New voting rules threaten to lower turnout

Fear of voter fraud and two rulings by the Supreme Court — Crawford v. Marion County in 2008 and Shelby v. Holder in 2013 — have resulted in an unprecedented array of rules and restrictions across the U.S. 

This election cycle, 21 states have new voting laws on the books. From registration to the ballot box, critics say, these statutes have made it difficult to vote, particularly for minorities, the poor, students and seniors. 

There are already reports of voters being turned away from the polls. In early voting, a Houston, Texas judge reported having to deny a 93-year-old veteran with an expired driver's license. On election day, hundreds of Georgia residents complained of having to pay for parking at voting sites and were unable access registration and polling-place information due to computer problems. In Hartford, Connecticut, a judge issued an emergency ruling extending the hours at two polling places that had lost access to voter registration data. And an African American student in Texas was sent away from her voting location due to non-compliant ID.

Al Jazeera America has documented the travails of low-income voters in Indiana (see here and here) and the campaign launched by North Carolina racial justice groups against a name-checking program that threatens to wipe thousands of voters from the rolls. Stay with us as we continue to document voter turnout and voters turned away.