Voting Rights

New and stricter voting laws being considered or implemented by Republican-led state legislatures threaten to disenfranchise millions of voters, including minorities, college students and senior citizens. The laws include requiring a state-issued photo identification card, limits on early voting, and stricter rules for groups that conduct voter registration drives. Supporters of the laws say they are needed to prevent voter fraud, but a Department of Justice study of all 50 states found that voter fraud is extremely rare. Opponents suspect that their true motivation is political in an effort to make voting more difficult or impossible for demographic groups that traditionally support Democrats.