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Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) is concerned voter turnout is at risk of being suppressed across the country — and thinks a spate of new state laws are to blame.

Durbin, who chairs the Senate Judiciary subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights, called a hearing Thursday to examine laws that limit early voting, require photo identification and regulate who can volunteer for voter registration.

The senator pointed to Texas and Florida as states that have moved to restrict voter registration drives in the name of curbing fraud, but said such fraud is almost nonexistent and is used as an excuse to disenfranchise voters.

"Protecting the right of every citizen to vote and ensuring elections are fair and transparent are … American values," said Durbin, who will send a letter to governors in Florida, Wisconsin and Tennessee about voter-related concerns in those states.

Not everyone shares Durbin's concerns, particularly about strict voter identification laws. Rep. Todd Rokita (R-Ind.) testified that requiring photo ID shows voters that the government cares who they are and values the time they sacrifice to fulfill their civil duty.

"We want to instill confidence in the process, to drive up turnout," Rokita said, noting that Indiana has seen voter turnout jump by 2 percent since implementing a photo ID law.

Up to 12 percent of eligible voters don't have valid government ID, and the number is higher for seniors, African-Americans, students, people with disabilities and those with low incomes, according to the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law.

Two incumbent Democrats held their seats; Republicans now hold a narrow 17-16 edge in the chamber.

Democrats picked off two seats Tuesday night but failed to gain control of the state Senate from Republicans.

EMILY'S List, a group that backs Democratic women who support abortion rights, became the latest national Democratic group to zero in on Wisconsin's state Senate recall elections Friday with a television advertisement blasting a Republican facing recall.

It's the latest signal that both parties view the elections as a testing ground for their 2012 message — and as a referendum on Republicans' policy views.

It's unusual for state Senate elections to feature television ads, especially a month in advance of the election. But nothing is usual about these elections.

Democrats and unions were galvanized earlier this year by a bill pushed through by Gov. Scott Walker (R) and Republicans in the State Legislature stripping collective bargaining rights from many state employees. The aftermath: Groups from both sides of the aisle have petitioned to recall and replace state senators, with six Republicans and three Democrats facing elections this and next month. Democrats need to net three seats to gain control of the state Senate and be able to block Republicans' agenda going forward.

The swing state will be crucial for determining control of both the White House and Congress. President Obama won the state with 56 percent of the vote in 2008, but Democrats took a beating at the state level last election, losing a Senate seat, two House seats and control of the governorship as Democrats failed to show up at the polls.

Former President Clinton charged Republicans with trying to suppress the youth vote in the 2012 election.

“One of the most pervasive political movements going on outside Washington today is disciplined, passionate, determined effort of Republican governors and legislators to keep most of you from voting next time,” he said in a speech to college students at the Campus Progress National Conference. “They are trying to make the 2012 electorate look more like the 2010 electorate than the 2008 electorate.”

Clinton said that by eliminating same-day registration and making it difficult for college students to vote in the state in which they reside most of the year, the youth vote could be suppressed next year.

He compared the decision by some states to eliminate same-day registration and advanced voting to poll taxes and the Jim Crow laws.

President Obama benefited from the youth vote in the 2008 as his campaign made a concerted effort to get younger voters to the polls. A similar effort is under way this cycle, particularly through the use of social websites. The president is holding a town hall via Twitter on Wednesday after holding one via Facebook in April.

During his speech in Washington, Clinton stuck close to the conference’s theme of “Turning truth into power,” blaming the Democrats’ poor showing in the 2010 elections on lack of knowledge among voters.

“In the 2010 election the Democrats took a terrible whipping,” he said. “But the election results were more adverse to the Democrats then they would have been, I believe, if voters had known basic facts.”

Clinton went on to defend Obama’s healthcare and financial policies, saying Americans voted against the Democrats in the 2010 elections because they didn’t know how the policies worked.

“You can’t turn truth into power if the ultimate holders of power, the citizens themselves, don’t know the facts,” he said.  “I say this to encourage your activism, but your activism has to include sharing what you know with your generation.”

A national Democratic group began running television advertisements Wednesday morning in Wisconsin to protect a state senator facing a recall election.

It's the first time such a group has run a TV ad in the fight for control of the Wisconsin state Senate but that battle will help set the debate in the key battleground state for 2012.

The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee’s Wisconsin PAC is running television advertisements in the Green Bay market to help state Sen. Dave Hansen (D) hold his seat. DLCC communications director Carolyn Fiddler described the buy as "significant."

Democrats and unions were galvanized earlier this year by a bill pushed through by Gov. Scott Walker (R) and Republicans in the State Legislature stripping collective bargaining rights from many state employees. In the swing state, which will be crucial for determining control for both the White House and Congress, Democrats have sought to gain the upper hand, petitioning to recall state Senate Republicans.

Hansen is one of three Democrats whom outside conservative groups have managed to put on the ballot; six Republicans will face recall campaigns. Democrats need to net three seats to take back control of the state Senate. The election dates are staggered; Hansen will be the first to face the voters, on July 19, with the others likely to occur in August.

The recall elections of nine state lawmakers in Wisconsin next month will raise the curtain on what's expected to be one of the most contentious campaign seasons the state has seen in decades.

Six Republicans and three Democrats are expected to face recall votes on July 12, and the results could foreshadow what's to come as the 2012 campaign gets under way.

Wisconsin will play a key role in President Obama's reelection plans — it's hosting a competitive Senate race for retiring Sen. Herb Kohl's (D) seat, at least three House seats will be competitive and a potential gubernatorial recall could also be on the ballot.

Republican Gov. Scott Walker has sparked controversy with his stand against the state's unions and his spartan budget proposal, which trims millions in spending from education, healthcare and welfare programs and eliminates 1,200 state jobs. 

Under Wisconsin law, a governor cannot be recalled until a year into his term, so Democrats are getting primed for spring 2012, said Mike Tate, chairman of the state Democratic Party.

The South Carolina GOP elected a new chairman Saturday to lead the party into a busy campaign season.

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President Obama called Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper Tuesday to congratulate him on his election victory.

Harper and his Conservative Party secured a 167-seat majority in Parliament in Monday's national election. He had been ruling the country in a coalition government since 2006, but now has a firm grip on power.

The vote dramatically reshaped the country's political landscape. The separatist Bloc Québécois was virtually wiped out — even the party's leader, Gilles Duceppe, lost his seat — and the Liberal Party, which had ruled the country for much of the last century, was reduced to 34 seats in the 308-seat Parliament. Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff also lost his seat in Monday's vote and announced his resignation on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the left-wing New Democratic Party became the Official Opposition for the first time in its history, capturing more than 100 seats. 

During the call, Obama and Harper talked primarily about border issues, according to the White House. And Harper also passed on his congratulation to the president and American forces responsible for the killing of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan.

New York mayor said the GOP needs to focus on housing and economic issues.