Jul 07, 2014 10:45 AM EDT By Russell Westerholm, UniversityHerald Reporter

Voting rules have become a divisive issue in American politics, as Republicans have been trying to tighten registration requirements for 10 years now with Democrats fighting them all the way.

According to the New York Times, a group of college students have joined the NAACP, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Justice Department in such a matter in North Carolina. A legal team representing seven college students and three voter advocates are now participating in challenging a state law requiring voters to present photo identification when voting.

The Republican push to tighten rules for voting has been tied to getting rid of fraud, but Democrats contend it is a sly way of eliminating voters who lean to the left. The group challenging the N.C. state law says the legislation is a violation of the 26th Amendment, which lowered the voting age from 21 to 18. They are arguing that the law discriminates against African-American, Hispanic, poor and young voters.

"There's an unprecedented effort nationally by Republican-controlled legislatures to restrict the franchise in a way we haven't seen in a long time," Marc Elias, the Democratic election lawyer leading the age-discrimination claim, told the New York Times. "Young voting in particular is a part of that effort."

In other states, voting laws require state-issued photo IDs to vote, but a handgun license works just as well in Texas, though a state university ID does not. In N.C., students are staunchly opposed to these photo ID requirements as well as the potential shut down of voting sites at Appalachian State University and Winston Salem University.

Passed last year, N.C.'s new voting law goes into effect for the 2016 election and will not allow state university IDs. The law also prohibits out-of-state driver's licenses, meaning students who go to school far from home could not vote near their campus. The new law would also get rid of a program helping minors to prepare for registration ahead of their 18th birthday.

One of the college students challenging the new law, Josue Berduo, a 20-year-old economics major at North Carolina State University, has residence in the state and a valid ID, but still believes the law is unfair. He said he will anticipate many college students showing up to the polls in 2016 unaware of the law just to be turned away.

He told the New York Times he believes the new law will add unnecessary obstacles to voting. Said Berudo, "For people like me, it makes what should be a simple process very difficult."

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