Among the political and legal fights over U.S. elections, some of the most contentious ones center on voter identification requirements and on the way political districts are drawn.
Historically, both sometimes have been misused to suppress minority voting, which the Voting Rights Act of 1965 aimed to correct.
As of this spring, 32 states had in place; North Carolina will join them in 2016, the National Conference of State Legislatures reports. Most of the new measures have been introduced and implemented by Republican-led legislatures. While some states permit the use of bank statements, student IDs or other evidence of state residence, stricter ones require approved photo IDs, such as government-issued driver's licenses and passports.
Supporters say voter ID requirements battle fraud and build confidence in election fairness. Critics say that voter impersonation is rare and that the laws disproportionately discourage the poor, minorities, senior citizens and students from voting.
Someone born in the 1920s or '30s in a rural part of the country might not have a formal birth certificate, said Andra Gillespie, an associate professor of political science at Emory University in Georgia. "If your birth certificate is the family Bible, then that might not count as the official documentation you need" for voter registration.
Melvin Robertson understands that predicament. A resident of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, he has voted for most of his 86 years.
"Got to vote – that counts!" Robertson said, suggesting that’s a true measure of citizenship.
But he may not be able to cast a ballot in the next election.
Wisconsin has just enacted a controversial voter ID law. It was passed in 2011, pushed through the GOP-led legislature and signed by Republican Governor Scott Walker. It was halted by a series of legal challenges and even frozen by the U.S. Supreme Court last fall. But when the , the law took effect after a statewide election in April.
Now, Robertson and an estimated 340,000 other state residents lack the proper documentation to vote. Robertson has a Social Security card and a city-issued ID. But when he tried to get a copy of his birth certificate at the Milwaukee County courthouse, there was no such record on file.
When Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker signed the law, he cited concern for voter fraud and support for election integrity as the motivations. Through its passage, he said, lawmakers were "making it clear we are protecting each and every vote…."
Opponents cried voter suppression, saying there is almost no evidence of voter fraud in the state.
"Illegal voting of all kinds is extremely rare in Wisconsin,” Wisconsin Government Accountability Board spokesman Reid Magney confirmed in an email to VOA. He said most infractions involve people on parole or probation who "have not had their civil rights restored yet."
The 2012 presidential election brought two such convictions, Magney said, acknowledging "there may have been more charges and convictions that we’re not aware of. Voter photo ID would not prevent this kind of illegal voting."
A Loyola University Law School professor found only – the kind that would be deterred by photo IDs – among roughly 1 billion votes cast nationwide from 2000 to 2014.
Walker, now a Republican candidate for the 2016 presidential election, has vowed Wisconsin will make every effort to ensure that legitimate voters have necessary identification, even if it means offering IDs at no cost to individuals.
"Everyone [who] is legitimate to vote will have easy access to do that," he said.
Anita Johnson is a Milwaukee community activist trying to help residents understand the recent changes in voting law.
"The reason why this law was changed, that we now have to show a photo ID, is to stop people from voting – plain and simple," said Johnson, an activist with , a coalition of Wisconsin good government and pro-democracy groups. "It affects senior citizens, it affects students, it affects the low-income [people]. It affects people of color."
Republican Milwaukee County Election Commissioner Rick Baas takes issue with the idea that the law is unfair to minorities.
"Given that I am a part of that demographic, I find it offensive that somehow minorities are not bright enough to get an ID," he said. "… If you are American, I want you to vote.”
Gillespie, the Emory University professor, noted that her state of Georgia implemented a voter ID law in 2006, and “it has not had an adverse effect on African-American voter turnout so far.