These 5 Super Tuesday states have new rules about who can vote

(Image credit: Screenshot: Washington Post/Brennan Center for Justice)

published 29 February 2016

March 1 is Super Tuesday, the biggest day of the presidential primary season. It will also be the first implementation of new voting laws in five Southern states: Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.

The new rules, with demands like proof of citizenship or photo ID, are hotly debated, often along partisan lines. Proponents of strict requirements argue that such measures are necessary to prevent voter fraud, while opponents believe they do more to suppress legitimate votes — especially those of minority, young, and low-income voters, who are least likely to be able to comply with ID rules — than solve a real fraud problem.

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For voters who are unsure of their state's current requirements, the National Conference of State Legislatures maintains an explanatory, interactive map.

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Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.