An article by Laureen Scharps (AIWC Frankfurt)
Millions of eligible US voters from numerous states have lost their right to vote due to voter suppression during the last five years. In Shelby County v. Holder in 2013, the US Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act, undoing the preclearance provision and removing the ability of the federal government to place restrictions on states and thus protect voting rights. Since then, many states have claimed voter fraud – which is rare (estimated to account for 0.0003–0.0025% of votes cast) – as an excuse to suppress the vote. Some states have legislated measures such as purging names from voter rolls without informing the people concerned, so they are turned away on Election Day. Between the presidential elections of 2012 and 2016, districts formerly covered by preclearance provisions removed more than 9 million voters from their rolls (1). Other states are enforcing stricter voter ID laws by not allowing previously acceptable IDs and closing down Department of Motor Vehicle (DMV) offices, where voters could get the required ID, so that voters in certain districts do not have access. Still other states have eliminated the chance to vote early or absentee. All these methods discriminate against and disenfranchise otherwise eligible voters, especially students, the poor and people of color.
People of color fought tirelessly for the right to vote during the Civil Rights Movement. President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law in 1965, shortly after the peaceful voting-rights march in Selma, Alabama, was interrupted by brutal police attacks on "Bloody Sunday". The Act prohibited Southern states, such as Alabama, from racially discriminating against voters (2,3). This was especially important because these states had legislated a number of measures – such as charging poll taxes and giving literacy tests – or threatened African Americans with violence if they attempted to vote. Following the passage of the Voting Rights Act, African American voter turnout rose significantly (3).
The recent surge in discriminatory laws affects not only ethnic minorities but also people who move out of state, the disabled and elderly people, veterans and women. According to the National Organization for Women, because the Patriot Act requires women’s names on their voter IDs to match those on their birth certificates, women who get married and change their names are at risk of being disenfranchised (4). As many as 32 million women do not have ID documentation with their current legal names (5).
What you can do
The best way to fight voter suppression is to become informed about your state’s rules for voter registration and then register to vote ASAP for the elections in November 6, 2018 (remember that overseas Americans need to return ballots well before this date). Re-register every year to avoid getting purged. Simply go to one of the following:
After registering, follow up with your local election official (LEO) to make sure they received and approved your registration, so that you can confirm that they will send you your absentee ballot. Your LEO is listed, with contact details, on the form generated when you register online. You can also find your LEO here.
Vote your ballot once you receive it and return it promptly, so as not to miss any deadlines.
In addition, if you come from a state that is suppressing the vote, you can write to your Secretary of State to voice your disapproval. Click here to find a list with contact details.
States restricting voting access
The Brennan Center for Justice, an advocacy group at New York University Law School, has compiled a list of states suppressing the vote. The practice has spread beyond southern states. As of April 2, 2018, at least 24 states have introduced or carried over about 70 bills restricting voting access. Here is a partial list from the Brennan Center.
- Arkansas passed two bills to bring voter ID back to the state after a court struck down an earlier law. It also bars felons who are serving their sentences from voting. But a list of voters to be purged in June 2016 included more than 4,000 people who had simply come into contact with the court system because of divorces, misdemeanors and the like.
- Georgia purged 1.5 million voters between 2012 and 2016. In 2017, it enacted a law imposing a requirement that information on voter registration forms match exactly with that on other state records a burdensome process known as “no match, no vote”. Only months earlier, the Secretary of State agreed in a court settlement to stop a similar procedure that had prevented tens of thousands from registering.
- Indiana enacted a law that will purge registered voters from the rolls. The program will remove voters in a manner similar to purges in other states that have been criticized for being error-prone and inadequately protective of eligible voters.
- Iowa’s governor signed a broad-based law that will require voter ID, restrict voter registration efforts, and impose new burdens on Election Day registration and early and absentee voting. The bill includes a requirement that suspected non-citizens be deleted from the voter rolls. Such removals programs can eliminate thousands of eligible voters.
- Kentucky has passed a bill restricting access to absentee voting.
- New Hampshire has passed a bill to make registration more difficult for students, supported by the Secretary of State.
- New York removed hundreds of thousands of voters (more in mostly Hispanic districts than elsewhere) whom it wrongly believed had moved.
- North Carolina has passed stricter ID laws. At least 300,000 voters lack DMV-issued IDs. It cut back early voting and reduced the window for voter registration (6).
- Ohio targets voters for removal from the rolls if they don’t vote in a two-year period.
- Texas erased approximately 363,000 voters from the voter rolls in the first election cycle after the 2013 Supreme Court decision.
Other states which suppress the vote include the following.
- Arizona closed 212 polling places before the 2016 election (7).
- Florida restricts voter registration drives. It also makes it more difficult for people who move to stay registered and vote, and limits early or absentee voting periods (8).
- Wisconsin had about 300,000 voters who lacked the proper ID during 2016 and may have been disenfranchised. Officials at local DMV offices gave false information to voters attempting to get the proper ID (9).
States that suppress the vote during federal elections are jeopardizing the election process. It is devastating for democracy. There can only be free and fair elections in a society that allows and encourages all eligible voters to vote, without the fear of losing that right because of unfair practices by the states and the judiciary.
Sources
- The Economist. August 9, 2018. [Accessed August 10, 2018].
- Wikipedia. [Accessed August 17, 2018].
- Vox. Lopez, German. 2015. How the Voting Rights Act transformed black voting rights in the South. [Accessed August 18, 2018].
- National Organization for Women. August 2014. [Accessed August 14, 2018].
- Feminist Majority. Soderberg, B. 2012. Women’s Rights at Risk. [Accessed August 18, 2018].
- Brennan Center for Justice. May 10, 2017. [Accessed August 10, 2018].
- New York Times. Span, Paula. Older Voters Stymied by Tighter ID Requirements. [Accessed August 14, 2018].
- ACLU. Facts About Voter Suppression. [Accessed August 10, 2018].
- Thinkprogress. Ollstein, A and Lerner, K. November 2016. [Accessed August 20, 2018].