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GOP Making it Much Harder for Young, Urban, and Poor to Vote

One of the most promising recent trends in expanding political participation has been allowing people to vote in the weeks before Election Day, either in person or by mail. Early voting, which enables people to skip long lines and vote at more convenient times, has been increasingly popular over the last 15 years. It skyrocketed to a third of the vote in 2008, rising particularly in the South and among black voters supporting Barack Obama.

And that, of course, is why Republican lawmakers are trying desperately to cut it back. Two states in the South have already reduced early-voting periods, and lawmakers in others are considering doing so. It is the latest element of a well-coordinated effort by Republican state legislators across the country to disenfranchise voters who tend to support Democrats, particularly minorities and young people.

The biggest part of that effort, imposing cumbersome requirements that voters have a government ID, has been painted as a response to voter fraud, an essentially nonexistent problem. But Republican lawmakers also have taken a good look at voting patterns, realized that early voting might have played a role in Mr. Obama’s 2008 victory, and now want to reduce that possibility in 2012.

Mr. Obama won North Carolina, for example, by less than 15,000 votes. That state has had early voting since 2000, and in 2008, more ballots were cast before Election Day than on it. Mr. Obama won those early votes by a comfortable margin. So it is no coincidence that the North Carolina House passed a measure — along party lines — that would cut the early voting period by a week, reducing it to a week and a half before the election. The Senate is preparing a similar bill.

Republicans said the measure would save money, a claim as phony as saying widespread fraud necessitates ID cards. The North Carolina elections board, and many county boards, said it would actually cost more money, because they would have to open more voting sites and have less flexibility allocating staff members. Black lawmakers called it what it is: a modern whiff of Jim Crow.

One of the biggest jumps was in Georgia, where, over the objections of several black lawmakers, the Republican-dominated Legislature passed a bill in April that would cut back in-person early voting to 21 days, from 45 days. Florida just cut its early voting period to eight days, from 14. Florida also eliminated the Sunday before Election Day as an early-voting day; election experts note that will eliminate the practice of many African-Americans of voting directly after going to church.

Outside the region, the Republican-dominated Legislature in Ohio, a perennial battleground state, is about to restrict early voting, a move that Democrats say amounts to voter suppression and discrimination.

Thirty-three states and the District of Columbia now allow some form of early voting, a relic from the days when everyone seemed to agree that more voters were better for democracy. Republicans have recently decided that a larger electorate can hurt them.

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Kansas’ Republican Secretary of State is pushing for new laws to stop what is essentially nonexistent “voter fraud.” These laws would just happen to also make it much harder for younger, more urban, and poor individuals to register and vote. These are groups that tend to vote more often for Democrats. With Republicans now in full control of the state’s government, it is very likely we will see some version of these laws passed.

Under Kobach’s proposal, Kansans would have to show a passport, birth certificate or other proof of citizenship when registering to vote. They then would have to show a government photo ID — driver’s license, passport or state university ID — at the polls.

The Republican party clearly has no problem changing the rules to help cement their power, even if it means disenfranchising people with anti-small-”d”-democratic actions.

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Immediately after taking power in Wisconsin, the Republican party has launched an effort to make it harder for people to vote, especially low income individuals who are the least likely to have drivers licenses. They are pushing for both a law and an amendment to the state Constitution to require a photo ID to vote.

Wisconsin’s photo ID requirements would be among the strictest in the country. All but two states with photo ID requirements – Indiana and Georgia – allow voters to cast ballots without showing IDs if they sign affidavits, according to the Pew Center on the States. The bill here is modeled on Indiana’s law, Leibham said.

The bill would allow most voters to get ballots only after presenting a Wisconsin driver’s license, Wisconsin ID card or military ID card.

In addition, Wisconsin Republicans are also looking to eliminate the process of same-day registration. Wisconsin is one of nine states that allow voters to register at the polls, which observers credit with boosting voter turnout. Momentum is building among Republicans to eliminate the practice.

The official reason for these changes would be to stop “voter fraud”, which is acually extremely rare. It is impossible not to conclude that the real goal for the Republicans is to unnecessarily make it much harder for traditionally Democratic-leaning groups like young, urban, and low income individuals to exercise their constitutional right to vote. These groups are the least likely to have up-to-date local drivers licenses.

The goal of our democracy should be to increase participation as much as possible and make it as easy as possible for everyone to take part in our government “of the people, by the people.”

Instead of winning over these voters through outreach, results, or a more popular platform, the Republican party in Wisconsin is just going to try to stop them from voting altogether.

From a purely political level, it shows that the Republican party is clearly focused on long term planning. While I truly despise this as the worst form of political gaming, it does show that the Republican party values long term planning. The second they gained power in Wisconsin, they moved to cement that power through underhanded means. They are willing to accept some short term outrage in exchange for a long term advantage.

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It has become a rallying cry for some to claim that we need to do more to prevent “voter fraud”. According to those chanting this disturbing chorus, elections are being influenced and sometimes determined, by people who are ineligible to cast a ballot impersonating eligible voters.

To be sure, the NAACP sees disenfranchising, disturbing instances of “voter fraud” every election cycle. However, the fraud that we witness is different. Every day, we hear of deceptive practices, misinformation and lies that are used to keep registered, legitimate voters away from the polls or to support candidates whom they might not otherwise vote for. Sadly, we also still find ourselves fighting attempts by election officials to disenfranchise the people in communities we represent.

It is our experience that voter impersonation, which has resulted in passing numerous laws, proposed laws, and court cases, is actually quite rare. Nationwide, between 2002 and 2006, when a crackdown on voter fraud was one of the U.S. Department of Justice’s top priorities and when more than 400 million votes were cast, an average of only 30 federal cases per year were prosecuted.

Regardless of the questionable prevalence of this type of voter fraud, several states have passed troubling photo identification requirements. Sadly, rather than addressing voter fraud, however, the true effect of these laws is to disenfranchise the estimated 20 million Americans who have not purchased government-issued photo IDs. And it should come as no surprise that a disproportionate number of these people are racial and ethnic minorities, the elderly and low-income Americans.

Yet examples of genuine, malicious voter fraud continue to plague us. In Virginia, registered voters received recorded calls stating that they could vote by telephone, by pressing a number for the candidate of their choice. The call ended by fraudulently stating that they had now voted, and did not need to go to the polls.

In 2006 in Orange County, California,14,000 Latino voters got letters in Spanish saying it was a crime for immigrants to vote in a federal election. It didn’t say that immigrants who are citizens have the right to vote.

In addition to these unscrupulous tactics, the NAACP has seen a dramatic increase in which people have registered to vote, believing or having been told that they have done everything correctly, only to be turned away from the voting booth on Election Day because they have been erroneously purged from the voting rolls, or mistakenly not added.

We know from Florida in 2000 and Ohio in 2004 that over-zealous, erroneous purging of the rolls, underestimating the number of necessary voting machines, ballots and poll workers, the under-training of poll workers, intimidation of voters and the misuse of photo ID requirements, especially in neighborhoods with heavy concentrations of racial and ethnic minorities, can be a standard trick by unscrupulous election officials trying to suppress a segment of the voting public.

Voter fraud, inadequately trained election workers, lack of working voting machines and lack of ballots, blocked access to polling sights and intentional deception and voter intimidation lead to disenfranchisement of eligible voters. These are the real problems that should be seriously addressed if we are to realize the promise of our democracy. These problems are more than just “voter fraud”: These problems are a national travesty.

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Gerrymandering
Gerrymandering is the drawing of electorate boundaries in order to produce a particular result. Typically, electorates will be organized so that one group of people (for example poor people or a particular ethnic or religious group) is concentrated into a small number of electorates. This means that parties favoured by that group will win by a large majority in those electorates, but lose more narrowly in a larger number of electorates. This may result in one party gaining the most votes overall but still losing the election.


Manipulation of demography
In many cases it is possible for authorities to artificially control the composition of an electorate in order to produce a foregone result. One way of doing this is to move a large number of voters into the electorate prior to an election, for example by temporarily assigning them land or lodging them in flophouses.[3][4] Many countries prevent this with rules stipulating that a voter must have lived in an electorate for a minimum period (for example, six months) in order to be eligible to vote there. However, such laws can themselves be used for demographic manipulation as they tend to disenfranchise those with no fixed address, such as the homeless, travellers, students (studying full time away from home) and some casual workers.


Disenfranchisement
The composition of an electorate may also be altered by disenfranchising some types of people, rendering them unable to vote. In some cases this may be done at a legislative level, for example by passing a law banning convicted felons, recent immigrants or members of a particular ethnic or religious group from voting, or by instituting a literacy or other test which members of some groups are more likely to fail. Since this is done by lawmakers, it cannot be election fraud, but may subvert the purposes of democracy. This is especially so if members of the disenfranchised group were particularly likely to vote a certain way.

In some cases voters may be invalidly disenfranchised, which is true electoral fraud. For example a legitimate voter may be 'accidentally' removed from the electoral roll, making it difficult or impossible for them to vote. Corrupt election officials may misuse voting regulations such as a literacy test or requirement for proof of identity or address in such a way as to make it difficult or impossible for their targets to cast a vote. If such practices discriminate against a religious or ethnic group, they may so distort the political process that the political order becomes grossly unrepresentative, as in the post-Reconstruction or Jim Crow era until the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Groups may also be disenfranchised by rules which make it impractical or impossible for them to cast a vote. For example, requiring people to vote within their electorate may disenfranchise serving military personnel, prison inmates, students, hospital patients or anyone else who cannot return to their homes. Polling can be set for inconvenient days such as midweek or on Holy Days (example: Sabbath or other holy days of a religious group whose teachings determine that voting is a prohibited on such a day) in order to make voting difficult for those studying or working away from home. Communities may also be effectively disenfranchised if polling places are not provided within reasonable proximity (rural communities are especially vulnerable to this) or situated in areas perceived by some voters as unsafe.


Intimidation
Voter intimidation involves putting undue pressure on a voter or group of voters so that they will vote a particular way, or not at all. Absentee and other remote voting can be more open to some forms of intimidation as the voter does not have the protection and privacy of the polling location. Intimidation can take a range of forms.

• Violence or the threat of violence: In its simplest form, voters from a particular demographic or known to support a particular party or candidate are directly threatened by supporters of another party or candidate or those hired by them. In other cases supporters of a particular party make it known that if a particular village or neighbourhood is found to have voted the 'wrong' way, reprisals will be made against that community. Another method is to make a general threat of violence, for example a bomb threat which has the effect of closing a particular polling place, thus making it difficult for people in that area to vote.

• Attacks on polling places: Polling places in an area known to support a particular party or candidate may be targeted for vandalism, destruction or threats, thus making it difficult or impossible for people in that area to vote.

• Legal threats: In this case voters will be made to believe, accurately or otherwise, that they are not legally entitled to vote, or that they are legally obliged to vote a particular way. Voters who are not confident about their entitlement to vote may also be intimidated by real or implied authority figures who suggest that those who vote when they are not entitled to will be imprisoned, deported or otherwise punished.[9][10] For example in 2004, in Wisconsin and elsewhere voters allegedly received flyers that said, “If you already voted in any election this year, you can’t vote in the Presidential Election”, implying that those who had voted in earlier primary elections were ineligible to vote. Also, “If anybody in your family has ever been found guilty of anything you can’t vote in the Presidential Election.” Finally, “If you violate any of these laws, you can get 10 years in prison and your children will be taken away from you.”[11][12] Another method, allegedly used in Cook County, Illinois in 2004, is to falsely tell particular people that they are not eligible to vote.[10]

• Economic threats: In company towns in which one company employs most of the working population, the company may threaten workers with disciplinary action if they do not vote the way their employer dictates. One method of doing this is the 'shoe polish method'. This method entails coating the voting machine's lever or button of the opposing candidate(s) with shoe polish. This method works when an employee of a company that orders him to vote a certain way votes contrary to those orders. After the voter exits the voting booth, a conspirator to the fraud (a precinct captain or other local person in collusion with the employee's management) handshakes the voter. The conspirator, then, subtly checks the voter's hands for any shoe polish or notes. If the conspirator finds shoe polish or notes in the voter's hands, then that unfortunate voter gets fired or faces other unpleasant consequences.[citation needed]


Vote Buying
Voters may be given money or other rewards for voting in a particular way, or not voting. In some jurisdictions, the offer or giving of other rewards is referred to as "electoral treating". Vote buying may also be done indirectly, for example by paying clergymen to tell their parishioners to vote for a particular party or candidate.


Misleading or confusing ballot papers
Ballot papers may be used to discourage votes for a particular party or candidate, using design or other features which confuse voters into voting for a different candidate. For example, in the United States presidential election, 2000, Florida's butterfly ballot paper was criticised as confusing some voters into giving their vote to the wrong candidate. Poor or misleading design is not usually illegal and therefore not technically election fraud, but can subvert the principles of democracy.

Another method of confusing people into voting for the wrong candidate is to run candidates or create political parties with similar names or symbols as an existing candidate or party. The aim is that enough voters will be misled into voting for the false candidate or party to influence the results.[16] Such tactics may be particularly effective when a large proportion of voters have limited literacy in the language used on the ballot paper. Again, such tactics are usually not illegal but often work against the principles of democracy.


Ballot stuffing
Ballot stuffing occurs when a person casts more votes than they are entitled to. In its simplest form, ballot stuffing literally involves 'stuffing' multiple ballot papers into the ballot box. Another method is for voters to cast votes at multiple booths, on each occasion claiming that it is their only vote. A more subtle technique is personation, in which a person pretends to be someone else. The person whose vote is being used may be legitimately enrolled but absent, a real but deceased person, or entirely fictitious.[ In jurisdictions with absentee balloting, an individual or a campaign may fill in and forge a signature on an absentee ballot intended for a voter in that jurisdiction, thus passing off the ballot as having been filled out by that voter.


Misrecording of votes
Many elections feature multiple opportunities for unscrupulous officials or 'helpers' to record an elector's vote differently from their intentions. Voters who require assistance to cast their votes are particularly vulnerable to having their votes stolen in this way. For example, a blind person or one who cannot read the language of the ballot paper may be told that they have voted for one party when in fact they have been led to vote for another. This is similar to the misuse of proxy votes; however in this case the voter will be under the impression that they have voted with the assistance of the other person, rather than having the other person voting on their behalf. Where votes are recorded through electronic or mechanical means, the voting machinery may be altered so that a vote intended for one candidate is recorded for another.


Destruction or invalidation of ballots
One of the simplest methods of electoral fraud is to simply destroy ballots for the 'wrong' candidate or party. This is unusual in functioning democracies as it is difficult to do without attracting attention. However in a very close election it might be possible to destroy a very small number of ballot papers without detection, thereby changing the overall result. Blatant destruction of ballot papers can render an election invalid and force it to be re-run. If a party can improve its vote on the re-run election, it can benefit from such destruction as long as it is not linked to it.

A more subtle, and easily achieved, method is to make it appear that the voter has spoiled their ballot thus rendering it invalid. Typically this would be done by adding an additional mark to the paper, making it appear that the voter has voted for more candidates than they were entitled to. It would be difficult to do this to a large number of papers without detection, but in a close election may prove decisive.

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Fill Out A Voter Registration Form Now

Simply step through the screens and fill in the information requested on the form. Then print it, sign it, and mail it directly to the county elections office address that is pre-printed on the form. If you have any questions, you may contact the Elections Division.

Pick Up A Voter Registration Form

You can pick up a voter registration form at your county elections office, library, or U.S. Post Office. It is important that your voter registration form be filled out completely and be postmarked or hand-delivered to your county elections office at least 15 days before the election.

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Ohio:

Voter Registration Form (or change of name or address)
Download in PDF
Request a form(s) be sent to you
Voter Registration Form Instructions Brochure - Required by ORC (pdf)
Absentee Voting / Vote by Mail
Download an Absentee Ballot Request Form (pdf)
Absentee Voting / Vote by Mail Instructions
Military Absentee Voter Registration, Ballot Request and Help Desk Services
Overseas Absentee Voter Registration, Ballot Request and Help Desk Services

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Wisconsin (currently):

The federal "Help American Vote Act of 2002" requires any person registering to vote to supply his or her Wisconsin Department of Transportation-issued driver's license number. Electors who have not been issued a Wisconsin driver's license must provide the last four digits of their Social Security Number OR their Wisconsin state ID card number. If the elector does not have a current, valid Wisconsin driver’s license, Wisconsin state ID card, or Social Security Number, the applicant may indicate this by filling in the appropriate circle on the registration form. (Box 2 on GAB-131)

Anyone wishing to vote in the state of Wisconsin has three options to register:
1. BY MAIL: Download the Application for Voter Registration (GAB-131), complete the form and mail it into the municipal clerk's office. Find your Wisconsin Municipal Clerk here. The application must be postmarked no later than the 20th day (3rd Wednesday) before the election. (For the Spring Primary, that date is Wednesday, January 26, 2011, and for the Spring Election that date is Wednesday, March 16, 2011.)

PLEASE NOTE: State and federal law now requires that any first-time voter submitting a registration application by mail provide a copy of an acceptable identifying document that provides proof of residence. (A “first-time voter” is an individual who has not voted in an election in Wisconsin.) Acceptable forms of proof of residence are outlined below. Please note that first-time voters registering by mail may not use a residential lease as proof of residence. The copy of the form of proof of residence must be included when submitting the registration application. If a copy of proof of residence is not included, the elector will be required to supply it before being issued a ballot at the polling place or before being issued an absentee ballot in the municipal clerk’s office.

2. IN PERSON: Register in the municipal clerk's office up to 5:00 PM or the close of business whichever is later on the day before the election. (For the Spring Primary, that date is Monday, February 14, 2011 and for the Spring Election that date is, Monday, April 4, 2011.) Note: After the BY MAIL deadline, an elector registering in person in the clerk's office is required to present acceptable proof of residence as outlined below.

3. AT THE POLLING PLACE ON ELECTION DAY: If you wish to register to vote at your polling place, you must bring proof that you have lived at your present location for at least 10 days preceding the election. For purposes of voter registration, acceptable forms of proof of residence must include:
1. A current and complete name, including both the given and family name; and
2. A current and complete residential address, including a numbered street address, if any, and the name of a municipality.
**Forms with an expiration date must be valid on Election Day.

PROOF OF RESIDENCE
The following constitute acceptable Proof-of-Residence if the document contains the information specified above:

1. A current and valid Wisconsin driver license.
2. A current and valid Wisconsin identification card.
3. Any other official identification card or license issued by a Wisconsin governmental body or unit.
4. Any identification card issued by an employer in the normal course of business and bearing a photo of the card holder, but not including a business card.
5. A real estate tax bill or receipt for the current year or the year preceding the date of the election.
6. A residential lease which is effective for a period that includes election day (NOT for first-time voters registering by mail).
7. A university, college or technical institute fee card (must include photo).
8. A university, college or technical institute identification card (must include photo).
9. A gas, electric or telephone service statement (utility bill) for the period commencing not earlier than 90 days before election day.
10. Bank statement.
11. Paycheck.
12. A check or other document issued by a unit of government.

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Virginia:

To be eligible to register to vote in Virginia a person must:
Be a resident of Virginia (A person who has come to Virginia for temporary purposes and intends to return to another state is not considered a resident for voting purposes)
Be a U. S. Citizen
Be 18 years old (Any person who is 17 years old and will be eighteen years of age at the next general election shall be permitted to register in advance and also vote in any intervening primary or special election)
Not be registered and plan to vote in another state
Not currently declared mentally incompetent by a court of law
If convicted of a felony, your right to vote must have been restored
Back to Top

Persons eligible to register can obtain a registration application at any of the following locations:
Local voter registration office
Online
State or local government offices when applying or recertifying for Aid to Dependent Children, Food Stamps, WIC, Medicaid, or Rehabilitation Services
Government offices in the State that provide State-funded programs primarily engaged in providing services to person with disabilities
Armed forces recruitment offices
Public libraries
State Board of Elections office
Department of Motor Vehicles offices
Voter Registration Drives

The completed application can be filed with the local registration office or mailed to the address printed on the form. Application for registration can be submitted using a Virginia Voter Registration Application form or a National Voter Registration Application form. Military and other persons residing outside of the United States should contact the Federal Voting Assistance Program for registration information.
North Carolina:

Qualifications to register to vote in North Carolina
To register to vote in this State, a person must sign a voter declaration attesting that:
I am a U.S. citizen.
I will have been a resident of North Carolina and this county for 30 days before the election.
I will be at least 18 years old by the next general election.
I am not registered nor will I vote in any other county or state.
If I have been convicted of a felony, my rights of citizenship have been restored.

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New York:

Register In Person - Visit one of our Offices

OR
Register By Mail
? A Voter Registration Form from the New York City Board of Elections may be obtained in the following ways:
? Download the Voter Registration Application
? Call the Phone Bank and we'll send you a postage-paid registration form in the mail.
? You may also obtain Registration Forms from libraries, Post Offices, and most New York City Government agencies.
? Fill out a Voter Registration Application using only a pen with blue or black ink
? Be sure to sign the form.
? Mail (DO NOT FAX) the Voter Registration Form to:

Board of Elections in the City of New York
32 Broadway, 7 Fl
New York, NY 10004-1609

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Reasonably neutral sources note that there's not really very much voter fraud from either side, but it's just too good for rousing the partisans and using as an excuse if you lose.

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it seems folks blame cynicism and apathy much more frequently than than difficulty in the process

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dropping by the DMV or local government office to pick up a free photo I.D. would be that discouraging to folks who actually wanted to vote.

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Shouldn't people be required to show that they meet these requirements?

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laws easing registration and I.D. requirements, mostly passed by Democratic legislatures

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As I noted before (two or three times, I think) the Republicans proposing this legislation may very well think THERE IS A PROBLEM. They may think that eased requirements for voter registration and identification have the potential to create a PROBLEM. They may consider funds spent to correct this as essential.

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why do you think that would be more onerous for Democrats than Republicans?

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Republicans in Florida are following the lead of other states in passing laws to block the vote of people who tend to vote for democrats.

For the past 40 years, Floridian's have been able to report updates to their personal information when they went to polling places to vote. No more.

Florida's new voting law will block the vote of people who have had a change of address, got married or divorced and changed their name, or moved because they are serving in the military.

Additional changes cut early voting ballot time from 14 days to 8, and places profound restrictions on absentee voting, which heavily impacts military families.

Republicans are citing voter fraud issues as their reason to stop people from voting, but the argument is false. According to Salon.com, A Department of Justice document found that "between the fall of 2002 and the fall of 2005, there were only 95 defendants charged with federal election-fraud-related crimes in the whole country. Salon also reports that republicans have been "using foreclosure lists to challenge the edibility of voters."

Are republicans trying to influence the outcome of elections in their favor by passing block the vote laws aimed at democrats?

The massive hole in the voter fraud argument and aiming new laws at the poor, the elderly, and military families, gives substantial weight to the idea that republicans are attempting to influence the outcome of future elections in their favor, by manipulation voter registration laws.

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Less than a year before the 2012 presidential voting begins, Republican legislatures and governors across the country are rewriting voting laws to make it much harder for the young, the poor and African-Americans — groups that typically vote Democratic — to cast a ballot.

Anyone who has stood on the long lines at a motor vehicle office knows that it isn’t easy to get such documents. For working people, it could mean giving up a day’s wages.
A survey by the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law found that 11 percent of citizens, 21 million people, do not have a current photo ID. That fraction increases to 15 percent of low-income voting-age citizens, 18 percent of young eligible voters and 25 percent of black eligible voters. Those demographic groups tend to vote Democratic, and Republicans are imposing requirements that they know many will be unable to meet.

Kansas’ new law was drafted by its secretary of state, Kris Kobach, who also wrote Arizona’s anti-immigrant law. Voters will be required to show a photo ID at the polls. Before they can register, Kansans will have to produce a proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate.

Tough luck if you don’t happen to have one in your pocket when you’re at the county fair and you pass the voter registration booth. Or when the League of Women Voters brings its High School Registration Project to your school cafeteria. Or when you show up at your dorm at the University of Kansas without your birth certificate. Sorry, you won’t be voting in Lawrence, and probably not at all.

That’s fine with Gov. Sam Brownback, who said he signed the bill because it’s necessary to “ensure the sanctity of the vote.” Actually, Kansas has had only one prosecution for voter fraud in the last six years. But because of that vast threat to Kansas democracy, an estimated 620,000 Kansas residents who lack a government ID now stand to lose their right to vote.

Eight states already had photo ID laws. Now more than 30 other states are joining the bandwagon of disenfranchisement, as Republicans outdo each other to propose bills with new voting barriers. The Wisconsin bill refuses to recognize college photo ID cards, even if they are issued by a state university, thus cutting off many students at the University of Wisconsin and other campuses. The Texas bill, so vital that Gov. Rick Perry declared it emergency legislation, would also reject student IDs, but would allow anyone with a handgun license to vote.

Many of these bills were inspired by the American Legislative Exchange Council, a business-backed conservative group, which has circulated voter ID proposals in scores of state legislatures.

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As I noted above, (how many times am I going to have to say this?) based on the experience in Georgia, the only way states are going to be able to request photo I.D. is if they provide it for free. Why should it be any harder for minorities in the inner city, with access to public transit, to pick up a free I.D. than a rancher in Montana who's 50 miles from the county seat? Or are Democrats just too lazy to make the effort to get I.D.? Seems to be what you're saying.

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Anyone who has stood on the long lines at a motor vehicle office knows that it isn’t easy to get such documents. For working people, it could mean giving up a day’s wages.

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A survey by the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law found that 11 percent of citizens, 21 million people, do not have a current photo ID. That fraction increases to 15 percent of low-income voting-age citizens, 18 percent of young eligible voters and 25 percent of black eligible voters.

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Before they can register, Kansans will have to produce a proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate.

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Larry Butler said that South Carolina’s new voter photo ID law will prevent him from voting. The state won’t issue him a driver’s license because he can’t produce the necessary documentation. Butler does not have a birth certificate because he was not born in a hospital and the elementary school he attended burnt down many years ago so the required records are not available.

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In 2008, more than half the African-American voters in Florida who participated in the historic election of President Barack Obama did it by voting early. In the state's largest counties, with the highest number of black voters, many voters went to the early voting sites on the Sunday before Election Day. Now, under a new law — passed by a Republican Legislature and signed by Gov. Rick Scott last month — that early voting period has been cut from 14 days to 8 days, and the Sunday voting, before Election Day, has been eliminated.

An analysis of state election records by the Florida Democratic Party showed that in 2008, 1.1 million black voters participated in the general election, in which they had the opportunity to elect the country's first African-American president. Nearly 54 percent of those voters cast ballots before Election Day at early-voting sites. The figure does not include the 13.6 percent who cast absentee ballots.

In contrast, only 27 percent of the white voters used the early-voting sites, with another 25 percent using absentee ballots. Some 32.5 percent of Hispanic voters participated in early voting.

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Florida's new election law, which went into effect in most counties last month, requires that groups wishing to sign up new voters register their volunteers with the state. They face fines of up to $1,000 for not submitting voting forms within 48 hours. The League of Women Voters, for whom a main priority is voter registration, suspended the activity in Florida because of the law's restrictions.

"What were the benefits they thought these massive changes would be for the people of Florida?" he asked. "I can only think they wanted to do damage." Sponsors of the bill in this spring's legislative session have said it would help guard against voting fraud in Florida.

"The whole objective of our Supervisor of Elections Office is to get people to vote, to help them vote, to make it a convenience to vote," said Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections Earl Lennard, who spoke Saturday at the annual meeting of the league's Hillsborough County chapter, "and to make the voting experience a good one."

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The new Texas law will require photo identification that can come in several forms:

• Texas drivers license or personal ID
• Military ID
• U.S. citizenship certificate
• Passport
• License to carry a concealed handgun

All those forms have to be current within 60 days. Senior citizens over 70 are exempt from ID expiration. Voters who need to get one of those IDs will be directed to a local Department of Public Safety office.

"If you don't have your ID, and you come to the polls, you'll vote on a provisional ballot," said Callanen. If a provisional ballot is used, there will be further instruction. "We'll hold those ballots, and you have six days to present a photo ID down to this office," said Callanen.

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