WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats alarmed by reports that new voter laws could bar some five million people from the polls are launching an ambitious online effort aimed at countering what they call Republican voter suppression.

According to a study published Monday by the Brennan Center for Justice, a string of laws passed in 13 states — and proposed in 21 more — could disproportionately suppress turnout of younger voters, minorities and lower-income voters. Those groups tend to pull the lever for Democrats.

The Brennan Center estimates that the new laws could affect some 171 electoral votes, including those of five swing states.

“In states across the country, Republicans have launched a deceitful, coordinated attack on voting rights and Democrats are committed to stopping them in their tracks,” said Matt Canter, spokesman for the DSCC. The laws include provisions requiring photo identification and proof of citizenship, as well as restrictions on registration drives and reduced early voting.

Republicans have long complained about fraud in voter registration drives, infamously singling out the now-defunct ACORN, which had been extremely effective in signing people up for balloting. Many claims of fraud have turned out to be exaggerated, but nevertheless have sparked the slew of laws coming into effect for the next election.

The DSCC push will be in two parts, with an ad campaign and a website designed for people to report problems voting. [ READ MORE ]

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Smooth and confident, Obama has hoops game — Presidential candidate using his love of basketball as a campaign weapon

Last Friday, he scored four baskets — including a 3-pointer — in a Kokomo, Ind., game tied to his voter registration drive. With cameras trained on his every 46-year-old move, Obama scrimmaged Tuesday with the North Carolina Tar Heels.

“Playing ball makes you accessible in a way that neither of them are — Obama and Bradley,” said Eric Hauser, a Democratic strategist who worked for Bradley. “They both deal with the reputation of being distant and cool, and basketball transcends race.”

Growing up in Hawaii, Obama considered basketball as a way to find his racial identity in a diverse community.

“I do think you can tell something about people by the way they play basketball,” he told HBO’s “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel” this month. “Here is a place,” Obama told HBO, “where black was not a disadvantage.”