Portside

These efforts to curb young and minority voters come as youth -- and especially minority youth -- are becoming increasingly larger parts of the American electorate. Voters between 18 and 29 years old were critical to President Barack Obama's victories in 2008 and 2012. In North Carolina in 2008, the only age group of which a majority voted for Obama was voters aged 18 to 29, according to CNN. Obama won the state by just 14,177 votes.

On September 12, just seven weeks before election day, a panel of three 7th Circuit appellate judges -- all appointed by Republican presidents -- reinstated Wisconsin's voter ID law, which federal district Judge Lynn Adelman had blocked in April as unconstitutional and violative of the Voting Rights Act.

In an exhaustive and devastating opinion, Judge Lynn Adleman writes that the facts don't justify restrictions that unduly burden minorities.

Texas new voter ID law could prevent women who use maiden names or hyphenated names from voting. Women must present original documents verifying their name change. So far Texas has issued 41 free voter IDs to women who request one - out of 1.4 million Texas voters who lack the required documents.