NEW YORK — The NAACP is joining with minority and labor groups for a series of protests around the country meant to move discussion of voter-identification laws out of policy circles and onto street corners, the organization’s president said Tuesday.
Benjamin Todd Jealous appeared on the steps of New York City Hall with the Rev. Al Sharpton, U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., and community and labor leaders to announce plans for nationwide protests Dec. 10 and across the South in the following weeks, decrying what they described as a nationwide voter-suppression effort.
Kansas, Tennessee and Wisconsin are among the states that passed voter-identification measures this year. Civil- rights advocates have argued the laws target low-income and minority voters by requiring specific types of photo ID to cast ballots, by reducing the number of early-voting days and by instituting tougher laws on collecting registrations.
Supporters of the laws say they are necessary to eliminate voter fraud, no matter how rare it is.
