Wanting more election security and accessible voting is nothing new, but when it comes to making concrete changes, Senator Elizabeth Warren has a proposal ready to go. Her latest proposal would create a new set of requirements that would help expand voting rights and make our federal elections more secure. It’s a sweeping proposal, to be sure, and includes a lot of detail. Let’s break it down below.
Here’s the senator’s tweet:
Some fundamentals of her plan include mandates for same-day and automatic voter registration (with the option for voters to opt out) and allowing states to drop voters only in extremely specific circumstances, like death or change of address. In terms of Election Day voting, her proposal includes a 15-day minimum for early voting, longer voting hours, and the option to vote by mail. All of this makes voting more accessible on the basic level, especially for people who have limited transportation, disabilities that impact their mobility or access, or work non-regular hours.
One aspect of her proposal that’s particularly exciting is that people could vote with a statement of identity. This would ease the enormous burden that ID requirements create for many people, especially those who are low-income, live in rural areas, or are transgender. Because, remember: While Republicans love to incite hysteria over voter fraud, it’s actually extremely rare.
Also related to better voting access is the passage of the Voting Rights Advancement Act, as well as the Native American Voting Rights Act, both of which ban practices that are racially discriminatory inside literal voting booths. Her proposal would also make Election Day a national holiday, which is something other progressives, like New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Bernie Sanders, have also been calling for lately.
Oh—the proposal would ban gerrymandering. This is a huge deal. You might remember that right now, the Supreme Court is actually hearing not one, but two cases that challenge partisan gerrymandering. In simple terms, the proposal would ban political gerrymandering on the federal level. Right now, political gerrymandering is (basically) the reason state officials can place congressional lines in strategic ways that favor a political party. Under Warren’s plan, local and state level gerrymandering would still be a considerable issue, as it is today, but on the federal level, states would be instructed to use “independent” commissions to outline congressional districts.
Mind you, all of this proposal refers to the federal level. Congress would need to approve the proposal to make it applicable. And it wouldn’t necessarily impact local or state-level elections, though it could spur moves in the right direction. States that don’t follow federal rules, interestingly, would be appointed federal authorities as supervisors.
And, perhaps unsurprisingly at this point, Warren’s proposal includes a financial incentive for states to up their voter turnout and options for local governments to work directly with the federal government if they want to comply but are facing barriers.
On a practical, basic level, the proposal includes replacing every single voter machine in the country. Curious about cost? Warren estimates it would cost about $20 billion in a period of ten years. Where would this money come from? Increased taxes on the wealthy.
You can read her full post on Medium here. What changes do you want to see in place to make voting more accessible?