‘Tis the Season to Be Vigilant about Voting Rights

By Laureen Scharps, FAWCO Rep, AIWC Frankfurt

Americans’ voting rights are under attack, and all citizens, including FAWCO members, should join the struggle to protect them.

US Senate minority blocks three federal bills to protect voting rights

On November 3, the Senate failed even to discuss the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, much less to vote on it, because a substantial minority of senators filibustered to prevent that (1). Similar minorities of senators had already blocked discussion of two other voting-rights bills (2). Earlier in 2021, the FAWCO US Voting Committee had called on FAWCO members to urge their senators to pass the John R. Lewis Act, and the larger For the People Act, to protect and improve Americans’ voting rights (3,4).

The John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act aims (5):

1. to prevent changes to voting rules that discriminate on the basis of race or membership in language minority groups from being implemented; and
2. to restore voters’ robust ability to challenge discriminatory laws.

These Senate blockages comprise another blow to voting rights, following the Supreme Court’s 2013 ruling, which struck down the essential “preclearance” clause in the 1965 Voting Rights Act. This removed the requirement that states with a history of discrimination against voters based on race get advance clearance of proposed changes to voting laws: this in turn enabled them to pass discriminatory voting laws without oversight by the Justice Department and federal courts (1).

Several voting rights advocates and organizations reacted swiftly to the Senate’s failure. Bishop Leah Daughtry, campaign manager of the Fighting for Our Vote Coalition, made up of organizations such as NAACP and ACLU, blasted the bill’s failure to pass: “Each day that goes by where another district is gerrymandered or a discriminatory voting rule is passed, we get further and further away from a system that actually represents us all” (2). The president of the Brennan Center for Justice at the NYU Law School, Michael Waldman, stated, “… the Senate minority has once again refused to even debate an urgent voting rights bill. It can’t end here.” (6).

Secure 2020 election followed by new laws to suppress voting

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, states took a range of measures in 2020 to enable voters to exercise their constitutional right while protecting their health, such as increased use of early voting, voting by mail, curbside ballot drop-off, etc. The result was the highest turnout in a national election in a century and the most secure US election ever (2). The US Voting Committee sees these measures as examples to build on, not to throw away.

Agreeing with US federal and state officials charged with election security, the Committee said that “All the ballots cast in the 2020 election were correctly counted, recounted as necessary and certified in accordance with state laws, and the results of the election certified by Congress as required by the Constitution of the United States.” (7). Despite the predictions of and continued circulation of claims of widespread fraud in the 2020 election in particular, no such claims have been proved and over 70 court cases rejected them (7).

Nevertheless, in 2021 at least 19 states have passed 33 laws making it harder to vote (8). Many of these laws target voters of color, exacerbating persistent racial disparities in access to the polls (5). Turnout for nonwhite voters is now substantially lower (5) than that for white voters, and has been for at least 25 years. Despite record voter turnout in 2020, only 58% of nonwhite voters participated, compared to 71% of white voters (5).

The 33 laws enacted so far in 2021 have various effects, including making mail voting and early voting more difficult – including for overseas voters – imposing stricter voter ID requirements and making faulty voter purges more likely (8).

New restrictive laws in Georgia, Iowa, Kansas and Texas impose new and harsh criminal penalties on local election officials and other individuals (8) for doing their jobs or being good citizens, respectively, by:

1. encouraging voters to request mail-in ballots or regulating poll watchers’ conduct (local election officials);
2. helping voters who may need assistance, such as elderly or disabled people, or those without adequate access to transportation (people in Iowa and Kansas);
3. bringing water and snacks to voters standing in long lines waiting to vote (people in Georgia).

Such provisions plainly do nothing to protect election integrity.

What FAWCO members can do

The FAWCO US Voting Committee urges you to be vigilant and take action to protect your rights and those of other Americans.

1. Register to vote in January 2022 and every year in which you choose to vote. To start, go to the websites of the Overseas Vote Foundation or the Federal Voter Assistance Program (FVAP). The next federal elections will take place in November 2022.
2. Share your views on voting with your Representative and senators in Congress. Find out how here.
3. Vote for candidates who uphold the right to vote for all, and ask your friends and relatives, particularly young voters, to do so, too. You can also volunteer to campaign for such candidates.
4. Stay informed by consulting legitimate news sources; for information on voting rights, consider subscribing to the newsletter of the non-profit Brennan Center for Justice.

References

1. Weiser, WR. Why the Senate Must Pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. Brennan Center for Justice. October 6, 2021.
2. Reiman, N. John Lewis Voting Rights Act Fails To Pass Senate. Forbes. November 3, 2021.
3. Burgher, MS & FAWCO US Voting Committee. Comment now on the second drafts of the FPCA and FWAB – and share your views on voting legislation with Congress. FAWCO. August 2, 2021.
4. Scharps, L & FAWCO US Voting Committee. Defend voting rights in our fragile democracy. FAWCO. March 18, 2021.
5. Morris, K & Grange, C. Racial Turnout Gap Persisted in 2020 Election. Brennan Center for Justice. August 6, 2021.
6. Waldman, M. Brennan Center Reacts to Senate Cloture Vote on John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. Brennan Center for Justice. November 3, 2021.
7. Burgher, MS & FAWCO US Voting Committee. US Voting Committee stands by results of 2020 US election – what FAWCO members can do in 2021. FAWCO. March 18, 2021.
8. Voting Laws Roundup: October 2021. Brennan Center for Justice, October 4, 2020.