As the Democrats and Republicans enter full campaign mode two months before the November 6 elections, they are pursuing two traditional strategies: 1) make sure their loyal supporters really vote and 2) try to persuade undecided voters to lean their way on Election Day. But the Republicans have come up with a creative third strategy: suppress the vote of groups that are more likely to vote Democratic.

In states where they control the state government, they have done this by passing laws they hope will limit the number of voters who oppose them. Examples include making it harder to register new voters, making it harder to vote early and requiring photo IDs. In every case, the Republicans have argued that what they are really trying to do is prevent voter fraud.

But recently, federal and state judges have blocked some of these laws. In most cases, the judges issuing the opinions have been those who were appointed by Democratic presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. However, this is not always the case. The most notable exemption has been the rejection of Texas’ redistricting plan, in which two of the three judges who denied the Republican redistricting were appointed by President George W. Bush.

Today AllGov presents brief summaries of the clashes in four states.

-David Wallechinsky

To Learn More:

Republican Voter ID Strategy May Backfire as Many Seniors Find Voting Harder (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)

Increasing Numbers of Registered Voters Could Lose Right to Vote because of New ID Laws (by David Wallechinsky and Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)

New State Laws Could Reduce Voter Lists by 5 Million (by David Wallechinsky, AllGov)