Voter ID requirements are really popular. So why are they so divisive?

There's no more contentious issue in the already heated debate over election reform than the requirement that all voters have a valid photo ID in order to cast a ballot. Republicans insist it's a common sense measure to cut down on the possibility of voter fraud. Democrats push back, noting that voter ID laws tend to disenfranchise minority voters at a far higher rate than white ones.

Polling on the issue is remarkably consistent, however, with a majority of Americans saying they support voters having to show some valid form of ID in order to cast their ballot. Which intrigued me -- given the massive political fight voter ID requirements have spawned in recent years. To get my questions answered, I reached out to Ariel Edwards-Levy who, in addition to being the single funniest person on Twitter, is also the polling and election analytics editor at CNN. We exchanged a series of emails over the last 36 hours on the subject. Our conversation is below.