U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is vowing to ensure the protection of voting rights in states that have recently enacted controversial laws that critics say target low-income voters and people of color. In a speech on Tuesday, Holder said the Justice Department will aggressively review the laws, most enacted by Republicans in the name of fighting fraud. Eight states have enacted laws this year requiring voters to present state-issued photo ID. In his remarks, Holder cited the concerns of the Georgia Congress member and civil rights leader John Lewis.

Attorney General Eric Holder: “In my travels across this country, I’ve heard a consistent drumbeat of concern from many Americans who, often for the first time in their lives, now have reason to believe that we are failing to live up to one of our nation’s most noble and essential ideals. As Congressman John Lewis described it in a speech on the House floor this summer, the voting rights that he worked throughout his life — and nearly gave his life — to ensure are, and I quote, 'under attack … [by] a deliberate and systematic attempt to prevent millions of elderly voters, young voters, students, [and] minority and low-income voters from exercising their constitutional right to engage in the democratic process,' unquote.”