Voter suppression

Voter suppression refers to the use of governmental power, political campaign strategy and resources aimed at suppressing (i.e. reducing) the total vote of opposition candidacies. Traditional voter suppression tactics, now illegal, include the institution of poll taxes and literacy tests, aimed at suppressing the votes of African Americans and working class white voters. A voter suppression tactic in seven states is banning released felons by law from voting. Occassionally, as in Florida in 2000, some non-felons are banned too due to record-keeping errors.

For the U.S. presidential election, 2004, voter suppression tactics included passing federal laws requiring voters to bring identification to polling places where they had not voted before, threatening voters without identification with criminal prosecution, and negative campaigning designed to raise doubts about opposition candidates.

An axiom of the 2004 election was that Democrats were most concerned about making sure that every eligible voter could vote, while Republicans were most concerned with making sure that no ineligible voter could vote. Nevertheless, both parties engaged in active get out the vote drives, although they were most concentrated in areas of greatest party strength.