(CNSNews.com) – Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) said that every state governed by a Republican is attempting to prevent the poor, minorities, seniors and students from voting by requiring individuals to present photo identification at the polls.

“I guess they don’t think that we understand that they’re trying to keep poor people from voting, minorities from voting, the elderly from voting, students from voting, we are not stupid,” she told reporters at a Capitol Hill press conference on Wednesday alongside liberal activist Rev. Jesse Jackson.

“We understand that this is by design -- when you go to every state that a Republican governor, where there’s a Republican governor, they are doing this across this country and we’re just not going to take it,” said Fudge.

According to the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, which was represented at the news conference, 16 states now have laws “requiring” or “requesting” voters to present photo ID in order to cast a ballot: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas and Wisconsin.  Hawaii has a Democratic governor and Rhode Island’s governor is independent.

Given his opposition to state-voter identification laws, CNSNews.com asked Rev. Jackson what documents, rather than a photo ID, should voters be required to show to prove their identity.

“You can use a utilities ID in some instances, a driver’s license or a Social Security number, a whole range of personal identifications – a phone bill,” Jackson told CNSNews.com.

Jackson also said moving Election Day from Sunday to Tuesday was a “scheme” to suppress the vote.

“Even, for example, moving voting from Tuesday – Sunday back to Tuesday – well, Tuesday’s a day when most people work. That’s always a scheme to suppress the vote and you have higher turnout on the weekends,” he said.

Other Democratic members of Congress at the news conference included Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) and Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.).