Democrats believe in getting the non-voters registered and involved.
Republicans believe that this massive push to register voters is a push towards voter fraud and want laws to require some form of Official ID'S be used to guarantee people only vote once.
The dis-enfranchisment refers to this argument between the parties. Democrats just want people to vote, Republicans just want people to vote properly.
Simply one more way that American politics is screwed up.
i would generalize it a bit and say non-republicans want everyone to vote, or even non-conservatives want everyone to vote. it is the most basic right in the US, from which all the other rights are derived, unfortunately only one political party in this country thinks it should be reserved only for those who vote their way.
I don't see get-the-vote out pushes by Democrats into poor white areas like Appalachia. Probably because they know those same poor whites would turn around and vote conservative. If you think Democrats push registering minorities out of the goodness of your heart then you are very naive. Both parties probably prefer smaller voter turnouts as it allows them to target niche groups who will vote for each party's ideals without actually having to convince non-party voters why he or she should be elected.
-Brandon Sanderson, The Way of Kings