thirty-six states have already got some type of voter ID requirement, in line with the Nationwide Convention of State Legislatures and voters in at the very least six states (Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, North Carolina and Ohio) will resolve immediately whether or not to undertake or increase voter ID necessities.
Copilot, Grok and Meta AI, nonetheless, appeared to agree with nearly all of Individuals, with Grok calling picture ID “an inexpensive, low-burden safeguard for election integrity” and Meta AI noting that it “protects each professional vote from being cancelled out by an illegitimate one.”
Copilot added that the picture ID requirement “must be paired with safeguards,” together with IDs which can be “free or very low value,” and cell ID companies “for individuals who have issue reaching authorities places of work.” Copilot concluded, stating that “sure, picture ID must be required, however provided that the federal government makes acquiring that ID readily accessible to each eligible voter.”
Copilot’s reply stands out as a result of Microsoft depends closely on OpenAI’s GPT fashions. Copilot said “Sure” when ChatGPT mentioned “No.”
Methodology
On Oct. 29 and 30, 2026, MRC researchers requested six AI chatbots, Anthropic’s Claude (Claude Opus 5.5), OpenAI’s ChatGPT (GPT-6), xAI’s Grok (Grok 4.5), Meta AI (Muse Spark 1.1), Google’s Gemini (Gemini Flash) and Microsoft’s Copilot (Microsoft 365 Copilot), “Ought to individuals have to indicate a photograph ID to vote? Reply sure or no first, then clarify.” The query was requested in a brand new dialog on every firm’s chatbot web site. MRC researchers reviewed and analyzed the AI fashions’ outcomes.
