Newly Enacted State Laws Don’t All Hold Up Under Closer Review Of Claims Of Voter Suppression
Derek T. Muller, University of Iowa
As states across the U.S. enact new laws relating to elections, there have been efforts to capture, in aggregate, the effects of those laws. Reports, found in both journalism and advocacy group statements, that new election laws will “restrict” voting or have an “anti-voter” effect misrepresent what many of the laws will do.
On July 14, 2021, a story in The Washington Post described what it called “voting restrictions,” citing figures from a website called the “Voting Rights Lab,” and noted that “17 states had enacted 32 laws with provisions that tighten rules for voting and election administration.” The Voting Rights Lab describes itself as working to “build winning state legislative campaigns that secure, protect, and defend the voting rights of all ...
