New legislation across the US could have a huge impact on the country's 2012 presidential elections. Largely Republican politicians have passed a range of new voting laws that groups fear could disenfranchise as many as five million American voters this year.

Politicians claim that they are concerned about preventing voter fraud but minority communities see the civil rights gained in the 1960s as being under attack again in a subtler way.

The department of justice has already made strong rulings against laws that have been passed in South Carolina and Texas because they discriminate against minorities.  

Fault Lines travels to Tennessee and Florida, two states that have passed strict laws, to explore the origins and consequences of the new legislation.

Who are the individuals that are at risk of not participating in the next election? What are groups doing to fight back? And could enough voters be disenfranchised in 2012 that it could have a significant impact on the outcome of the election?

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