The Fragile Franchise: Protecting the Right to Vote
"There has never been in my lifetime, since we got rid of the poll tax and all the Jim Crow burdens on voting, the determined effort to limit the franchise that we see today." – Bill Clinton, 2011
Voting is a fundamental right. A true democracy encourages maximum political participation by its citizenry. By now these should be undisputed tenets, and yet we are currently witnessing a concerted campaign to prevent millions of Americans from casting ballots. Since 2010, bills making voting more difficult have been introduced in 38 state legislatures. In every case these efforts have been spearheaded by the Republican Party. Why – and how -- is the GOP determined to undermine our democracy in this manner? Read on:
Every vote matters: Important races – from the Presidency down to local office – have often been decided by a small number of votes. In 2008, Democrat Al Franken won his Senate seat by 225 votes. In 2010, narrow margins determined many critical contests, including the Governor’s race here in Illinois. Shrinking the electorate – if it’s done selectively – can tilt the balance of political power.
Voter fraud is virtually non-existent: That’s the purported rationale for this flurry of new legislation -- Karl Rove dubbed voter fraud “an enormous and growing problem.” But even when Republicans try hard to find cases to prosecute, they’ve failed: the Bush administration convicted only 86 people of voter fraud – though more than 300 million votes were cast during that period. “It is more likely that an individual will be struck by lightning,” says the Brennan Center for Justice, “than impersonate another person at the polls.” So what’s the real motivation here for the GOP? Too many potential voters lean Democratic.
The GOP’s two-pronged disenfranchisement strategy: disrupt registration drives and deter potential voters. Legislation now pending or enacted in GOP-dominated statehouses includes provisions which:
- Impose onerous requirements on voter registrars. Recent legislation passed in Florida, for instance, forced the League of Women Voters to shut down its venerable voter registration program there: “While the League remains committed to empowering an active and informed citizenry, we cannot and will not place our thousands of volunteers at risk, subjecting them to a process in which one late form could result in their facing financial and civil penalties.” Legislation making it a criminal offense to turn in registration forms more than two days after they’ve been signed has been introduced (by a Republican state rep) here in Illinois.
- Mandate that proof of citizenship – like a birth certificate – be produced when registering. Most people don’t carry such IDs in public (if they possess them at all), where they are most likely to encounter a voter registrar. Such laws have been passed in three states and are pending in at least a dozen more.
- Limit early voting. Ohio and Florida, among others, have dramatically curtailed their early voting periods for the 2012 election.
- Require photo IDs – but only certain kinds – at the polls. Seven states have enacted new photo ID rules for voters, with more states rushing to pass similar laws. These rules unfairly target the poor, young people, and minorities: while 11% of the general population lack photo IDs, that figure jumps to 15% of eligible low-income voters, 18% of young voters, and 25% of African-American voters. Moreover, even if you have a photo ID, but fall into one of those categories, it’s more likely to be disallowed under the new laws: in Texas, a concealed-weapon permit is deemed acceptable but a student ID is not. In Wisconsin, student IDs are valid only if they include a two-year expiration date, a current address, and other info – but no colleges or universities in the state issue IDs which look like that. To vote in South Carolina, you must produce a state-issued ID, which you can obtain free of charge – but to get one, you’ll need a passport or a birth certificate, and those cost money (and a considerable investment of time) to obtain if you don’t have one already.
These requirements ensure that, for people with fewer resources, assembling necessary documentation will be daunting – so much so that many will simply stay away from the polls. Which is precisely what the legislation intends.
- Strip voting rights from ex-felons, even non-violent offenders. Iowa and Florida have both taken this action, which in Florida alone means that over 1 million people – predominantly African-American men – have been permanently disenfranchised.
More attention must be focused on the GOP’s state-by-state disenfranchisement campaign. You can help by sharing the facts highlighted here with your friends and colleagues: anyone who cherishes our democracy – whatever their political inclinations – should be disturbed by these efforts. As Susan B. Anthony once asked, “How can ‘the consent of the governed’ be given, if the right to vote be denied?”
Need to know more?
Below you can find sources for the information above, and more about the Republican assault on voting rights. There's also an attachment with a pdf version of this document if you'd like to print it easily.
The Brennan Center for Justice website has a wealth of information on voter protection. For specifics on voter protection laws recently enacted in the states, click here. For recent press coverage of voter protection issues, click here.
More (including a “Map of Shame” which provides a graphic image of threats to voting rights in each state), can be found at The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law Voting Rights Project.
Comprehensive analysis of recently-enacted GOP-sponsored legislation undermining voting rights can be found in these stories:
“The GOP War on Voting,” Rolling Stone, 8/30/2011.
“The GOP’s State-by-State Crusade to Disenfranchise Voters,” Washington Post, 7/26/2011.
“New State Voting Laws: Barriers to the Ballot?” Demos Report, 9/8/2011.
“Bill Clinton: GOP Voting Crackdown Worst Since Jim Crow,” Talking Points Memo, 7/6/2011.
"Florida League of Women Voters Drops Registration Plan Over Restrictive Laws," Talking Points Memo, 7/15/2011.
"State Employee Fired After Telling Co-Workers about Photo ID Policy," Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, 9/8/2011.
"Secretary of State Finds No Student Voter Fraud but Still Pledges to Improve System," Bangor Daily News, 9/22/2011.
"What's Wrong With This Picture? New Photo ID Laws Part of a National Push to Turn Back the Clock on Voting Rights," Advancement Project Report, April 2011.
"New State Rules Raising Hurdles at Voting Booth," New York Times, 10/2/2011.
"Voting Law Changes in 2012," Report by the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law, October 2011.
"South Carolina Voter ID Law Hits Black Precincts," Associated Press, 10/19/2011.
"Obama's Toughest Opponent: State Election Laws?" National Journal, 10/20/2011.
"Voter Identification Requirements," National Conference of State Legislatures, 9/8/2011.
"Reversal In Progress: A Voting Rights Institute Report," December 2011.
"New Republican Data Shows No Need for Voter ID Laws," Huffington Post, 9/12/2011.
Produced by the Democratic Party of Evanston September 2011
