The anti-middle class agenda of conservative legislators across the country is not limited to attacks on collective bargaining, education and the nation’s safety net.  Even before some legislatures took up state budgets and anti-worker legislation, they began trotting out claims of potential voter fraud to try and disenfranchise large groups of voters.

With the White House and control of Congress on the line in 2012, Republicans are pushing changes that would make it significantly more difficult for some traditionally Democratic voters  to even cast a ballot–college students, immigrants, rural voters, senior citizens, the disabled, the poor and the homeless.

One popular tactic being used to block votes is to require voters to present their birth certificate before registering to vote and show a DMV-issued photo identification at the polls. In its Progress Report, the Center for American Progress Action Fund (CAP) estimates voter ID bills would depress Latino turnout by as much as 10 percent. The bills also would cost taxpayers millions of dollars.

Conservatives have claimed their assault on voting rights is necessary to combat the threat of mass voter fraud. Yet a study by New York University’s Brennan Center for Justice found that voters are more likely to be struck by lightning than commit voter fraud. In fact, the Bush Justice Department’s five-year so-called “War on Voter Fraud” resulted in only 86 convictions out of 196 million votes cast.

Here’s just a sample of the shenanigans going on in the guise of preventing fraud:

• In Kansas, Republicans have already passed a bill requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote. Similar laws in Arizona and Georgia have been struck down by federal courts or are waiting review from the Justice Department.
• In New Hampshire, North Carolina, Montana, Wisconsin, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Missouri, at least one legislative chamber has approved a photo ID bill. By the end of the year, these states could join eight others that have already passed and implemented voter ID requirements.

The legislators have been able to move so quickly, the CAP Action Fund reports, with the help of the Koch-funded American Legislative Exchange Council, which has distributed “model” voter ID legislation to conservative lawmakers that bears a striking similarity to bills in at least two states.

But progressive lawmakers and organizations are fighting back defeating bills in seven states. In four states, progressive lawmakers are pushing bills to allow online voter registration. Already implemented in 11 states, electronic registration, according to the Pew Research Center, raises voter turnout, especially among younger voters, compared to those who registered using traditional methods.