Southern States Ramp Up Push for Voter ID Laws

(AP) Southern states are moving to tighten voting rules
By MICHAEL J. MISHAK
Associated Press
MIAMI
A growing number of Republican-led states are moving aggressively to tighten voting rules — and those states are emboldened by a Supreme Court decision that struck down the heart of the Voting Rights Act.

Texas officials are battling the U.S. Justice Department to put in place a voter ID law that a federal court ruled was discriminatory.

In North Carolina, the Republican-controlled Legislature scaled back early voting and ended a pre-registration program for high school students who are nearing voting age.

Nowhere is the debate more heated than in Florida.

It’s the largest swing state and where the divisive recount in the 2000 presidential election took place.

Florida election officials are set to resume an effort to remove noncitizens from the state’s voting rolls.