Idea of the Day: Voter Suppression Legislation Is Continuing to Be Advanced

February 24, 2012

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The Center for American Progress and many other progressive organizations have been outspoken in condemning conservative lawmakers who are introducing and passing legislation that creates new barriers for those registering to vote, shortens the early voting period, and imposes new rules for already-registered voters, including requiring individuals to produce a government-issued photo ID before being allowed to vote. All of these measures have the potential to disenfranchise millions of Americans, particularly communities of color, students, and seniors.

Antivoting legislation has caught fire across our country. In 2011 lawmakers in more than 30 states introduced legislation making it harder to vote, with more than a dozen states passing these bills into law. And in the run-up to the 2012 elections, voter suppression legislation is continuing to be advanced.

Today, 142 years after the 1870 ratification of the 15th Amendment—which forbade the denial of the right to vote based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude—African Americans and people of color find themselves facing a growing number of impediments to the ballot box.

For more on this topic, please see:

• Voter Suppression Battle Just the Latest Fight to Protect the Vote by Carl Chancellor