2012 Presidential Election, Voter Suppression | featured news

A judge on Tuesday blocked Pennsylvania's divisive voter identification requirement from going into effect before Election Day, delivering a hard-fought victory to Democrats who said it was a ploy to defeat President Barack Obama and other opponents who said it would prevent the elderly and minorities from voting.

Activists say they're challenging some names to ensure 'election integrity.' Others say it's an effort to suppress the votes of likely Obama supporters. Lori Monroe, a 40-year-old Democrat who lives in central Ohio, was startled a few weeks ago to open a letter that said a stranger was challenging her right to vote in the presidential election.

A judge will reconsider on Tuesday whether Pennsylvania's new voter-identification law unfairly burdens residents who must prove they are eligible to cast ballots in the November 6 presidential race.

Closing arguments Monday over South Carolina’s voter-identification law will cap an extraordinary case that has seen charges of racism directed at the law’s author and federal judges’ open frustration over state officials’ changing stances on implementing it.

A civil rights group says photo ID laws and proof of citizenship rules could deter Latinos from voting.

Dozens of states, including Mississippi, have changed their election procedures. Some states require voters to show government-issued photo IDs. Others have reduced the time period when voters can cast ballots early and have imposed new limits on third-party groups that register new voters... Opponents, mostly Democrats and civil rights groups, say the changes will suppress turnout, particularly among blacks, the elderly and the poor.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court cast doubt Tuesday on whether that state can enforce its new photo ID law for the November election, as it told a trial judge to take a skeptical look at whether registered voters will be denied the right to cast a ballot.

In our view, however, there is a more compelling explanation for the apparent apathy on this issue. It's not that no one cares about voter suppression. But to rise above the other issues of the day -- and to transcend the inhibiting language that has framed the debate left and right -- voters will need to know what only to think about voter suppression but also what they can do.