Study: Voting rule changes may deter 10M Hispanics

Source: AP

WASHINGTON — The combined effects of voter roll purges, demands for proof of citizenship and photo identification requirements in several states may hinder at least 10 million Hispanic citizens who seek to vote this fall, civil rights advocates warn in a new report.

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In an analysis based on government data, civil rights group The Advancement Project identified legal barriers that could deter voter registration and participation among eligible Hispanics. In some of those states, the group's researchers said, the number of voter-eligible Latino citizens potentially blocked by those barriers exceeds the margin of victory in the 2008 election.

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The report called for repeal of policies that wrongfully inhibit Hispanic voters, and asked that the Justice Department investigate and prosecute "any related voting rights violations."

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Sixteen states have either adopted or are pursuing citizenship-related purges of their voter rolls, the report said. Those states are Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Washington.

Those states are home to nearly 5.5 million registered Latino voters, and 1.1 million naturalized citizens from Latin America. Colorado and Florida identified voters for possible purging by comparing their voter registrations with driver's license databases that show which voters indicated they were immigrants — thereby creating a problem, the report said.

"Naturalized citizens typically received their driver's licenses when they were legal immigrants but before becoming naturalized citizens (and before registering to vote); therefore, this method generates lists of voters to be checked that targets naturalized citizens," the report said.



Read more: http://www.statesman.com/news/nation/study-voting-rule-changes-may-deter-10m-hispanics-2465761.html