Ever since the Supreme Court in 2013 struck down the most important provisions of the Voting Right Act as unconstitutional, a number of states instituted laws such as requiring voter identification or limiting early voting, laws that would have previously been prohibited or blocked. Opponents — mostly Democrats — call these laws tactics of voter suppression carried out almost entirely by Republican-dominated states and intended to suppress the turnout of groups such as African-Americans, Hispanics, the poor, and the young.

H.R. 6194, the All Ballots Count Act, was recently introduced by Rep. Marc Veasey (D-TX33) to counter those state policies on a federal level.

What the bill does

The legislation would prohibit any state requirement that a voter provide voter identification in a federal election, if that requirement was not already in place by the June 2013 Supreme Court decision. Most such identification requirements currently on the books were not in place by June 2013, so this bill would in essence nullify those laws enacted by a number of states in the past three and a half years.

What supporters say

Supporters note that the groups least likely to be able to comply with photo identification requirements include African Americans, Hispanics, the poor, and young people. All are demographics significantly more likely to vote for Democrats, so Democrats contend that it’s not a coincidence when GOP officials move to enact laws that would in effect suppress that turnout.

“Until the Voting Rights Act is fully restored, we must take measures to protect the millions of Americans negatively affected by new discriminatory voter ID laws,” House lead sponsor Veasey said in a press release. “In 2016, we should be making it easier for citizens to vote, not harder. I will continue the fight to ensure all Americans have unfettered access to the ballot box and a voice in deciding the future of our nation.”

What opponents say

Opponents argue that current voter ID laws preserve the integrity of elections by preventing voter fraud, and that the Supreme Court found the previous status quo — which this bill in essence attempts to resuscitate — was unconstitutional.

“Our democracy does not work unless voters have confidence that election results are not skewed by fraud,” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a press release. “A total of 34 states request that voters show some form of identification at the polls. Experience has shown that these protections work.”

Odds of passage

The bill has attracted five cosponsors, all Democrats. It has not yet received a vote in the House Administration Committee.

Note: as Election Day approaches in a few days, GovTrack Insider this week is running a series spotlighting bills introduced in Congress that deal with elections and campaigns.

This article was written by GovTrack Insider staff writer Jesse Rifkin.