A handful of Kentucky politicians are pushing to make it harder for Kentuckians who are homeless and people without photo IDs to vote in elections.  We're expecting these issues to turn into legislation in the state General Assembly in January that we'll be fighting against. 

But this isn't happening in a vacuum - there has already been a flood of new restrictive voting laws throughout the US and it's important to try to understand the landscape and the national context.

The Brennan Center has just published this valuable report, which helps tell the overall story.

Voting Law Changes in 2012

Ahead of the 2012 elections, a wave of legislation tightening restrictions on voting has suddenly swept across the country. More than five million Americans could be affected by the new rules already put in place this year -- a number larger than the margin of victory in two of the last three presidential elections.

This report is the first full accounting and analysis of this year's voting cutbacks. It details both the bills that have been proposed and the legislation that has been passed since the beginning of 2011.

Download the Report (PDF)

Download the Appendix (PDF), a compilation of potentially vote-suppressing legislation proposed in the 2011 legislative sessions.

Download the Overview (PDF), a four-page summary with key findings.

Read the Executive Summary

View the Report