BlackAmericaWeb's Jackie Jones enumerates the ways that the GOP is working to keep black and Latino voters from the ballot box.
Suggested Reading
[Y]oung, women and minority voters are facing the big payback as new voter ID laws around the country aim to curb access for the traditionally Democratic voters, who propelled Barack Obama into the White House in 2008, according to two studies.
One study found that a Pennsylvania law requiring residents to have valid photo ID to vote could disenfranchise up to 1.3 million mostly black and Latino voters statewide, including an estimated one in every three in Philadelphia.
Black and Latino voters tend to be poorer and less likely to have a driver's license because many don't own cars; they also are more likely to be unemployed so they don't have government issued IDs.
As a result, the neighborhoods with the highest concentration of black and Latino voters are more likely to be disproportionately impacted by the law.
Further, Republicans in a dozen states where restrictive new voter registration and ID laws have been passed, claim the changes are aimed at stopping voter fraud…
So the Republicans think they've found a plan to pay us back for electing Barack Obama. And maybe the even bigger payback is making sure black voters are so disenfranchised they'll be afraid to come to the polls. We could well be taking the hit for 1964 and 1965 voting rights legislation, too.
If you think your vote doesn't count, ask yourself why the GOP is working so hard to keep you from using it.
Read more at BlackAmericaWeb.
The Root aims to foster and advance conversations about issues relevant to the black Diaspora by presenting a variety of opinions from all perspectives, whether or not those opinions are shared by our editorial staff.
Like The Root on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter.
Straight From 
Sign up for our free daily newsletter.