Do Something About Voting Rights

Our first issue: Voting Rights

Democracy is supposed to be a fair competition of ideas. Candidates put forth policy platforms, and, we, the people, vote for the candidate whose positions most closely mirror our own. If our candidate loses, it hurts. We have to look at our ideas, possibly refine them, or do a better job of persuading people that our idea is a better one. As citizens, we have an equal voice. May the best idea win.

Voting is absolutely fundamental to a functioning democracy. If we can’t vote, then we no longer have a democracy. And, I hate to say it, friends, but we have a problem when it comes to voting rights. 

We have to do something.

A troubled history and the Voting Rights Act of 1965

If you’ve ever taken a US history class, then you know that access to the ballot box has been an ongoing source of struggle in this country. We’ve held the principle that all men are created equal, emphasis on the men in the beginning, and then only certain men, specifically white men with property. Disenfranchised groups have fought for our entire history for access to the ballot box, and that fight has been met with violence and intimidation. White women only secured the vote in the early twentieth century, and, despite attempts to ensure that Black citizens could vote, racist Jim Crow laws ruled in the South.

A major step in securing voting rights for Black voters came with the Voting Rights Act of 1965. This act codified how the fifteenth amendment, which stated that the “right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”

This was a landmark piece of legislation, and, while far from perfect in its execution, massively increased access to the ballot for Black citizens. It remains among the most successful acts ever enacted by Congress.

Voting Rights Act gutted in Supreme Court Case

In 2013, the Supreme Court effectively gutted the Voting Rights Act in the Shelby County v. Holder decision by declaring Section 5 of the act unconstitutional. Claiming that the South had changed and no longer required monitoring to ensure that they were providing equal access to voting for People of Color. Under Section 5, certain states, counties, and townships with a history of discrimination were required to obtain what was known as “preclearance” before enacting changes to their voting procedures. This was what gave the VRA teeth and prevented harm.

Aftermath of Shelby v. Holder

Gutting the VRA opened the floodgates to all manner of restrictions to the ballot box.

Voter ID laws restrict voting rights

With the decision, states formerly governed by Section 5 moved swiftly to restrict ballot access, with Texas leading the charge with a stricter voter ID law that allowed citizens to use their NRA ID card, but not their student ID to vote. Many states have followed suit since then, many of them targeting poor and minority voters. It’s important to remember that IDs cost money in this country, as does the required documentation to obtain them.

These strict voter ID laws purport to counter voter fraud, something that study after study, including one started by Donald Trump (who famously claimed that New Hampshire’s 2016 election was fraudulent, because “thousands” of people were bussed in from Massachusetts) , has proven is not an issue in this country.

The specter of “voter fraud” has provided cover for disenfranchising millions of voters, especially the poor and BIPOC.

Other laws targeting voting rights

Other states have gone after early voting, which helps to ensure that everyone can vote (Tuesdays being a day when most people are working), narrowing the timeframe when people can register to vote, and targeting registration drives. In the wake of the pandemic, many states are passing laws to restrict absentee voting (using “vote by mail” as the boogeyman instead of a widespread practice, used especially by our nation’s seniors and people with disabilities. The very Red state of Utah has voted by mail exclusively for years, with no issues of voter fraud).

States have also closed polling places, leading to challenges in getting to the polls, as well as causing unreasonable wait times to vote, especially in areas with concentrations of BIPOC voters. Georgia has infamously long lines in nonwhite areas, but they are not alone.

These laws aim to make it harder for people to exercise their right to vote, and they target certain groups of voters, especially BIPOC and the poor, unfairly. If you’re white and/or live in a reasonably affluent area or a state where these laws have not been enacted, it’s easy to miss the chilling impact this has on exercising the right to vote.

I voted yesterday in a preliminary election, and, while my polling place was consolidated, and I had to walk further than I’d anticipated to get to it, I had no trouble voting. The longest I’ve ever waited in Somerville to vote was fifteen minutes, and we have decent turnout. Yesterday there was no wait at all. All I needed to do was give my address and confirm my name.

It should be that easy for citizens everywhere to exercise their right to vote. To help make that happen, we are going to Do Something.