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Voter-ID Laws Discourage Participation, Particularly among Minorities, and Trigger a Constitutional Remedy in Lost Representation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 January 2009

Richard Sobel
Affiliation:
Northwestern University
Robert Ellis Smith
Affiliation:
Privacy Journal

Extract

Because voter-identification laws discourage voter turnout, particularly among identifiable minority groups, their implementation abridges a fundamental constitutional right. The U.S. Constitution includes a little-known remedy for denying or abridging the right to vote that reduces a state's congressional representation in proportion to the extent of the abridgements.

Type
Symposium
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 2009

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