BRENNAN CENTER FOR JUSTICE

Impact of New Voting Laws on Minority Voters
Opponents of the bills and laws detailed in this report frequently point to their negative impact on
the ability of African American and Latino citizens to vote, and with good reason: there is substantial
evidence that these laws will make it far more difficult for minorities than whites to vote.
For instance, Florida’s new law—which places so many new burdens on voter registration drive
activity that most groups have discontinued their voter registration activities in the state—will
almost certainly hit African American and Hispanic voters hardest. In Florida, U.S. Census
Bureau data from the 2004 and 2008 election cycles show that both African-Americans and
Hispanics rely more heavily than white voters on community-based voter registration drives; in
fact, African-American and Hispanic citizens in Florida are more than twice as likely to register
to vote through such drives as white voters. 186
Similarly, the most restrictive voter ID laws, which only allow a small number of specified
government issued photo IDs to vote, seem certain to create more burdens for minority citizens.
According to one study, as many as 25% of African-American voters do not possess a current and
valid form of government issued photo ID, compared to 11% of voters of all races. 187 And the
kinds of government issued IDs that are permitted in the various state laws often put minorities
at an even greater disadvantage. For instance, as noted above, the new Texas voter ID law, permits
voters to use a concealed handgun license as proof of identity, but precludes voters from using a
student ID, even if the student ID was issued by a state university. As the Texas Department of
Public Safety recently noted, African Americans are significantly underrepresented among the
state’s handgun license holders. Of the more than 100,000 concealed handgun licenses issued in
Texas last year, only 7.69% were issued to African Americans, even though African Americans
constitute 12.1% of the state’s voting age population. In contrast, African Americans are more
likely to attend a public university in Texas than whites. According to the 2009 American
Community Survey, 8.0% of voting-age African Americans in Texas attended a public university
compared with only 5.8% of voting age whites. 188
New restrictions on early voting will also have their biggest impact on people of color. Opponents
of these restrictions have been particularly angered by the efforts to eliminate Sunday early voting,
which they see as explicitly targeting African-American voters. Florida eliminated early voting on
the last Sunday before Election Day, and Ohio has eliminated early voting on Sundays entirely.
There is substantial statistical and anecdotal evidence that African Americans (and to a lesser extent
Hispanics) vote on Sundays in proportionately far greater numbers than whites. 189 For instance,
in the 2008 general election in Florida, 33.2% of those who voted early on the last Sunday before
Election Day were African American and 23.6% were Hispanic, whereas African Americans
constituted just 13.4% of all early voters for all early voting days, and Hispanics just 11.6%. 190
24 | Brennan Center for Justice