The issue focused on the idea of new federal laws to bar those who use "unlawful, illegal, or criminal means" to vote.

A woman with a political campaign on her hands, one of the women who had been arrested, said the law was "an attempt to prevent us from having a political voice and to stop us from having a voice in the political process."

"The law is not about political rights, it is about human rights," said the woman, who was not identified