Millions of Americans will find themselves unable to vote in the 2012 November elections on account of sweeping changes to electoral laws in states across the country, a just released report by the Brennan Center for Justice, revealed.
During the first three quarters of 2011, an array of new laws and policies have been enacted making it harder for minorities, young people, low-income voters, as well as voters with disabilities, to vote. Some states now require voters to show government-issued photo identification, other states have cut back on early voting and others have passed laws restricting voter registration drives.
Taken together, the report estimates that more than 5 million voters could be affected by the new laws.
In Florida, where laws have been passed making it harder for people who move to stay registered to vote and voter registration drives have been restricted, the report estimates hundreds of thousands will not likely vote, as they would not be registered to do so. In 2008, 2.2 million voters were registered in the state and very conservatively, at least 8.2 percent, or 176,000 did so through voter registration drives, the report states.
The not-so-Sunshine State has also passed legislation to cut, by half, the early voting period which will likely affect more than one million voters across the states of Florida, Georgia and Ohio. According to the report, one to two million voters cast their ballots in 2008, on days eliminated under the new laws rolling back early voting in these three states.
If the state had not rolled back prior executive actions that made it easier for those with past felony convictions to have their voting rights restored, some 100,000 citizens in Florida would likely have been able to vote come 2012, the report states.
“States have changed their laws so rapidly that no single analysis has assessed the overall impact. It is too early to exactly quantify how the changes will impact voter turnout, but we know they will be a hindrance to many voters at a time when the United States continues to turn out less than two thirds of its eligible citizens in presidential elections and less than half in midterm elections,” stated the report.
More restrictive law and policies are underway, as at least 42 bills are pending in state legislatures, the reported concluded.
