The Myth of Voter Fraud and the Reality of Voter Suppression

Using voter fraud as a cover, Republican governors and legislators, rejuvenated by success in the 2010 elections, have devised a number of tactics to block voting by those who are least likely to vote Republican.There are seven specific tactics being used to restrict access to the polling place.

One: Tougher Voter ID Requirements
A year ago, only Georgia and Indiana required photo IDs. Since then, 34 states have introduced photo ID laws. Five enacted them; governors vetoed five; and other states are considering them. 17 states require a non-photo ID.

A 2006 Brennan Center for Justice study found nearly one in five citizens over age 65 -- eight million -- lack a current, government-issued photo ID. Some over 65 were born before recording births was standard practice. 3.2 million voters in Kansas, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin would find voting more difficult with a photo ID requirement.

Two: Create Hurdles to Get Required ID
Some states are even charging for it.

Three: Intimidate Voter Registration Groups
Seven states tried to add restrictions on voter registration groups and such laws passed in Florida and Texas. Florida has a rigorous schedule for turning in applications and errors result in fines.

Four: Try to Eliminate Same-Day Registration
The citizens of Maine shot down such an action. An Ohio law is up on a referendum.

Five: Curtail Early Voting
This is being done mostly by reducing the number of days.

Six: Ban Felons From Voting
Florida is notorious for erroneous lists. Iowa has recently joined the ban-the-felons crowd. Across the nation, some 5.3 million released felons are denied the right to vote.

Seven: Bleed Election Administration Budgets
Texas, Tennessee and Wisconsin have limited the operating hours or closed state offices where residents can get photo IDs. In the three listed states, there are a total of 34 counties with no Department of Public Safety offices, including four where the Hispanic population is more than 75 percent.

Kansas, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin have passed laws in the past year to allow voters without the required ID to cast provisional ballots but come back with required ID for their ballots to count. Indiana and Georgia already had such laws.

Justin Levitt, author of The Truth About Voter Fraud, written for the Brennan Canter for Justice, investigated 250 cases of alleged election fraud and found only nine instances of improper voting. Texas Attorney General Gregg Abbott investigated what he called "an epidemic" of voter fraud but reviews of Abbott's investigation done two years later yielded no cases of voter impersonation fraud. After a five-year hunt for voter fraud, the Bush Justice Department came up with little actual fraud.

In New Mexico, the state in which I live, the secretary of state elected in November 2010, saw voter fraud as rampant. After an investigation turned up a relative handful of improper voting cases, the secretary told the media that even one case was too many.

Civil rights leaders and voter protection groups see the new state laws as equivalent to poll taxes and literacy tests.

Given the importance of voting to our representative form of government, these calculated attempts to close off the polling booths to millions of U.S. citizens should have drawn the impassioned opposition of President Barack Obama.