Voter registration drives have signed up hard-to-reach voters in large numbers since women’s suffrage and the Civil Rights Movement.
Yet several U.S. states have passed legislation making voter registration drives more difficult—or impossible—to conduct since 2020. Republican-backed bills have led to a drop of 95% in registrations through these drives in Florida alone. The data is also clear that this method of registration disproportionately reaches Black and Latino voters.
And in 2024, new states are scrambling to implement similar changes.
