What’s Driving the Push by States to Make Voting Harder?

In the New York Times today, Andrew Rosenthal lays out the agenda driving the wave of legislation affecting state voting laws:

Seven states have already passed strict laws requiring a government-issued ID (like a driver’s license or a passport) to vote, which many students don’t have, and 27 others are considering such measures. Many of those laws have been interpreted as prohibiting out-of-state driver’s licenses from being used for voting.

It’s all part of a widespread Republican effort to restrict the voting rights of demographic groups that tend to vote Democratic. Blacks, Hispanics, the poor and the young, who are more likely to support President Obama, are disproportionately represented in the 21 million people without government IDs. On Friday, the Justice Department, finally taking action against these abuses, blocked the new voter ID law in South Carolina.

The Leadership Conference and its coalition partners are working to challenge these restrictive voting laws and will be campaigning to ensure that all citizens have the information and resources they need to protect their voting rights.