(Jesse Jackson is standing behind Ms. Arnwine.)
"The overall idea is pretty obvious," says Frances Fox Piven, author of three books outlining America's unusually harsh and restrictive voting laws. "Both parties expect close elections in 2012, and if you peel off just a couple percentage points, you can determine the outcome."
Piven points to Wisconsin, where protests over a law passed earlier this year rendering public-employee unions toothless were followed by the imposition of a restrictive voter ID law by Gov. Scott Walker and Republican majorities in the state legislature. "We saw labor protests of unprecedented size and intensity over limiting their voice as workers," Piven says. "And then [protesters] were greeted with a law to limit their power electorally, too."
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