New voter ID laws in Pennsylvania and other states are intended to have a political impact on the upcoming elections by removing registered voters who can swing the results in a certain direction.The voter ID requirement comes at a time when there has been no real threat or serious evidence of voter fraud. There are costs involved in obtaining the proper ID (if you can) starting with a birth certificate. The National Council of State Legislatures has a map illustrating voting requirements by state and color coded on the basis of strict photo id, non-photo id, no id, and no vo voter ID law.

Note, Texas passed a strict voter ID law in 2011, but it has been blocked by the Department of Justice. Of course, the block has been interpreted by lawmakers in Texas as a way of giving the sitting President an unfair advantage. The assumption that the more people vote the more they will vote a certain way; or the more certain people vote, the more certain of the outcome?

Bill Moyers & Company posted this web extra as a follow up to Moyers’ interview with Keesha Gaskins and Michael Waldman of the Brennan Center for Justice about new voter ID and other election laws “that keep the young, elderly, minorities and the poor from exercising one of the most fundamental American rights.”