NAACP President Ben Jealous joins Amy Goodman to discuss what some are calling the greatest wave of legislative assaults on voting rights in more than half a century. As shifting demographics give more weight to voters in the South, 8 of 11 states in the former Confederacy have passed restrictive voting laws since the 2010 election, aimed at disenfranchising voters who were so crucial in bringing Barack Obama to power. Republicans have led the effort, saying argue voter ID laws prevent fraud. But others call it a political ploy to suppress voters who may not have the proper identification, and typically vote Democrat.
Recent research carried out by the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University found that voter ID laws target predominantly poor, black Americans. The significance of the voting rights battle is huge, since Black and Latino Southern voters may hold the key to Obama’s re-election, as is discussed in an earlier Democracy Now broadcast embedded below.
