As the Right ramps up its efforts to put up barriers to voting, from voter ID requirements to restrictions on third-party voter registration, it is becoming more urgent to empower students and defend their voting rights. That’s why People For the American Way Foundation’s Young People For (YP4) program wants to empower young progressives with tools to get out the vote among people their age in their communities. With the help of YP4, they will coordinate activities on their campuses, including rallies, phone banks, shuttles to the polls, and student housing canvassing. They will lead the charge to combat political attacks on student voting.

We are among many great organizations working to mobilize and protect the student vote.

The Brennan Center Student Voting Guide is a go-to source for all the information that students in all 50 states will need about how to register and vote.

Our Time runs a voter registration and information campaign in tandem with its support of business endeavors started by young people. They want to maximize the influence of Americans under 30 so that politicians and businesses will better represent their needs. They offer voting FAQs and registration guidance helpful for students.

Rock the Vote is continuing its work to bring young people into the political process—registering more than 5 million of them to vote so far—using pop culture, grassroots organizing and new technologies.

The Campus Vote Project of the Fair Elections Legal Network was started this year as an effort to help college students work with administrators and local election officials to make the process of voting easier and overcome barriers like residency laws, registration deadlines, and strict voter ID requirements. Their Student Voting Guide for 2012 has information to address the typical needs of student voters, including FAQs about voting out of state, absentee voting and registration deadlines. They’ve also produced an Activate Your Campus! Toolkit.

As part of Project Vote's efforts to promote voting in historically underrepresented communities they provide information about the state of the youth vote and recommendations and tools for increasing the participation of young Americans in the electoral process.

UPDATE: New developments continue to shed light on the purge and its far-reaching impact. An article in the Atlantic details the possibility that it could lead to a 2000-style fiasco. A woman who is most certainly alivewas removed from the rolls twice because the state thinks she is dead. The Guardian has profiled several other voters who are battling to preserve their rights. Thankfully, there is some good news, as despite being granted access to the SAVE database, it now looks like county election supervisors won’t be removing more voters from the rolls before the August 14 primary. Officials are being encouraged to proceed cautiously since the state may not be able to settle its ongoing disagreement with the federal government over the purge. In other news, Congresswoman Corrine Brown has filed a lawsuit to try to stop early voting cutbacks.

The federal government has granted Governor Rick Scott and Secretary of State Ken Detzner access to the Department of Homeland Security’s Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database, further fanning the flame under their voter suppression fire. The move followed last month's ruling that the purge did not violate the National Voter Registration Act.

Voting rights supporters remain concerned about the disenfranchisement of thousands of voters – and rightfully so.

Jonathan Brater, Brennan Center for Justice:

No matter what database Florida has access to, purging voters from the rolls using faulty criteria on the eve of an election could prevent thousands of eligible voters from exercising their rights. Florida must use a more transparent and accurate process, and must leave enough time for voters targeted for removal to be notified and correct errors.

Ion Sancho, Leon County Supervisor of Elections:

[T]hose who have been here in 2000 and 2004 realize that if you produce a list that’s highly inaccurate, in all probability what you’re going to do is disenfranchise legal voters.

Further litigation is expected and also remains underway regarding HB 1355, the Florida law commonly referred to by voting rights supporters as the Voter Suppression Act. Last week, Judge Hinkle’s injunction blocking most of its worst provisions was appealed. HB 1355 was originally sponsored by Representative Dennis Baxley, who has ties to ALEC.

Click here and here for more information, and be sure to 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.

UPDATE: Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann rebuked the Brennan Center, claiming that its recent report “is purposely inaccurate and is misleading in its statements about Mississippi.” The Brennan Center stands by its research – “[county offices] are still untested as voting ID issuing offices” – reinforcing the fact that the new law warrants close scrutiny.

Last November, Mississippi voters approved by referendum a voter ID constitutional amendment. Because the amendment required enacting accompanying legislation, the legislature then passed HB 921, which Governor Phil Bryant signed into law on May 17, 2012. ALEC Members Joey Fillingane and Bill Denny were behind these efforts.

We have known for some time that such laws put voting even further out of reach for many vulnerable populations, and recent analysis confirms that the Mississippi law could make it virtually impossible for some of these citizens to vote. Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann has asked state residents to let his office know if they lack ID, and says that they aim to provide free ones. But, that free ID is causing its own problems. Jackson Free Press:

One of the requirements to get the free voter ID cards is a birth certificate, but in order to receive a certified copy of your birth certificate in Mississippi, you must have a photo ID. Not having the photo ID is why most people need the voter ID in the first place.

Fortunately, we have at least a slight reprieve, as it seems very unlikely that the law will go into effect by November. Hosemann said shortly after Governor Bryant signed the bill that it would need to receive Department of Justice approval by July in order to be implemented in time, and as of July 9, Mississippi has yet to apply.

For more information, 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.

UPDATE: Despite hopeful signs from Governor Rick Snyder’s office, the fight against voter suppression is far from over in Michigan. Senators Darwin Booher and David Robertson have introduced SB 1219, identical to the vetoed SB 803. The ballot coaching provision in HB 5061 was referred back to the House Committee on Redistricting and Elections. SB 754 is also likely to return.

In a move hailed by voting rights advocates, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder separated himself from his conservative allies last week when he vetoed HB 5061, SB 803, and SB 754, all part of a voter suppression package tied in part to ALEC.

Melanie McElroy, Common Cause Michigan, Executive Director:

Governor Snyder's veto pen should send a strong message to Lansing politicians that it's time to halt these voter suppression efforts once and for all.

Susan Smith, League of Women Voters of Michigan, President:

Fortunately, the governor saw that this was a bill that was not only unnecessary, but put up barriers, obstacles for certain parts of the population.

Diana Kasdan, the Brennan Center’s Democracy Program, Counsel:

Gov. Snyder did the right thing by vetoing this restrictive bill, which would have been bad for Michigan voters and could have violated federal law. In the past two years, a wave of restrictive laws has passed across the country that could make it harder for millions of eligible Americans to vote. These measures, like the one in Michigan, are bad policy and must be rejected. It is good Gov. Snyder recognized that fact.

Governor Snyder did, however, sign SB 751, which creates an inactive voter list whose absentee ballots are now required to be automatically challenged. The fate of HB 5221, another suppressive bill with ALEC ties, has yet to be determined.

For more information, 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.