The Brennan Center for Justice and a coalition of allied civil rights advocates lauded Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) today for introducing the Democracy Restoration Act of 2011.

A new Brennan Center for Justice analysis of data from the 2010 election indicates more than 20,000 votes for governor in New York were lost because machines read them as “overvotes,” ballots with too many candidates selected. The analysis finds New York voting machines’ confusing and misleading overvote warning message is at fault, as well as the state’s outdated ballot design.

In a letter sent earlier today, the groups analyzed additional data submitted to the Justice Department by Texas last month. The data show that the new law, which imposes a government-issued photo ID requirement for voting, will disproportionately burden minority voters and produce discriminatory effects.

Yesterday, a three-judge panel of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that the National Council of La Raza and the League of Women Voters of Florida can intervene as defendants in a legal action over Florida’s new voting law, H.B. 1355, best known for its new, extreme restrictions on volunteer voter registration drives.