Voting Rights FAQ
A primer on new voting laws.
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What You Need to Know - In states around the nation, African-Americans, young voters, the elderly and low-income people may find themselves unable to cast ballots because of new restrictive laws. Conservative state legislators say they are trying to eliminate fraud at the ballot box, but civil rights groups and other advocates, argue that voter fraud is extremely rare and they simply want to turn back the clock by disenfranchising certain groups. Some, like the NAACP, have likened efforts to get new voting laws introduced or passed to the days of Jim Crow when Southern states prevented African-Americans from voting. Here’s what’s at stake. –Joyce Jones
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What’s a Voter ID Law? - A voter ID law requires individuals to show certain kinds of government-issued or other state-sanctioned photo ID cards at the polls before being allowed to vote.(Photo: Jamie Rose/Getty Images)
Photo By Jamie Rose/Getty Images
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Which States Have Passed Voter ID Laws? - So far, Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin have passed such laws. Twenty-four other states are considering similar legislation. (Photo: John Gress/Getty Images)
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How Does the Requirement Disenfranchise Voters? - According to a report issued by the Center for American Progress, more than one in ten voters do not possess photo IDs. Twenty-one million American citizens and approximately 25 percent of African-Americans do not possess a current and valid form of government issued ID, compared to 11 percent of all races.(Photo: David Greedy/Getty Images)
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How Many People Would Be Affected? - More than five million people could be affected by the rules already in place, according to a report from the Brennan Center for Justice.(Photo: The Washington Times/Landov)
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