Voters In America: Who Counts – Joe Johns investigates voter suppression, voter fraud

In an encore presentation to air on Saturday, Oct. 20 at 8:00pm and 11:00pm ET and PT, CNN senior correspondent Joe Johns investigates the impact of tough new voter laws with a particular focus on 80 new voting law changes in the battleground state of Florida – and how those changes may affect the outcome of the 2012 presidential election for Voters in America: Who Counts.

Supporters of Florida House Bill 1355, including sponsor State Rep. Dennis Baxley (R-Ocala) and national voter ID advocate Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach (R) say that they want to secure the election from voter fraud.  Former Florida GOP chairman, Jim Greer tells Johns that the state’s new voting law was developed during a series of meetings following the high minority turnout in the 2008 presidential election.  And, opponents to the bill like LaVon Bracy, a long-time Orange County Florida voter registration activist, says she feels sponsors of the law intend “to suppress the minority vote.”  Deidre Macnab, president of Florida’s the League of Women Voters (LWV), says the consequence of the new registration form filing deadline, which includes the risk for a $5,000 fine and potential felony prison penalty for false registration, forced her organization to stop registering voters in the state.  Johns speaks to people on all sides of the debate and reports independent analysis of voter fraud data.

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