The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is, along with the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, the strongest civil voting protection on the books, says Sean Morales-Doyle of the nonpartisan, nonprofit Brennan Center for Justice, which on Friday released a new multi-part guide outlining key anti-intimidation laws as a resource for states.
"Part of what makes what we're seeing in Arizona that's different than what we've seen is in the past is ... usually in previous elections, when you hear about instances of voter intimidation it tends to be a lone actor behaving badly at a polling place. It's not an organized recruitment campaign, and that's what's happening in Arizona," Morales-Doyle told ABC News.
The new Brennan Center offering, which it calls"The Voter Intimidation and Election Worker Intimidation Resource Guide," outlines the common federal and state legal protections for voters and voting, as well as an overview of applicable federal laws and information about laws specific to Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin.