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Photo voter ID bills were signed into law in eight states — Alabama, Kansas, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania — and passed by referendum in Mississippi. Additionally, Minnesota's legislature approved a ballot measure to amend the state constitution to require ID at the polls.
Though the number of states with strict voter ID laws [http://www.brennancenter.org/content/resource/2012_summary_of_voting_law_changes/ quadrupled in 2011], there has been some pushback. Under Section 5 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, several states with a history of racially motivated voting rights discrimination require federal pre-approval for changes to voting procedures and practices, and the U.S. Department of Justice has refused to approve voter ID laws passed by South Carolina and Texas. In Wisconsin, [httphttps://www.prwatch.org/news/2012/07/11649/second-judge-finds-wis-voter-id-law-unconstitutional two state judges] have found the law violates the state constitution's express protections for voting rights. A Pennsylvania court upheld that state's law but it is being appealed to the state's supreme court. Other challenges to the laws are pending.
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'''This information is available for download as a one-page fact sheet [[Media:ALEC_on_Democracy.pdf|here]].'''
