Anymore you can’t rely on having registered to vote, and even voting in the past election to be able to vote in an election. We shouldn’t have to be lucky to vote in this country. It’s assumed that when we register to vote, or get a driver’s license that we will be able to vote. Voter suppression is nothing new but republicans have been working like crazy to cheat their way to victories. There’s no doubt in my mind and of people more educated about this problem that suppression played a role in determining the outcome of the 2016 presidential election.
The stakes could be even higher with the 2020 elections, and republicans have shown no sign of letting up with their cheating ways.
With that grim introduction, I’ll get started on the meat and potatoes.
Let’s start with a current assessment of the problem from the ACLU
Voting rights are under attack nationwide as states pass voter suppression laws. These laws lead to significant burdens for eligible voters trying to exercise their most fundamental constitutional right. Since 2008, states across the country have passed measures to make it harder for Americans—particularly black people, the elderly, students, and people with disabilities—to exercise their fundamental right to cast a ballot. These measures include cuts to early voting, voter ID laws, and purges of voter rolls.
The ACLU is engaged in advocacy and litigation across the country to get rid of these harmful voter suppression measures once and for all.
emphasis mine
www.aclu.org/…
Recently we’ve seen it in action during the race for Governor of Georgia. Plain as day, and with obvious intent since the suppressive actions taken by Secretary of State Brian Kemp were for the benefit of candidate Brian Kemp.
The race between the Republican, Brian Kemp, Georgia’s secretary of state, and the Democrat, Stacey Abrams, the former minority leader of the state House of Representatives—who, if she wins, will be the first black female governor in the country—is a virtual tie. But Kemp has invoked the so-called exact-match law to suspend fifty-three thousand voter-registration applications, for infractions as minor as a hyphen missing from a surname. African-Americans make up thirty-two per cent of the state’s population, but they represent nearly seventy per cent of the suspended applications.
emphasis mine
www.newyorker.com/...
Other examples of voter suppression include:
North Carolina’s map has created an artificial 10-3 Republican advantage in a state that is virtually evenly split in statewide races. The map has held even through the wave election of 2018 (pending a special election in the Ninth District). Meanwhile, in Maryland, Democrats have held a 7-1 advantage for the entire decade in a state that has recently elected Republicans to statewide offices and where alternative maps that offered better representation to African-American communities would have resulted in a 5-3 delegation.
www.brennancenter.org/...
- The loss of key protections in the Voting Rights Act:
According to the Brennan Center for Justice, ninety-nine bills designed to diminish voter access were introduced last year in thirty-one state legislatures. Many of the recent Republican-led efforts stem from the Supreme Court’s 2013 decision in Shelby v. Holder. In an opinion that eviscerated the Voting Rights Act of 1965, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that discrimination still exists, but not sufficiently to warrant the “extraordinary” remediation measures that the act imposed on the states of the former Confederacy.
www.newyorker.com/...
- Crosscheck and voter purges:
That lets them do the small stuff that chips away at the Democratic voter base. Not a lot, just little by little. But when you lose a state like Michigan by 12,000 votes, and exit polls showed the Democratic candidate winning the state by a comfortable margin, then you realize that the other team is playing the game so well that you don’t even realize a game is being played. Until you lose.
medium.com/...
What can we do to prevent these problems and make sure our votes count?
We really need to pay attention to what’s happening in our own states, especially if they’re led by republicans. Actions by Secretaries of State, and state legislatures are where most of the problems are being created.
In no particular order we need to:
- VOTE
- Participate in GOTV activities.
- Follow local and state news so you’re ready to fight back against voter suppression efforts.
- Follow the social media accounts of groups working to prevent suppressive activities — groups like the ACLU, Brennan Center for Justice, NAACP-LDF, and many others.
- Support groups that provide assistance to people trying to register to vote and deal with suppressive voter ID laws. These groups include VoteRiders, Voto Latino, League of Women Voters, Rock the Vote, and many others. Don’t forget your local Democratic Party also works to register voters, and get them to the polls.
- Confirm ahead of an election that you are registered to vote, then VOTE!
- Block obvious bots and trolls on Twitter and report people here on DK that are encouraging people not to vote.
I am asking everyone who reads this post to take action today to counter voter suppression. It can be as simple as following one of the groups on Facebook or Twitter to help amplify their work. Maybe you can afford to make a small donation to one of the groups. I know some of you already donate on a regular basis — thank you! Perhaps you’re ready to volunteer for Postcards to Voters. Call the office of an elected official who is fighting voter suppression and thank them for their efforts. Simple actions, and something we all should be able to do. I welcome other suggestions too, so please share them in the comments.
Today I’m going to make my first donation to Voto Latino.
Think about this — about 100 million registered voters didn’t vote in the 2016 presidential election! What can you do to make a difference in 2020?