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Pennsylvania became the latest state in the nation this week to enact a strict voter identification law. A bill voted on by the majority of Pennsylvania’s Republicans, and none of its Democrats, was signed into law by Governor Tom Corbett on Wednesday evening. One of the stricter laws in the nation, it mandates voters to have photo identification for elections, that have to be issued by the federal government or a state government, in-state universities, or a nursing home.

There are now 16 states in the nation with such photo voter ID laws in place, and the rush to pass more laws of varying stripes continues. The US Department of Justice just struck down a Texas law requiring strict forms of ID for voting. Attorney General Eric Holder cited the disproportionate disenfranchisement of Latinos as a result of the law. Texas follows from South Carolina where the DOJ also struck down a voter ID law last December. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 gives the federal government the right to strike down state laws that may result in racial discrimination at the polls.

On Monday a judge in Wisconsin struck down a voter ID bill signed by the notorious Governor Scott Walker on the grounds that it was unconstitutional. Such laws are being enacted based on claims of voter fraud. Wisconsin judge Richard Niess wrote in his opinion: “Voter fraud is no more poisonous to our democracy than voter suppression.”

The growing trend to pass voter ID laws since last year in particular has been linked to the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) – a right wing body of state law makers and corporate representatives whose model bills were leaked to the Center for Media and Democracy last summer. Writing for the Nation, journalist John Nichols cites that ALEC’s legislative joint finance committee co-chair, Robin Vos “took the lead in advancing voter ID laws against significant opposition from civil rights and open government groups.”

But the backlash has begun in earnest: citing their serious concerns over voter suppression particularly of minorities, the NAACP, considered the largest and oldest civil rights group in the country, met this week with the United Nations Human Rights Council in the hopes that the international body would take some action. And, the largest federation of unions in the nation, the AFL-CIO, has taken on the rash of voter ID bills vowing in a press conference this week to counter the laws which they say “could disenfranchise millions of voters.”

Meanwhile upsetting the voter ID trend is Virginia’s General Assembly which this month enacted a pair of bills that would actually expand the type of eligible voter IDs, to utility bills and bank statements.

GUESTS: Diana Kasdan, Counsel for the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice, Julie Green, Deputy Political Director of the AFL-CIO

Visit www.brennancenter.org and www.aflcio.org.