Voting Rights Uprising: Activists in Three States Help GOP's Targets Get Voter ID

http://www.alternet.org/story/155142/voting_rights_uprising%3A_activists_in_three_states_help_gop%27s_targets_get_voter_id/

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The GOP-led effort to disenfranchise likely Democratic voting blocks by enacting tougher state voter ID laws has run into a new obstacle: targeted populations are fighting back as voting rights advocates are helping people obtain the necessary ID.

Grassroots efforts in Tennessee, Wisconsin and Colorado are profiled in a new report, "Got ID? Helping Americans Get Voter Identification," from Common Cause, Demos, Fair Elections Legal Network, and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. The report is an important counterpoint to persistent progressive messaging about the GOP’s attack on voting rights that typically has not informed people how to overcome the barriers.

“This report gives Americans the tools they need to fight back and make their voices heard,” said Jenny Rose Flanagan, director of voting and elections at Common Cause.

The battle over tougher ballot access is a years-long fight where proponent’s arguments are not supported by facts on the ground and mask their partisan goals—shaping the electorate to achieve or maintain political power. There is nothing new about enacting laws (or running campaign ads) to discourage voting.