Republicans have figured out a way to help make sure Mitt Romney is victorious in the presidential election come November: Suppress the vote. New voter ID laws enacted in crucial swing states could make it much tougher for millions of Americans who would likely support President Obama to cast their ballots — and in turn, tip the balance of power toward the GOP and their gaffe-prone White House candidate.

As LOLGOP put it succinctly in this tweet:

Just to clarify, though: The GOP is completely in favor of upholding your constitutional rights–so long as those rights involve guns and not voting.

Here’s more from Politico on Republican efforts to enact stricter voter ID laws:

Supporters of these new laws — spearheaded in six swing states, as well as other less competitive ones — argue they are just trying to stop voter fraud and protect the integrity of the vote. But opponents, mainly Democrats and Obama’s campaign, which is closely monitoring the daily warfare over the new laws, believe they are trying to change the face of the electorate in a way that benefits the Republican candidate for president.

Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Virginia and Wisconsin, all viewed as important states this fall, each have enacted stricter ID laws. Florida and Ohio have cut back on early voting. And a whole host of other states have passed new ID laws as well.

As a result, millions of voters will find it much more difficult to vote on Election Day in November — some estimates, such as one from the Brennan Center of Justice last fall, put the number of those affected nationwide at more than 5 million.

…The laws tend to disproportionately affect young voters and minorities — key Obama demographics — so the new restrictions will have an outsize impact on Democratic turnout. In Pennsylvania, for example, 18 percent of Philadelphia residents, who voted overwhelmingly for Obama in 2008, don’t have adequate IDs to vote in 2012.

Read more

— Posted by Tracy Bloom.

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#barack obama#florida#gop#mitt romney#ohio#pennsylvania#republicans#virginia#voter disenfranchisement#voter id#voter suppression#voting rights#wisconsin