Karl Rove Dismisses Concerns That Voter ID Laws May Disenfranchise Minority Voters

Karl Rove dismissed concerns that voter ID laws may disenfranchise minority voters, despite evidence that these laws could prevent minorities from voting.

In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, Rove claimed that Attorney General Eric Holder and Democrats “played the race card” by criticizing voter ID laws for their potential to suppress minority voters during the 2012 elections. But evidence backed up Democrats' assertions.

The Associated Press reported on September 12 that a study by the University of Chicago's Cathy Cohen and Washington University's Jon Rogowski concluded that “as many as 700,000 minority voters under 30 may be unable to cast a ballot in November because of photo ID laws in certain states.”

In August, a federal court struck down a Texas voter ID law passed in 2011, concluding that the effects of the law would likely lead to a diminished minority electorate.