Voter suppression
Policies or tactics that disproportionately reduce voting access for specific groups — often racial, partisan, or class-based.
Mechanisms include: strict voter-ID laws targeting groups less likely to hold qualifying IDs; reduced polling places in specific neighborhoods; restrictive early-voting and mail-in rules; voter-roll purges that disproportionately hit certain demographics; intimidation tactics. The distinction between "election integrity" measures and "voter suppression" is heavily contested politically and turns on empirical questions about who is affected and to what degree. The 2013 *Shelby County v. Holder* US ruling weakened federal pre-clearance of state voting law changes, shifting more disputes to post-election litigation. See also: gerrymandering.