A wave of Republican-sponsored laws restricting who can and cannot vote may mean that fewer Democrats, especially those who are low-income or minorities, vote in the 2012 presidential election. Since the beginning of 2011, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Wisconsin, and West Virginia have passed, or have plans to pass, restrictive voting laws. More than 70 percent of the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency will come from these states, the Brennan Center reported in March. Republican lawmakers argue that the laws are necessary to prevent voter fraud, but fewer than 100 people have been charged with voter fraud in the past five years, according to the Washington Post. In 2011, former President Bill Clinton condemned the laws for disenfranchising Democrats, describing them as “the disciplined, passionate, determined effort of Republican governors and legislators to keep most of you from voting next time.There has never been in my lifetime, since we got rid of the poll tax and all the other Jim Crow burdens on voting, the determined effort to limit the franchise that we see today,” he said.
There are several types of voting laws that make it harder for certain people to vote. Photo ID laws, passed in eight states last year, require voters to show a government-issued photo ID to vote or to register to vote. Eleven percent of American citizens do not have a government-issued photo IDs, according to the Brennan Center, and those without IDs are more likely to be minorities or low-income. Restrictions on absentee and early voting, proof of citizenship laws and voter registration obstacles are also types of legislation that could prevent millions of eligible Americans from voting in November. Some laws have drawn aggressive pushback from the U.S. Department of Justice, which blocked photo ID laws in Texas and South Carolina on the grounds that they discriminate against non-white voters, but they are not the only laws that have been challenged. Here are some of the laws that have stirred up the most anger
Full Article: 5 Voting Laws That Make People Angry.