More Pam Fessler on backlash:

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

Here’s an irony of this fall’s election. New voter ID laws and other restrictions are in effect.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Critics say the laws are meant to suppress voter turnout among minorities and the poor. In fact, Democrats have used this issue to motivate people to go to the polls.

MONTAGNE: And when they succeed in getting people to overcome restrictions and vote, they create evidence that the laws don’t stop qualified people from voting. NPR’s Pam Fessler reports.

The backlash idea is not new—I discuss it in detail in Chapter 3 of (the 2012 book) The Voting Wars. And it is worth remembering Janai Nelson’s words about backlash: “Despite suggestions that voter suppression tactics can trigger a ‘backlash’ increase in minority voter turnout, these tactics nonetheless violate the VRA‘s core principle—to ensure that the race of a voter has no bearing on her ability to vote. Moreover, the “backlash effect” does not negate the increased burden placed on minorities‘ right to vote even if, ultimately and intermittently, minority voters can bear it and win.”