Voter Suppression 101

8/2/2019 Voter Suppression 101

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1 Center or American Progress | Voter Suppression 101

Voter Suppression 101How Conservatives Are Conspiring to Disenfranchise

Millions of Americans

Scott Keyes, Ian Millhiser, Tobin Van Ostern, and Abraham White April 2012

Introduction

Te righ o voe is under atack all across our counry. Conservaive legislaors are inroduc-

ing and passing legislaion ha creaes new barriers or hose regisering o voe, shorens

he early voing period, imposes new requiremens or already-regisered voers, and rigs he

Elecoral College in selec saes. Conservaives abricae reasons o enac hese lawsvoer

raud is exceedingly rarein heir eors o disenranchise as many poenial voers among

cerain groups, such as college sudens, low-income voers, and minoriies, as possible.1

Raher han modernizing our democracy o ensure ha all ciizens have access o he ballo

box, hese laws hinder voing righs in a manner no seen since he era o Jim Crow laws

enaced in he Souh o disenranchise blacks aer Reconsrucion in he lae 1800s.

alk abou urning back he clock! A is bes, America has uilized he ederal legisla-

ive process o augmen voing righs. Consiuional amendmens such as he 12h,

14h, 15h, 17h, 19h, 23rd, and 26h have seadily improved he sysem by which our

elecions ake place while expanding he pool o Americans eligible o paricipae. Ye in

2011, more han 30 sae legislaures considered legislaion o make i harder or ciizens

o voe, wih over a dozen o hose saes succeeding in passing hese bills. Ani-voing

legislaion appears o be coninuing unabaed so ar in 2012.

Unorunaely, he rapid spread o hese proposals in saes as dieren as Florida

and Wisconsin is no occurring by acciden. Insead, many o hese laws are being

draed and spread hrough corporae-backed eniies such as he American Legislaive

Exchange Council, or ALEC, as uncovered in a previous Cener or American Progress

invesigaive repor.2 Deailed in ha repor, ALEC charges corporaions such as Koch

Indusries Inc., Wal-Mar Sores Inc., and Te Coca-Cola Co. a ee and gives hem access

o members o sae legislaures. Under ALECs auspices, legislaors, corporae represen-

aives, and ALEC ocials work ogeher o dra model legislaion. As ALEC spokes-
http://www.truthaboutfraud.org/pdf/TruthAboutVoterFraud.pdfhttp://www.truthaboutfraud.org/pdf/TruthAboutVoterFraud.pdfhttp://campusprogress.org/articles/conservative_corporate_advocacy_group_alec_behind_voter_disenfranchise/http://campusprogress.org/articles/conservative_corporate_advocacy_group_alec_behind_voter_disenfranchise/http://www.truthaboutfraud.org/pdf/TruthAboutVoterFraud.pdfhttp://www.truthaboutfraud.org/pdf/TruthAboutVoterFraud.pdf


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person Michael Bowman old NPR, his sysem is especially eecive because you have

legislaors who will ask quesions much more reely a our meeings because hey are

no under he eyes o he press, he eyes o he voers.

Te invesigaive repor included or he rs ime a leaked copy o ALECs model Voer

ID legislaion, which was approved by he ALEC board o direcors in lae 2009. Tis

model legislaion prohibied cerain orms o idenicaion, such as suden IDs, and hasbeen cied as he legislaive model rom groups ranging rom ea Pary organizaions o

legislaors proposing he acual legislaion such as Wisconsins Voer ID proposal rom

Republican sae Rep. Sone and Republican sae Sen. Joe Leibham.

Similar legislaion had been proposed during he early 2000s in saes such as Missouri,

bu he legislaion requenly ailed o be passed. Seeking new avenues, he George W.

Bush adminisraion prioriized he convicion o voer raud o he poin where wo U.S.

atorneys were allegedly red in 2004 or ailing o pursue elecoral raud cases a he level

required by hen-Atorney General John Ashcro. In ac, hree years aer rs prioriizing

elecion raud in 2002, Ashcros eors had produced only 95 deendans charged wihelecion-raud, compared o 80,424 criminal cases concluded in a given year.

Tese eors were dismal in erms o eeciveness and convicions, bu news repors

rom 2007 poined ou ha simply pursuing an invesigaion can be jus as eecive as

a convicion in providing ha ammuniion and creaing an impression wih he public

ha some sor o elecoral reorm is necessary.3

Wih his groundwork laid, ALEC oday is spearheading hese eors anew. Tese new

anivoing laws are being challenged legally by a variey o nonparisan organizaions rang-

ing rom Rock he Voe o he League o Women Voers o he Public Ineres ResearchGroup. Addiionally, he Deparmen o Jusice is reviewing some o he new sae laws or

possible violaions o he Voing Righs Ac, which reezes changes in elecion pracices or

procedures in nine souhern saes due o heir hisory o voer suppression in he pas.

Tis issue brie ocuses on boh he curren saus o various anivoer measures hrough-

ou our counry as well as he legal challenges hey ace. Readers will learn how conserva-

ives wan o reurn o pas pracices o voer suppression o preserve heir poliical power,

and looks a several insances where progressives are ghing back successully.

Registration restrictions

Les begin wih voer regisraion resricions. In a handul o saes, legislaors aren

jus making i more dicul o voe; heyre making i more dicul or ciizens even

o regiser in he rs place. Lawmakers in hal a dozen saes made a variey o changes

Registering the

poor to vote is like

handing out burglar

tools to criminals.

Conservativecolumnist

MatthewVadum51
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130891396http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130891396


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o he regisraion process in 2011.4 Tese include limiing when ciizens can regiser,

resricing who is permited o help hem, and implemening ougher bureaucraic

requiremens o regiser.

Nowhere has he war on regisraion been more conroversial han he sae o Maine.

Since 1973, Mainers have been permited o regiser o voe a he ballo box. For nearly 40

years, he sysem worked smoohlyseparae lines or regisering and voing are used opreven congesionand jus wo insances o voer raud were ound in he enire span.5

Neverheless, when an unusually conservaive group o lawmakers ook over boh sae-

house chambers and he governorship in 2010, one o heir primary orders o business

was o repeal he saes law permiting ciizens o regiser on Elecion Day. Forunaely,

in he ensuing weeks ciizens o he sae rallied o collec ens o housands o signaures

and orce a voe on he mater. In November 2011, 61 percen o Mainers rebuked he

legislaure and voed o resore Elecion Day regisraion in heir sae.

Alas, voing righs proponens in oher saes have no been as successul. In Floridaand exas, or example, lawmakers succeeded in placing onerous new resricions on

nonpro organizaions ha help regiser new voers. Voer regisraion drives by groups

such as he League o Women Voers have been a saple o our democracy or years,

helping housands o ciizens o regiser, regardless o heir poliical aliaion.

In he Sunshine Sae, however, hose may now be a hing o he pas. Las July, he

League o Women Voers announced i would no longer operae in Florida because

o new anivoer legislaionincluding complicaed new ling requiremens and a

mandae o submi compleed regisraion orms wihin 48 hours o compleion or ace

a hey nemade i nearly impossible or hem o coninue heir work.6

Te Lone Sar Sae also placed unnecessary new requiremens on groups and indi-

viduals ineresed in helping regiser ohers. exas lawmakers in May passed legislaion

requiring ha people who help regiser voers, known as voluneer depuy regisrars,

mus also be eligible exas voers hemselves. Te new law has a number o uninended

consequences. For insance, legal permanen residens who are in he process o obain-

ing heir ciizenship would be barred rom learning he poliical process by helping

regiser ohers. Many such immigrans are currenly employed as depuy regisrars; his

new law would likely resul in heir ring.

Whas more, disabled exans who are considered ull guardians o he sae and ineligible

o voe would be shu ou as well. One disabled genleman had carried voer regisra-

ion orms in his wheelchair or years, eager o regiser ohers or a democraic process he

himsel could no paricipae in. Under he new law, i would be illegal or him o coninue

regisering new voers.7 As o February 2012, exass new law remains no in eec while

he Jusice Deparmen deermines wheher i complies wih he Voing Righs Ac.

I dont want

everybody to vote.HeritageFoundation

co-ounderPaulWeyrich52


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Kansas, Alabama, and ennessee ook a slighly dieren roue, augmening he required doc-

umenaion necessary o regiser o voe. Each passed laws requiring residens o prove heir

ciizenship beore regisering, eiher by presening a birh cericae or passpor.8 Less han

a hird o Americans currenly own a passpor,9 and ciizens who don have access o heir

birh cericae would be orced o pay or one in order o voean almos cerain violaion

o he 24h Amendmens ban on poll axes. Te problem is no small; a leas 7 percen o

Americans don have easy access o a birh cericae or similar ciizenship documen.10

Arizona and Georgia also passed similar legislaion prior o 2011. Te Jusice Deparmen

is currenly reviewing Georgia and Alabamas changes or compliance wih he Voing

Righs Ac, and Arizonas law is being challenged in he Ninh Circui Cour o Appeals.

Residency restrictions

Anoher avenue where conservaives are proposing o limi voing righs is ighening

he residency requiremens. Te inended eec o hese measures is o make i dicul,i no impossible, or ou-o-sae college sudens o voe where hey atend school.

In Maine, young voers are being argeed even more brazenly. In Sepember 2011 Maines

secreary o sae sen a hreaening leter11 o hundreds o college sudens who were legally

regisered o voe in he sae, implying ha many o hem were in violaion o elecion law

and suggesing hey correc his by unregisering in Maine. Te lis o college sudens ar-

geed or his leter came direcly rom he Maine Republican Pary Chairman, underscor-

ing jus how parisan he voer suppression eor in Maine has become.12 New Hampshire is

now considering sricer residency requiremens or Granie Sae voers as well.13

All o his is especially surprising given he Supreme Cours decision in Symm v. Unied

Saes, where i upheld a lower cour decision esablishing ha saes canno place

obsacles unique o college sudens beween hose sudens and heir righ o voe. 14

Limiting early voting

Following widespread voing problems in he 2000 elecion ha had nohing o do wih

voer raudrom exraordinarily long lines o hanging chadsmany saes moved

o ease he burden on clerks and ciizens by allowing people o voe prior o Elecion

Day. Ohio and Florida were he epicener o hese problems, and boh saes moved o

preven similar problems in he uure by allowing early voing.

Among conservaives, hen-Florida Gov. Jeb Bush was a major proponen o such

reorms, calling hem a wonderul way o provide access o he polls.15 As a resul,

over hal o Sunshine Sae voers cas heir ballo beore Elecion Day in 2008.16

Floridasoughttoeliminatethe

long-establishedpracticeoea

votingonthelastSundaybeo

ElectionDayandOhiohaselim

natedearlyvotingonSundays

entirely.Substantialevidence

pointstoSundaysasadaywhe

Arican-Americansvoteinpro-

portionatelyargreaternumbe

thanwhites.18

Early voting


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Ye hree years laer, lawmakers in he sae moved o limi he availabiliy o early voing.

In Florida voers had previously been permited wo weeks o early voing prior o he

elecion; lawmakers rolled ha back o eigh days. Ohio lawmakers wen even urher,

reducing he saes early voing period rom 35 days o jus 11. Ari Berman also noes in

Rolling Sone ha boh saes banned voing on he Sunday beore he eleciona day

when black churches hisorically mobilize heir consiuens.17

Oher saes have successully rolled back heir early voing periods as well. Georgia

reduced early voing rom 45 o 21 days, Wisconsin shorened heir period by 16 days,

Wes Virginia by ve days, and ennessee by wo.

In one brigh spo, voing righs proponens in he Buckeye Sae are ghing back agains

he new changes. Hundreds o housands o Ohioans signed a peiion o hold a reerendum

on he voing changes, suspending he law unil voers decide is ae in November 2012.

Voter ID laws

Te mos common ype o voer-relaed legislaion in 2011 was he mandae ha

individuals mus show cerain kinds o governmen-issued phoo ID a he polls

beore being allowed o voe. o dae, Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri,

Pennsylvania, ennessee, exas, and Wisconsin have all passed such laws, and similar

measures have been proposed by 24 more.19

Bu wih more han 1 in 10 voers (over 21 million Americans) currenly lacking hese

phoo IDs, is clear ha such laws could have a disasrous eec. 20 Voer ID laws have

he poenial o exclude millions o Americans, especially seniors, sudens, minori-ies, and people in rural areas. One example is Osceola, Wisconsin: A small own in he

norhwesern par o he sae wih a populaion o under 3,000 people. Te own is 30

minues away rom he neares DMV oces and boh are rarely open.21

Deenders o hese laws claim hey are necessary o preven voer raud. In realiy hey

are a soluion in search o a problem. Teres vir ually no such raud in American elec-

ionsand is no even remoely close o being he epidemic ha some eleced ocials

have made i ou o be. In he 2004 elecion, or example, abou 3 million voes were cas

in Wisconsinonly seven were declared invalidall o which were cas by elons who

had nished heir senences and didn realize hey were sill barred rom voing.22 As a

resul, Wisconsins overall raud rae came in a a whopping 0.00023 percen.

Te only kind o voer raud ha is supposed o be prevened by hese laws is one voer

impersonaing anoher. No only would impersonaing oher voers one-by-one be an

absurd sraegy or sealing an enire elecion, bu he already-exising penaliesve

years in prison and a $10,000 ne23are doing an eecive job a prevening such raud.

The chie sponsor

o Georgias voter

ID legislation, Rep.

Sue Burmeister

(R-Augusta), told the

Justice Department

the bill would

keep more Arican

Americans rom

voting, which was

fne with her since

i there are ewerblack voters because

o this bill, it will only

be because there is

less opportunity or

raud.53


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Ye, while hese laws would preven ew i any acual cases o voer raud, hey could

disenranchise millions o ID-less voers. And hey are clearly illegal under longsanding

voing righs law. Te Voing Righs Ac no only orbids laws ha are passed specically

o arge minoriy voers bu also srikes down sae laws ha have a greaer impac on

minoriy voers han on ohers. Because Voer ID laws disproporionaely disenran-

chise minoriies, hey clearly wihin he Voing Righs Acs prohibiion.

Gaming the Electoral College

Pennsylvania Gov. om Corbet recenly proposed changing he way his sae allocaes

elecoral voes in a presidenial elecion. Should his proposal become law, i could aler

he oucome in 2012 and signicanly increase he possibiliy ha a candidae who loses

he popular voe in his sae sill receives more elecoral voes overall.

Alhough he Consiuion permis each sae legislaure o decide how he winner o

is elecoral voes will be seleced during a presidenial elecion, all bu wo o he saesollow he same processwhoever wins he sae as a whole receives all o ha saes

elecoral voes. Te wo remaining saes, Maine and Nebraska, allocae one elecoral

voe o he winner o each congressional disric, plus wo addiional voes o he overall

winner o he sae. Because hese are boh very small saes, however, heir unusual

process is unlikely o aler he oucome o presidenial elecions.

Te same canno be said o Pennsylvania. As he naions sixh mos populous sae,

Pennsylvania commands 20 elecoral voes in he 2012 elecion. Gov. Corbets proposal

would allocae hese voes according o he Maine/Nebraska sysem, poenially swing-

ing he elecion in he process.

Presiden Obama won Pennsylvania by more han 10 percenage poins in 2008, bu i

Pennsylvania had allocaed voes in he same way as Maine and Nebraska hen he would

have only earned only more elecoral voe rom he sae han his opponen Sen. John

McCain (R-AZ).28 In 2012 Presiden Obama could win he sae as a whole and sill

lose welve o he saes weny elecoral voes due o Pennsylvanias heavily gerryman-

dered disrics.29 Tis is more han enough o change he resul o nex years elecion.

Consider ha aer he Supreme Cour awarded Floridas elecoral voes o George W.

Bush aer he 2000 presidenial elecion. Bush received only ve more elecoral voes in

2000 han his opponen Al Gore, who won he majoriy o he naional popular voe.

Gov. Corbets plan risks absurd resuls where he overall winner o a saes popular

voe becomes he loser o is elecoral voe. Worse, i undermines he legiimacy o

any presiden who akes oce solely due o Pennsylvania conservaives gaming he

Elecoral College. Alhough he Pennsylvania plan is probably consiuional, i is no

less an atack on our democraic sysem o governmen. Te winner o he 2012 presi-

11percentoAmericancitizensdonotpossessagovernment-issuedphotoID

(over21millioncitizens)24

3othephotoIDbillstohavpassedinSouthCarolinaTexas,andTennesseeexpress

donotallowstudentstouseph

toIDsissuedbystateeducation

institutionstovote,andWiscon

sinsbilleectivelyexcludesmo

studentIDsaswell25

Around 3 million

Americanstriedtovoteinthe

2008presidentialelectionbut

couldnot,duetovoterregistra

tionproblems26

As mAny As 25 percent

oArican-Americansdonot

possessacurrentandvalidorm

ogovernmentissuedphotoID

comparedto11percentoall

races27

Fast facts on voter

suppression


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denial elecion should be he person chosen by he American people, no by arbirary

dierences beween various saes elecion laws.

For he momen, Gov. Corbets proposal appears o be dead due o inghing

beween he proposals supporers and some o Pennsylvanias members o Congress

in Washingon who ear i could cause more campaign resources o be direced oward

heir disrics.30 Tere is nohing prevening is supporers rom reviving ipoeniallyeven on he eve o he elecionshould he 2012 elecion appear close enough o be

swung by manipulaing he Elecoral College.

Moreover, a leas one Wisconsin lawmaker has jumped upon his proposal, creaing

he risk ha i could spread o oher saes. I similar swing saes, such as Florida or

Michigan, ook up his plan, i could undamenally ransorm he nex elecion ino a

cones o see who can bes game he sysem.

FloridAunderminedvotingrightsinthree

principalwayslastyear.First,lawmakers

reducedtheearlyvotingperiodbynearlyhal.Sec-

ond,theytookawaytherighttovoteromex-elonswho

hadcompletedtheirsentence.Third,theyimposednew

onerousrequirementsonvoterregistrationgroupslikethe

LeagueoWomenVoters.

texAsalsopassedrestrictiveregulations

onvoterregistrationgroupsthatcould

cutthousandsoutothepoliticalprocess.

ItalsoenactedastrictvoterIDlawthatcould

disenranchisehundredsothousandsoTexans,

particularlyLatinos.

tennesseesattackonvotingrightsin

2011wastwo-old.Thestateshortenedits

early-votingperiodandpassedanewvoter

IDlawthatwilldenytheballottohundredsothousandsoTennesseans.

Wisconsinhashistoricallybeenaleaderon

progressivevotingrights,buttheytookabigstep

backwardsintwowayslastyear.First,theyreduced

theirearlyvotingperiodby16days.Second,they

institutedanewvoterIDrequirementthatcoulddisen-

ranchisehundredsothousandsacrossthestate.

KAnsAspassedvoterIDlegislationlast

year,aswellasaprooocitizenshipbillthat

willmakeanyonetryingtoregistertovote

proveheorsheisacitizenfrst.Thousands

oKansanslackreadyaccesstosuchdocu-

ments.

Five worst states for voting rights in 2011


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Voter suppression in personal terms

In a represenaive democracy, i is imporan o poin o individuals who would be pre-

vened rom exercising heir righ o voe due o hese eors a argeed voer suppression.

Here are some real-lie examples o he consequences o hese voer suppression laws.

Ricky Tyrone LewisRicky is a 58 year-old Marine Corps veeran. Despie he ac ha he was able o

oer Wisconsin voing ocials proo o his honorable discharge rom he Marines,

Milwaukee Couny has been unable o nd he record o his birh ha he needs in order

o obain a voer ID card.31

Ruthelle Frank

Ruhelle is an 84 year-old ormer eleced ocial who voed in every elecion or he las

63 years, ye she will be unable o obain a voer ID unless she pays a ee o obain a birh

cericae rom he Wisconsin governmen32despie he ac ha he Consiuion

explicily orbids any voer rom being charged a ee in order o voe.33

Worse, becausehe atending physician a her birh misspelled her name on her original birh cericae,

she may need o pay hundreds o dollars in cour ees o peiion he sae judiciary o

correc her cericae beore she can obain a voer ID.

Paul Carroll

Paul is an 86-year-old World War II veeran who has lived in he same Ohio own or

our decades. Ye when he atemped o voe in he recen Ohio primary, he was old his

phoo ID rom he Deparmen o Veerans Aairs was no good enough because i did

no include his address.34

Dorothy Cooper

Dorohy is a 96-year-old Arican-American woman who says she has voed in every

elecion bu one since she became eligible o voe. Ye when she atemped o obain a

voer ID she was urned away because she did no have a copy o her marriage license.35

In a subsequen inerview Dorohy said ha she didn even have problems voing in

ennessee during Jim Crow days only now under Voer ID.36

Thelma Mitchell

Telma is a 93-year-old woman who cleaned he ennessee Capiol or 30 years. She

never received a birh cericae, however, because she was delivered by a midwie in

Alabama in 1918 and here was no record o her birh. When she atemped o obain a

voer ID, she was urned away or lack o a birh cericae by a clerk who suggesed she

could be an il legal immigran.37


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Virginia Lasater

Virginia is a 91-year-old woman who has been acive in poliical campaigns or 70

years Because o her advanced age, however, she is no longer able o sand or exended

periods o ime. When she atemped o obain a voer ID, she was conroned wih lines

ha sreched or several hours and no place o si while she waiedorcing her o

abandon her eor o obain an ID due o her physical consrains.38

Darwin Spinks

Darwin is an 86 year-old World War II veeran. He was old o pay a ee beore he

could obain a voer ID in ennessee, despie he ac ha charging someone o voe

is unconsiuional.39

Rita Platt

Ria is a Wisconsin residen who was urned away rom her atemp o obain a voer

ID because she required eiher a birh cericae or a passpor o obain oneboh o

which can only be obained i he voer pays a ee.40 Worse, in Wisconsin, voers mus ll

ou a misleading orm41

ha suggess ha hey canno obain he birh cericae heyneed o obain a phoo ID unless hey already have a phoo ID.

Jess ica Coh en

Jessica is a exas residen who los her license and oher idenicaion papers in a

burglary. She now mus also pay an unconsiuional ee in order o obain he birh cer-

icae she needs o obain a new voer ID.42 Because Cohen lives in exas, she will likely

be able o voe in 2012 because he Deparmen o Jusice blocked exass law under he

Voing Righs Ac43alhough here is a high risk44 ha he Supreme Cours conserva-

ives will declare he Voing Righs Ac unconsiuional.

Tese nine voers are represenaive o he millions o voers who could be deprived o

heir righ o voe aer exercising ha righ or, in some cases, decades. Teir problems

will become more commonplace as addiional saes coninue o pass suppressive laws.

Conclusion

When speaking abou his subjec a he Campus Progress Naional Conerence in 2011,

Presiden Bill Clinon asked he young audience why hese laws making i harder o voe

were all being proposed in such a high rae and passed across he counry. Te answer,

he said, was ha Tey are r ying o make he 2012 elecorae look more like he 2010

elecorae han he 2008 elecorae.45

Conservaives are scared because each cycle more young and minoriy voers are ener-

ing voing age and heir collecive impac is growing accordingly. In 2008 abou 48 million

Millennial generaion voershose born beween 1978 and 2000were old enough o

Election Day

registration leads

to the kids coming

out o the schools

and basically doing

what I did when I

was a kid, which is

voting as a liberal.

Thats what kids do

they dont havelie experience, and

they just vote their

eelings.

NewHampshireHouseSpeaker

WilliamOBrien54


10/12


voe. By 2012, ha number will be 64 million, or 29 percen o all eligible voers. According

o analysis by he Cener or American Progress, by 2020, when all Millennial voers are o

voing age, abou 90 million o hem will be eligible o voe and will comprise around 40

percen o all eligible American voers.46 Tis parallels changes in minoriy voersrom

1988 o 2008 he percen o minoriy voers increased o 26 percen rom 15 percen.47

Tese young and minoriy voers are srongly progressive. Tey srongly supporprogressive saples such as invesing in renewable energy48 and mainaining Social

Securiy.49 Tis has ranslaed ino elecions as well. In 2008 boh young voers and

Hispanic voers delivered wo-hirds o heir voes o Presiden Obama.50

aken ogeher, he growing infuence o saunchly progressive voers has conservaives

scared o he poin o exreme measures. Backed by large corporae donors, hey are

looking or any proposal or law ha will help negae his change in voing demograph-

ics. While his is heir moivaion, he righ o voe is an American righ ha should be

proeced by hose o all poliical persuasions.

Righ now, he proecion o ani-voer suppression measures pu in place during he

1960s is prevening he enacmen o he law in key saes. And in oher saes he laws will

become ballo measures where heir oucome can be decided by he voers. In many saes

hese laws have already been passed and mus be aggressively challenged hrough legal and

elecoral measures o pu our sysem o democraic elecions back on he righ rack.

Scot Keyes is a Researcher for he Cener for American Progress Acion Fund. Ian Milhiser

is a Policy Analys and Blogger on legal issues a he Cener for American Progress and he

CAP Acion Fund. Tobin Van Osern is Communicaions Manager for he Ceners Campus

Progress projec. Abraham Whie is a Communicaions Associae wih Campus Progress.


11/12


States that passed a law requiring

photo ID to vote

States that passed a law requiring photoID to vote (with non-photo safety net)

Other voter suppression legislation

enacted in 2011

States at risk for passing photo ID in 2012

States with photo ID on the ballot

States at risk for passing other voter

suppression legislation in 2012

Spreading suppression

Theprolierationovotersuppressionlaws,2008and2012

2008

2012 (as of March 29)

*The Maine law eliminating Election Day registration was overturned by voters in November 20

Source: Fair Elections Legal Network, airelectionsnetwork.com, March 29, 2

*
http://fairelectionsnetwork.com/http://fairelectionsnetwork.com/


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12 C t A i P | V t S i 101

Endnotes

1 Justin Levitt, The Truth About Voter Fraud (New York: Bren-nan Center or Justice, 2007).

2 Tobin Van Ostern, Conservative Corporate Advocacy GroupALEC Behind Voter Disenranchisement Eorts,CampusProgress, March 8, 2011.

3 Mark Follman, Alex Koppelman, and Jonathan Vanian, HowU.S. Attorneys were used to spread voter-raud ears, Slate,

March 21, 2007.

4 Scott Keyes, Maine Elections Chie Uses GOP List To Intimi-date Student Voters And Encourage Them To Re-Register InAnother State, ThinkProgress, September 29, 2011.

5 Bevan Davies, Dont believe the claims o voter raud inMaine, Seacoastonline, October 27, 2011.

6 David Savage, Election laws tightening in GOP-run states,TheLos Angeles Times, October 30, 2011.

7 Scott Keyes, How Texas War On Voting Will Undercut LegalImmigrants And People With Disabili ties, ThinkProgress,November 18, 2011.

8 Ari Berman, The GOP War on Voting, Rolling Stone, August30, 2011.

9 U.S. State Department, Bureau o Consular Aairs, Passport

Statistics.

10 Wendy R. Weiser and Lawrence Norden, Voting LawChanges in 2012 (New York: Brennan Center or Justice,2011), p.1.

11 Scott Keyes, Maine Elections Chie Uses GOP List To Intimi-date Student Voters And Encourage Them To Re-Register InAnother State, ThinkProgress, Septemer 29, 2011.

12 Marie Diamond, As GOP Cracks Down On Student Voters,Study Finds Zero Student Voter Fraud, ThinkProgress,September 22, 2011.

13 Sally Davis, Letter, Portsmouth Herald, February 1, 2012.

14 Symm v. United States, 439 U.S. 1105 (1979).


16 Michael McDonald, 2010 Early Voting (Fairax: GeorgeMason University, United States Election Project, 2010).


18 The Washington Post, March 8, 2011.

19 Lawyers Committee or Civil Rights Under Law: Map oShame

20 Weiser and Norden, Voting Law Changes in 2012.

21 Amanda Terkel, Wisconsin Voter ID Law Ensnares Teacher InRural Part O State, Hungton Post, December 12, 2011.

22 Scott Keyes, What States Are Doing To Restrict VotingRights, ThinkProgress, October 21, 2011.

23 Weiser and Norden, Voting Law Changes in 2012.

24 Weiser and Norden, Voting Law Changes in 2012, p.2.




28 Laura Olson, Charge Proposed For States Electoral VoteProcess, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, September 13, 2011.

29 Ibid.

30 Ian Millhiser, Pennsylvania Gov. Corbetts Election RiggingPlan Appears DeadFor Now, ThinkProgress, November 22,2011.

31 Ian Millhiser, Wisconsin Judge Blocks Illegal Voter ID Law,Citing Disenranchised Marine Vet, ThinkProgress, March 7,2012.

32 Tanya Somanader, Wisconsin Voter ID Law May Force

84-Year-Old Woman To Pay $200 To Get A Voter ID, Think-Progress, December 5, 2011.

33 U.S. Constitution, Amendment 24.

34 Travis Waldron, 86-Year-Old Ohio Veteran Cant Vote AterGovernment-Issued ID I s Rejected At Poll, ThinkProgress,March 6, 2012.

35 Travis Waldron, 96-Year-Old Tennessee Woman DeniedVoter ID Because She Didnt Have Her Marriage License,ThinkProgress, October 5, 2011.

36 ThinkProgress, Worse Than Jim Crow, October 7, 2011, video.

37 Marie Diamond, 93-Year-Old Tennessee Woman WhoCleaned State Capitol For 30 Years Denied Voter ID, Think-Progress, December 26, 2011.

38 Associated Press, 91-Year-Old Cant Get Voter ID Because o

Line, Nashville Ledger, October 21, 2011.

39 Tom Humphrey, WWII Vet, 86, Charged $8 for Free PhotoID, Knox News, October 26, 2011.

40 Somanader, Wisconsins Voter ID Law Forces Woman To PayUnconstitutional Birth Certifcate Poll Tax To Get Photo ID.

41 Scott Keyes, Misleading Wisconsin Form Asks Residents ForPhoto ID To Get A Bir th Certifcate, Which Is Needed To GetA Photo ID, ThinkProgress, December 7, 2011.

42 ThinkProgressVideo, Reactions to Texas photo ID law,November 14, 2011, video, available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gz0lvTu3KQ&eature=player_embedded.

43 Scott Keyes, Department o Justice Blocks New Texas VoterID Law For Discriminator y Impact On Hispanic Voters, Think-Progress, March 12, 2012.

44 Ian Millhiser, Arizona Lawsuit Takes Aim At Voting Rights

Act, ThinkProgress, August 26, 2011.

45 Bill Clinton, Campus Progress National Conerence, OmniShoreham Hotel, Washington, D.C., July 6, 2011.

46 Ruy Teixeira, New Progressive America (Washington:Center or American Progress, 2009).

47 Ruy Teixeira and John Halpin, The Path to 2070(Washing-ton: Center or American Progress, 2011).

48 Joel Benenson and Amy Levin, Youth Poll Results, BenensonStrategy Group, September 15, 2009.

49 Alliance or Retired Americans, Social Security: A Promise toAll Americans, (2010).

50 Ruy Teixeira, New Progressive America.

51 Matthew Vadum, Registering the Poor to Vote is Un-

American, American Thinker, September 1, 2011.

52 peopleor. Paul Weyrich I dont want everbody tovote. June 8, 20007. Online video clip. Youtube. Ac-cessed on 26 March 2012. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GBAsFwPglw

53 Bob Kember and Sonji Jacobs, Geotrgia voter ID memo stirstenstion, The Oxord Press, November 18, 2005.

54 Emily Schultheis, Students hit by Voter ID restrictions,Politico, November 20, 2011.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GBAsFwPglwhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GBAsFwPglwhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GBAsFwPglwhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GBAsFwPglw

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Voter Suppression 101

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