The Unconstitutional War on Voting

Garrett Epps says Pennsylvania's voter ID law is unconstitutional:

A state can't abridge important rights just because it feels like it. If the right to vote is important, then the state's justification is as sinister as if it decided to cut back on free speech because bureaucrats prefer the quiet. The key issue in voting-rights cases is what "standard of scrutiny" the Constitution requires for burdens on the right to vote -- that is, new rules that make it harder to cast a ballot without entirely banning any individual or group from voting. If the right to vote is fundamental, then the standard should be "strict scrutiny"; that means the government must show a very important reason before it is allowed to burden the right. "Security and integrity" might meet that test -- but only if they face an actual threat. The state would have to produce evidence that fraud is actually likely to be a serious problem.

This is mostly in response to the law being upheld in the state. At any rate, though, the US has a long history of such laws.