Criticizing GOP, Obama Says, 'The Right to Vote Is Threatened'

President Obama deplored on Friday what he called a Republican campaign to deny voting rights to millions of Americans as he ramped up efforts to rally his political base heading into a competitive midterm campaign season.

Appearing at the annual convention of the Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network in Manhattan, Mr. Obama accused Republicans of trying to rig the elections by making it harder for older people, women, minorities and the impoverished to cast ballots in swing states that could determine control of the Senate.

'The right to vote is threatened today in a way that it has not been since the Voting Rights Act became law nearly five decades ago,' Mr. Obama said in a hotel ballroom filled with cheering supporters, most of them African-American. 'Across the country, Republicans have led efforts to pass laws making it harder, not easier, for people to vote.'

Speaking a day after a conference in Texas commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act, Mr. Obama linked the issue to the movement that helped pave the way for him to become the nation's first black president. 'America did not stand up and did not march and did not sacrifice to gain the right to vote for themselves and for others only to see it denied to their kids and their grandchildren,' he said.

Republicans in some swing states have advanced new laws that go beyond the voter identification requirements of recent years. Among other things, state lawmakers are pushing measures to limit the time polls are open, particularly weekend balloting that makes it easier for lower-income voters to participate. Other measures would make it more difficult to register, cast provisional ballots or vote absentee.

Over the last 15 months, nine states have passed voting changes making it harder to cast ballots. A federal judge has upheld laws requiring proof of citizenship, like a birth certificate or a passport, in Arizona and Kansas, leading other states to explore following suit.

Sponsors of such laws have said they are trying to prevent voter fraud and argue that Democrats overstate the impact of common-sense measures in a crass and transparent effort to rile up their most fervent political supporters.

In joining Mr. Sharpton, Mr. Obama made no mention of new details that have come to light this week about Mr. Sharpton's work as a confidential informer for the F.B.I. in the 1980s. Introducing Mr. Obama, Mr. Sharpton said nothing about it either.

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