This year has seen a flurry of activity in state legislatures as they enacted laws that either made it easier or harder to vote. Now that many legislatures have finished their work the question is—so what? The story is, as usual, more complicated than the headlines. In some states, election reforms won’t make much of a difference. As we will see, solidly red states tended to pass restrictive voting laws and solidly blue states tended to pass expansive voting laws. But in swing states, where the presidential race or the balance of power in Congress could be won, the attempts to expand or restrict the vote could matter greatly.
Voter suppression or voter expansion? What’s happening and does it matter? (brookings.edu)
