UPDATE: Back in March, we turned our attention to the 47th anniversary of Bloody Sunday. In the months since, we’ve crisscrossed the nation and detailed how the fights of 50 years ago are being resurrected today. The Atlantic’s Andrew Cohen yesterday offered his own telling, invoking Dr. King’s famous quote, “The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends towards justice,” to break down the dangerous myths and machinations of voter suppression, concluding that “[t]hese new laws seek to bend the arc backward again, to take away from people their effective right to vote.” It’s important that we remain vigilant over the next nine weeks, so that on November 6 eligible Americans are able to cast a vote and have it count. In the words of LBJ, “Then with his vote and his voice he is equipped with a very potent weapon to guarantee his own dignity.” Click here and here for more from Andrew Cohen.

7/17/12: New Hampshire has submitted preclearance applications for both SB 289 and SB 318, along with a new voter affidavit provision. Litigation could soon follow.

UPDATE: The New Hampshire legislature has overridden Governor Lynch’s veto on SB 289 by an 18-5 margin in the Senate and 231-112 in the House. The SB 318 veto fell along similar lines, 18-5 and 232-110, respectively. Both are now on the books, but at least voter ID still has to be cleared by the Department of Justice.

With voting rights under attack nationwide it was refreshing to see New Hampshire Governor John Lynch veto two bills last week that would have required identification at the polls and profoundly impacted voter registration.

The New Hampshire House and Senate have just reached a compromise on a proposed voter ID law, following disagreements over the implementation timeline and specific forms of ID.

UPDATE: Having passed the Senate, SB 289, which would require voters to present valid photo identification, and SB 318, which would alter residency requirements and make other voter registration changes that could have a profound impact, especially among the student population, received House hearings on April 10 and next week are due for committee votes. Tabled was a bill (HB 1301) concerning oaths for vote challengers and the voters they challenge.

Voting rights and voter suppression, especially voter ID, continue to make headlines in many states. Below is a sample of the latest. For more information, click here and also check out The Right to Vote under Attack: The Campaign to Keep Millions of Americans from the Ballot Box, a Right Wing Watch: In Focus report by PFAW Foundation.

March 7, 2012 marked the 47th anniversary of the “Bloody Sunday” when voting rights marchers were beaten in their attempt to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama. NAACP President Ben Jealous joined activists from then and now in marking the occasion with another march, saying protest is just as necessary now as it was then.

When New Hampshire House leaders chose politics over facts in the voter ID debate, the New Hampshire League of Women Voters called them on it: “We deserve honesty from House leaders.”