Sound Off: Are States Across the Nation Trying to Keep People from Voting in November?

Some call it “caging.”  Others label it “voter suppression.”  

The American Civil Liberties Union says that since 2008, 30 states have introduced laws making it harder to cast a ballot by requiring voters to present certain forms of identification that can be costly and difficult for low-income, elderly and minority voters — many likely to support President Barack Obama's bid for reelection — to obtain.

“In fact, while documented instances of voter fraud are almost nonexistent—nationally, the Department of Justice found just 26 cases over a three-year period—up to 5 million potential voters may be kept from the ballot box by these laws,” the ACLU said in a recent newsletter.

Sacramento weighed in this week: The state Senate on Monday approved Senate Joint Resolution 29, calling for a federal investigation into voter-ID laws and similar Republican-led efforts.

Now it's your turn:

Do you think these laws are needed to combat voter fraud?

Or do you believe that suppressing likely Obama voters is the true goal?

Let us know in the comments, keeping in mind that Napa Patch, like Facebook, asks users to post with actual names when commenting in a discussion.

To participate anonymously, feel free to take our non-scientific desktop poll and email your thoughts to the editor at napa@patch.com.

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