• Home
  • Independent Voter News
  • Quizzes
  • Election Dissection
  • Sections
  • Events
  • Directory
  • About Us
  • Glossary
  • Opinion
  • Campaign Finance
  • Redistricting
  • Civic Ed
  • Voting
  • Fact Check
  • News
  • Analysis
  • Subscriptions
  • Log in
Leveraging Our Differences
  • news & opinion
    • Big Picture
      • Civic Ed
      • Ethics
      • Leadership
      • Leveraging big ideas
      • Media
    • Business & Democracy
      • Corporate Responsibility
      • Impact Investment
      • Innovation & Incubation
      • Small Businesses
      • Stakeholder Capitalism
    • Elections
      • Campaign Finance
      • Independent Voter News
      • Redistricting
      • Voting
    • Government
      • Balance of Power
      • Budgeting
      • Congress
      • Judicial
      • Local
      • State
      • White House
    • Justice
      • Accountability
      • Anti-corruption
      • Budget equity
    • Columns
      • Beyond Right and Left
      • Civic Soul
      • Congress at a Crossroads
      • Cross-Partisan Visions
      • Democracy Pie
      • Our Freedom
  • Pop Culture
      • American Heroes
      • Ask Joe
      • Celebrity News
      • Comedy
      • Dance, Theatre & Film
      • Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
      • Faithful & Mindful Living
      • Music, Poetry & Arts
      • Sports
      • Technology
      • Your Take
      • American Heroes
      • Ask Joe
      • Celebrity News
      • Comedy
      • Dance, Theatre & Film
      • Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
      • Faithful & Mindful Living
      • Music, Poetry & Arts
      • Sports
      • Technology
      • Your Take
  • events
  • About
      • Mission
      • Advisory Board
      • Staff
      • Contact Us
Sign Up
  1. Home>
  2. Voting>
  3. voter registration>

GOP Legislation Puts Restrictions on Voter Registration Efforts

Geoff West
April 29, 2019

A number of Republican-controlled statehouses are advancing legislation to rein in voter registration drives that helped young and minority voters sweep Democrats into power at the state and national level during the 2018 midterms.

In Tennessee, the Senate recently passed a bill that would require training for voter registration groups and levy fines against groups for submitting incomplete registration forms. The bill has the backing of Republican Secretary of State Tre Hargett and is similar to a measure the House already passed.


The Nashville-based Equity Alliance, a group that registers black voters, said in a statement that the recently passed Senate bill was "blatantly racist" and likened it to "Jim Crow-era intimidation."

In Arizona, the House has passed a bill that would ban voter registration groups from paying employees by the number of registration forms they submit.

Civil rights groups fear this type of legislation, specifically bills targeting voter registration, will become more common in GOP-led statehouses. In Texas, for instance, lawmakers are considering a measure to make it a felony to include false information on a voter registration form, which could potentially criminalize a simple clerical mistake.

"I would not be surprised if we see more and more of these types of bills being proposed particularly in places like Tennessee where you've seen really high turnout in recent elections among groups that have been traditionally more marginalized," Sophia Lin Lakin, an attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union's Voting Rights Project, told The Hill.

Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter

At least 19 bills in 10 states are advancing with the intent of placing new restrictions over voting and voter registration efforts, according to the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University Law School, which supports easier ballot access.

From Your Site Articles
  • SPLC puts $30 million toward voter registration - The Fulcrum ›
Related Articles Around the Web
  • GOP-led states are now trying to criminalize voter registration errors ... ›
  • Tennessee voter registration groups could be fined for incomplete ... ›
  • Tennessee Advances Bill That Could Make It Harder to Register ... ›
  • Tennessee must reform voter registration drive laws ›
Get some Leverage Sign up for The Fulcrum Newsletter
Follow
Contributors

We are not helpless

Eric Liu

Why gun control laws don’t pass Congress, despite public support and repeated outrage over mass shootings

Monika L. McDermott
David R. Jones

Courting theocracy

Lawrence Goldstone

But what can I do?

Pedro Silva

Are large donor networks still needed to win in a fairer election system?

Paige Chan

Independent voters want to be heard. Is anybody listening?

David Thornburgh
John Opdycke
latest News

Wedge issue focus: Guns in America

Our Staff
15h

After mass shootings like Uvalde, national gun control fails – but states often loosen gun laws

Christopher Poliquin
16h

Ask Joe: Talking to people who believe voting has become pointless

Joe Weston
17h

Podcast: Broken news

Our Staff
18h

Biden follows Trump’s lead in expanding use of executive orders

Reya Kumar
27 May

Podcast: 100% Democracy

Our Staff
26 May
Videos

Video: Helping loved ones divided by politics

Our Staff

Video: What happened in Virginia?

Our Staff

Video: Infrastructure past, present, and future

Our Staff

Video: Beyond the headlines SCOTUS 2021 - 2022

Our Staff

Video: Should we even have a debt limit

Our Staff

Video: #ListenFirstFriday Yap Politics

Our Staff
Podcasts

Podcast: Did economists move the Democrats to the right?

Our Staff
02 May

Podcast: The future of depolarization

Our Staff
11 February

Podcast: Sore losers are bad for democracy

Our Staff
20 January

Deconstructed Podcast from IVN

Our Staff
08 November 2021
Recommended
Come and Take It flag

We are not helpless

Leveraging big ideas

Wedge issue focus: Guns in America

Family grieves in Uvalde, Texas

After mass shootings like Uvalde, national gun control fails – but states often loosen gun laws

State
Uvalde newspaper

Why gun control laws don’t pass Congress, despite public support and repeated outrage over mass shootings

Congress
Ask Joe: Talking to people who believe voting has become pointless

Ask Joe: Talking to people who believe voting has become pointless

Ask Joe
Podcast: Broken news

Podcast: Broken news

Media