Republicans plan to use laws about voter ID to win this fall s elections, since they know that in many states if all the voters who show up to vote are allowed to do so, their party will lose yet another presidential election   its third in a row.They are very excited at the effect those laws could have if left unchecked, according to an insider who is now speaking up.Last week, during the federal trial on Wisconsin s voter-ID law, a former Republican staffer testified that GOP senators were  giddy  about the idea that the state s 2011 voter-ID law might keep Democrats, particularly minorities in Milwaukee, from voting and help them win at the polls.  They were politically frothing at the mouth,  said the aide, Todd Allbaugh.Studies show that voter ID laws suppress minority votes, key to Democratic victory.A recent voter-ID study by political scientists at the University of California at San Diego analyzed turnout in elections between 2008 and 2012 and found  substantial drops in turnout for minorities under strict voter ID laws. These results suggest that by instituting strict photo ID laws, states could minimize the influence of voters on the left and could dramatically alter the political leaning of the electorate,  the study concluded.Watch this video of people getting assistance, trying to register to vote under the GOP s new harsh voter ID rules:Despite Republican claims otherwise, getting these IDs often requires documents   like birth certificates   that poorer minorities have trouble accessing.In one instance documented by the Washington Post, a man whose mother changed his name in 1964 has to present the original 52-year-old document changing his name before the state of Texas will issue him a voter ID card, which he needs to be able to vote.Seventeen states will have new voting restrictions in place for this fall s election for the first time. Many of the laws were passed by Republican-held state legislatures in 2009, right after Obama s historic victory in 2008.They apparently were afraid that if the voters were allowed to have their say, Republicans might not ever be contenders, so they rigged the system.Featured image via screen capture