Voter suppression in the United States

Voter suppression in the United States concerns allegations about various efforts, legal and illegal, used to prevent eligible voters from their right to vote. Where found, such voter suppression efforts vary by state, local government, precinct, and election.

Some laws and administrative practices have made it more difficult for people to register to vote. Florida enacted a deadline for the submission of voter registration forms in 2011, with penalties for late filing. The law ended the voter registration work by one organization, the League of Women Voters, whose spokesperson said, "Despite the fact that the League of Women Voters is one of the nation’s most respected civic organizations, with a 91-year history of registering and educating voters, we will be unable to comply with the egregious provisions contained in [this bill]."

In the United States, supporters of photo ID laws say that photographic IDs (such as driver's licenses or student IDs) are available and that presenting such IDs is a minor inconvenience when weighed against the possibility of ineligible voters affecting elections. Opponents argue that photo ID requirements disproportionately affect minority, handicapped and elderly voters who do not normally maintain driver's licenses. Also, requiring such groups to obtain and keep track of photo IDs that are otherwise unneeded is considered a suppression tactic aimed at those groups.

In one instance Indiana's photo ID law barred 12 retired nuns in South Bend, Indiana from voting in the state 2008 Democratic primary election, because they did not have photo IDs. John Borkowski, a South Bend lawyer volunteering as an election watchdog for the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, said, "This law was passed supposedly to prevent and deter voter fraud, even though there was no real record of serious voter fraud in Indiana."

Proponents of a similar law proposed for Texas in March 2009 argued that photo identification was necessary to prevent widespread voter fraud. Opponents responded that there was no evidence of voter fraud in Texas, so no remedy is required. They said that the "remedy" would decrease voting by senior citizens, the disabled, and lower-income residents. Opponents also cited a study stating that 1 million of the state's 13.5 million registered voters do not have a photo ID.

...
Wikipedia