Last week a new report from the Brennan Center for Justice tallied up the potential number of people that would be disenfranchised by voter registration restrictions passed in the states. That number: five million. Enough to sway plenty of federal, state and local elections.
Democrats have taken notice. The DSCC is first out of the block with an online plan called the 2012 Election Protection Project, designed to "raise awareness and fight back against partisan attacks on voting rights." The above tweet is an example of the campaign.
More than 5 million voters could be affected in states including Ohio, Florida, Wisconsin, Nevada, Virginia and California—more votes than decided the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections. No surprise, the legislation heavily targets young, poor and African American voters—who disproportionately support Democrats.
We need 150,000 people to join our 2012 Election Protection Project and stand against these undemocratic tactics. Republicans need to know that we’re onto them, we’re fighting back, and we WILL NOT allow them to manipulate their way to victory in the 2012 elections.
They've also set up an "Election Protection Project Action Center" that will serve as an information hub on potential voter suppression. They will use an online ad campaign on Twitter, Facebook, Google and mobile text devices to raise awareness on the issue.
Raising awareness is critical, but so will organizing on the ground to combat the pernicious efforts by Republicans to suppress the vote. That'll mean lots of paid staff and volunteers in these states helping walk people through the new requirements for registration, or how to apply for an absentee ballot, or how to get a photo ID that will satisfy requirements. Get out the vote has gotten a lot more complicated, so it's good news that Democrats are aware of that.