Everyone Should Vote, but Millions of People Legally Can’t.

With the election day less than two weeks away, voting is on everyone’s minds. This year, there’s been lots of discussion around the importance of civic engagement and voting, which is amazing. But given the current political situation, I think it’s also important to acknowledge the millions of people who are legally unable to vote.

America has a long history of voter suppression and disenfranchisement. When America was founded, only landowning white men had the right to vote, although certain states had slightly more lenient voter requirements. This changed after the Civil War in 1870, when the 15th Amendment legally gave Black men the right to vote.

While the passing of the 15th Amendment should have allowed Black men to fully participate in government, states began passing laws to suppress Black voters. A year after the 15th Amendment was passed, Florida passed a law to prevent people who were convicted of felonies from voting. This was one of many laws passed in states all over America designed to prevent Black people from voting. Literacy tests and poll taxes were used to target European immigrants and Black people. Violence was also used to intimidate Black voters and prevent them from voting. As a result, by 1940, only 3% of Black people in the South were registered to vote.

Thanks to the Civil Rights Movement and widespread protests, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 banned many of these ways to suppress voters. In many ways, voting has become more accessible; for example, many people have the option of mail-in or early voting.

However, voter suppression is not a thing of the past. It still happens, and it’s still rooted in racial prejudice. In 2013, a Supreme Court ruling on the Voting Rights Act allowed states to enforce new restrictions and close polling places. For example, voter ID laws disenfranchise voters who are minorities or who can’t afford the fees to get a photo ID. Laws preventing felons from voting are unfair to Black Americans, who are unfairly targeted and sentenced by an unjust criminal justice system.

This election in particular presents new challenges due to COVID-19. Mail-in voting is more important than ever, especially for elderly and immunocompromised people, and some states have made mail-in voting unnecessarily difficult. Ballots in some states could be rejected for missing a signature or not having a matching signature, and voters may be unaware that their vote was discarded. As a result of polling locations being closed, many Black and Latino voters will experience long wait times to vote. Since early voting began, voters have reported waiting in line for ten or more hours to vote.

There are steps we can take to make it as easy as possible for people to vote, such as automatic voter registration or allowing people to vote without registering beforehand. We could also make election day a holiday or hold elections on a weekend. These policies are important, but they won’t be enacted before the election, which is on November 3rd. In the meantime, stay informed, vote early, and make sure your vote gets counted. Voting is a fundamental right, and it’s important that we use this right to create a better country for everyone who lives in the United States.

 

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

• election
• politics
• voting