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Threats to Election 2020 |
Voter Protection, Voter Suppression
We all know how important it is for us to turnout for the 2020 Election. And we are also learning how threatened this election is as we watch debacles in election practices in Milwaukee, in Georgia, in Iowa in the 2020 primaries.
This section of OlderandBolder.Vote will present brief ideas and information in a few broad categories.
We urge you to add and comment to what we post in these categories. We invite you to add your insights, links to information that you have, calls to action to the OlderandBolder.Vote blog. Simply send what you want to include on the Contact page. We need your contributions so don’t hesitate to add to our collective knowledge.
Protect the Vote. Get out the Vote.
Eric H. Holder, Jr, Attorney General in the Obama Administration, first African American to hold this position, reminds us:
"The future of our democracy is hanging in the balance... together, we're going to return our governments to the people.”
We all know how important it is for us to turnout for the 2020 Election. And we are also learning how threatened this election is as we watch debacles in election practices in Milwaukee, in Georgia, in Iowa in the 2020 primaries.
This section of OlderandBolder.Vote will present brief ideas and information in a few broad categories.
- A short history of voting rights - with a timeline that might surprise you
- Threats to voting rights
- What we need to do to protect the Right to Vote and to make voting easy and accessible to eligible voters
- Resources: articles, books, websites, and more
We urge you to add and comment to what we post in these categories. We invite you to add your insights, links to information that you have, calls to action to the OlderandBolder.Vote blog. Simply send what you want to include on the Contact page. We need your contributions so don’t hesitate to add to our collective knowledge.
Protect the Vote. Get out the Vote.
Eric H. Holder, Jr, Attorney General in the Obama Administration, first African American to hold this position, reminds us:
"The future of our democracy is hanging in the balance... together, we're going to return our governments to the people.”
Voting Rights: A Brave Journey
Not everyone knows how hard and how long many of our people have fought bravely, persistently, and against the odds to gain the basic right to vote.
White men got to be the first and only voters in 1856. African Americans should have had the vote after the passage of the 15th Amendment in 1870 but Black Codes, poll taxes, and centuries of repression kept them from access to the ballot. White women got the right to vote in 1920. Native Americans weren’t granted the right to full citizenship (what irony!) until 1924. All Asian Americans got the right to citizenship and the vote in 1952.
See this more extensive walk through of the history of American voting rights, or the more abbreviated timeline on the right.
Oprah supported Stacey Abrams for Governor of Georgia in 2018 and exhorted voters:
"For anybody here who has an ancestor who didn’t have the right to vote and you are choosing not to vote, wherever you are…You are dishonoring your family. You are disrespecting and disregarding their legacy, their suffering, and their dreams."
We know that this fight for the right to vote is not over. There is an active effort in MN to restore voting rights to felons. We know that many who have the right to vote on paper are hampered by voter suppression efforts. We know that even though MN has rejected efforts to require Voter IDs, the GOP is aggressively promoting that legislation on an ongoing basis.
We understand the struggle for the right to vote through the stories of those who have led the fight.
U.S. Representative John Lewis, who has served since 1987, was born the son of sharecroppers in 1940 (a contemporary of many of our readers), attended segregated schools in Alabama, and was inspired to be active in civil rights by the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the leadership of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He helped form the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and by 1963 was known as one of the “Big Six Leaders of the Civil Rights Movement.” He is one of the great American leaders of the Civil Rights movement and is actively engaged in fighting all efforts to restrict the vote. See more of his personal history at his website.
About Voting Rights in the current moment, Rep. Lewis says:
"Voting Rights are under attack in America. Quietly, gradually, state-by-state, the right to vote - a right that many people died to secure - is being taken away. The Brennan Center released a report that shows that voting law changes across the nation will make it significantly harder for more than 5 million voters to exercise their constitutional right to vote. This should not be happening.
"…The right to vote is precious and almost sacred…I was beaten, and jailed because I stood up for it. For millions like me, the struggle for the right to vote is not mere history, it is experience. We should not take a step backward with new poll taxes and voter ID laws and barriers to voting…The vote is the most powerful, non-violent tool we have in a democratic society. We must not allow the power of the vote to be neutralized. We must never go back.”
Minnesota’s own Dr. Josie Johnson, recalled often the ongoing struggle of African-Americans to gain the right to vote and access to voting. As a recipient of award at the 2015 celebration of the passage of the 1965 Civil Rights Act, she said:
“I remember my sadness to know that the rights of African-Americans are still being denied. I share these memories because I need you to continue to struggle … stay alert, and protect the rights so many people, young and old, fought and died for. … Keep our commitment to justice. … Not just this moment, but every day, in every way.”
Enjoy Tom Weber’s MPR interview (or for a later version, here) with Josie Johnson for any inspiration you need to protect clean and fair elections.
White men got to be the first and only voters in 1856. African Americans should have had the vote after the passage of the 15th Amendment in 1870 but Black Codes, poll taxes, and centuries of repression kept them from access to the ballot. White women got the right to vote in 1920. Native Americans weren’t granted the right to full citizenship (what irony!) until 1924. All Asian Americans got the right to citizenship and the vote in 1952.
See this more extensive walk through of the history of American voting rights, or the more abbreviated timeline on the right.
Oprah supported Stacey Abrams for Governor of Georgia in 2018 and exhorted voters:
"For anybody here who has an ancestor who didn’t have the right to vote and you are choosing not to vote, wherever you are…You are dishonoring your family. You are disrespecting and disregarding their legacy, their suffering, and their dreams."
We know that this fight for the right to vote is not over. There is an active effort in MN to restore voting rights to felons. We know that many who have the right to vote on paper are hampered by voter suppression efforts. We know that even though MN has rejected efforts to require Voter IDs, the GOP is aggressively promoting that legislation on an ongoing basis.
We understand the struggle for the right to vote through the stories of those who have led the fight.
U.S. Representative John Lewis, who has served since 1987, was born the son of sharecroppers in 1940 (a contemporary of many of our readers), attended segregated schools in Alabama, and was inspired to be active in civil rights by the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the leadership of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He helped form the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and by 1963 was known as one of the “Big Six Leaders of the Civil Rights Movement.” He is one of the great American leaders of the Civil Rights movement and is actively engaged in fighting all efforts to restrict the vote. See more of his personal history at his website.
About Voting Rights in the current moment, Rep. Lewis says:
"Voting Rights are under attack in America. Quietly, gradually, state-by-state, the right to vote - a right that many people died to secure - is being taken away. The Brennan Center released a report that shows that voting law changes across the nation will make it significantly harder for more than 5 million voters to exercise their constitutional right to vote. This should not be happening.
"…The right to vote is precious and almost sacred…I was beaten, and jailed because I stood up for it. For millions like me, the struggle for the right to vote is not mere history, it is experience. We should not take a step backward with new poll taxes and voter ID laws and barriers to voting…The vote is the most powerful, non-violent tool we have in a democratic society. We must not allow the power of the vote to be neutralized. We must never go back.”
Minnesota’s own Dr. Josie Johnson, recalled often the ongoing struggle of African-Americans to gain the right to vote and access to voting. As a recipient of award at the 2015 celebration of the passage of the 1965 Civil Rights Act, she said:
“I remember my sadness to know that the rights of African-Americans are still being denied. I share these memories because I need you to continue to struggle … stay alert, and protect the rights so many people, young and old, fought and died for. … Keep our commitment to justice. … Not just this moment, but every day, in every way.”
Enjoy Tom Weber’s MPR interview (or for a later version, here) with Josie Johnson for any inspiration you need to protect clean and fair elections.
Threats to Voting Rights
The Carnegie Corporation, a philanthropic institution that makes significant investments in protecting democratic institutions has a succinct analysis of the key threats to voting rights, ways that states undermine voting. See their explanation and a link to the full report here.
The short list of dangers includes:
...and we have challenges ahead.
The Brennan Center for Justice does a deep dive into all we need to be alert to in 2020.
See their section titled “Ensure Every American Can Vote.”
The Guardian has launched “The Fight to Vote: Elections 2020.” Sign up (for free) to see their continuing coverage of the issues that pose challenges in 2020. In June they wrote of the mess in the Georgia election, what it reveals about vulnerabilities in systems, and the “rigging” that can inhibit the vote.
The short list of dangers includes:
- Voter ID requirements
- Lack of language access
- Voter roll purges
- Polling places closures and consolidations
- Lack of funding for elections
- Provisional ballot requirements
- Reduced early voting
- Reduced voting hours
- Poorly trained poll workers
- Partisan election administrators
- Creation of at-large local offices to dilute minority votes
- Foreign interference with elections
- A Trump campaign designed to prey upon racial tensions
- Trump administration efforts to deny the validity of vote-by-mail
- The complications of voting in the midst of a surging pandemic
...and we have challenges ahead.
The Brennan Center for Justice does a deep dive into all we need to be alert to in 2020.
See their section titled “Ensure Every American Can Vote.”
The Guardian has launched “The Fight to Vote: Elections 2020.” Sign up (for free) to see their continuing coverage of the issues that pose challenges in 2020. In June they wrote of the mess in the Georgia election, what it reveals about vulnerabilities in systems, and the “rigging” that can inhibit the vote.
Voter Suppression: This has got to stop!
Voting rights are clearly under assault. We saw this play out in recent primaries, such as the Georgia debacle.
We have seen the courts open the door to a feverish drive to curtail voting in targeted communities—usually communities of color, immigrant communities, and/or low income neighborhoods. In 2013, in its Shelby County v. Holder decision, the U.S. Supreme Court gutted the portion of the 1965 Voting Rights act that protected voters in places with a history of race based voter suppression. This bolstered practices, such as Voter ID laws, that inhibit or prohibit legitimate voters from casting their vote.
While specific tactics that lead to voter suppression may need to be addressed on a case-by-case basis when they appear in unique and unexpected ways, there are some best practices for protecting the right to vote. Everyone should be able to vote safely at home or at the polls, and access to the vote should be easy for every eligible voter regardless of race, economic circumstances, location, or health and safety concerns.
In Voting Rights Under Fire, Carnegie Corporation, a philanthropy with a major commitment to strengthening democratic institutions, identified some core approaches to preventing voter suppression.
Highlights include:
1) Advocacy: creating voter friendly policies at the state and local level, including ensuring adequate numbers of ballots, language assistance, easy-to-reach polls, and vote by mail systems
2) Election Assistance: helping people overcome barriers to voting with good information, user-friendly systems design, and hotlines
3) Election Monitoring: create a cohort of watchdogs who bark when there is trouble; set up Hotlines to solve problems in real time
4) Voter Registration Drives: educate and enroll people before the election; in Minnesota, ensure that people know they can do “same day registration”
5) Voter Education: community organizations can reach people to ensure that they are informed and activated voters
6) Get-Out-the-Vote Drives: GOTV based on relational organizing in underrepresented communities makes a difference
7) Litigation: challenging attempts to disenfranchise voters
Minnesota has a strong history of tackling voter suppression efforts. In 2012, the resounding defeat of a proposed Voter ID constitutional amendment had a profound impact on Voter ID efforts around the country. Community organizations turned what looked like a sure threat into a resounding defeat of the ID menace.
It's this kind of alertness, readiness, and bold action that will keep the right to vote a reality.
We have seen the courts open the door to a feverish drive to curtail voting in targeted communities—usually communities of color, immigrant communities, and/or low income neighborhoods. In 2013, in its Shelby County v. Holder decision, the U.S. Supreme Court gutted the portion of the 1965 Voting Rights act that protected voters in places with a history of race based voter suppression. This bolstered practices, such as Voter ID laws, that inhibit or prohibit legitimate voters from casting their vote.
While specific tactics that lead to voter suppression may need to be addressed on a case-by-case basis when they appear in unique and unexpected ways, there are some best practices for protecting the right to vote. Everyone should be able to vote safely at home or at the polls, and access to the vote should be easy for every eligible voter regardless of race, economic circumstances, location, or health and safety concerns.
In Voting Rights Under Fire, Carnegie Corporation, a philanthropy with a major commitment to strengthening democratic institutions, identified some core approaches to preventing voter suppression.
Highlights include:
1) Advocacy: creating voter friendly policies at the state and local level, including ensuring adequate numbers of ballots, language assistance, easy-to-reach polls, and vote by mail systems
2) Election Assistance: helping people overcome barriers to voting with good information, user-friendly systems design, and hotlines
3) Election Monitoring: create a cohort of watchdogs who bark when there is trouble; set up Hotlines to solve problems in real time
4) Voter Registration Drives: educate and enroll people before the election; in Minnesota, ensure that people know they can do “same day registration”
5) Voter Education: community organizations can reach people to ensure that they are informed and activated voters
6) Get-Out-the-Vote Drives: GOTV based on relational organizing in underrepresented communities makes a difference
7) Litigation: challenging attempts to disenfranchise voters
Minnesota has a strong history of tackling voter suppression efforts. In 2012, the resounding defeat of a proposed Voter ID constitutional amendment had a profound impact on Voter ID efforts around the country. Community organizations turned what looked like a sure threat into a resounding defeat of the ID menace.
It's this kind of alertness, readiness, and bold action that will keep the right to vote a reality.
Additional Resources
For a deeper dive into voting rights, election administration, and voter suppression battles and threats, see some of the resources included here. Please send your suggestions for additional resources to wy@olderandbolder.vote
Websites:
www.nonprofitvote.org has good national information about voting and a map that allows the reader to click on a state and get specific information about how to register, where to vote, and more.
www.Vote411.org, sponsored by the League of Women Voters Educational Fund, makes it super easy to access personalized voting information, as well as basic voting rules and regulations. The scope is national. Just put in your address, get the how-to details, and see what is on your ballot. You can register to vote and check your registration status, too. Neat.
https://ballotpedia.org is an encyclopedia for all things relating to elections and covers federal, state, and local elections. It includes calendars, candidates, platforms, information on how and where to vote, absentee balloting, and more.
www.nass.org is the National Association of Secretaries of State. The site allows you to link to the Office of the Secretary of State in your state.
www.politfact.org is a fact checking nonprofit, nonpartisan effort that assesses the truthfulness of everything said by political figures.
Books/Studies
Ari Berman, Give Us the Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America
Carol Anderson and Dick Durbin, One Person, No Vote: How Voter Suppression is Destroying Our Democracy
Erin Geiger Smith, Thank You for Voting: The Maddening, Enlightening, Inspiring Truth About Voting in America
Susan Goldman Rubin, Give Us the Vote: Over Two Hundred Years of Fighting for the Ballot
Websites:
www.nonprofitvote.org has good national information about voting and a map that allows the reader to click on a state and get specific information about how to register, where to vote, and more.
www.Vote411.org, sponsored by the League of Women Voters Educational Fund, makes it super easy to access personalized voting information, as well as basic voting rules and regulations. The scope is national. Just put in your address, get the how-to details, and see what is on your ballot. You can register to vote and check your registration status, too. Neat.
https://ballotpedia.org is an encyclopedia for all things relating to elections and covers federal, state, and local elections. It includes calendars, candidates, platforms, information on how and where to vote, absentee balloting, and more.
www.nass.org is the National Association of Secretaries of State. The site allows you to link to the Office of the Secretary of State in your state.
www.politfact.org is a fact checking nonprofit, nonpartisan effort that assesses the truthfulness of everything said by political figures.
Books/Studies
Ari Berman, Give Us the Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America
Carol Anderson and Dick Durbin, One Person, No Vote: How Voter Suppression is Destroying Our Democracy
Erin Geiger Smith, Thank You for Voting: The Maddening, Enlightening, Inspiring Truth About Voting in America
Susan Goldman Rubin, Give Us the Vote: Over Two Hundred Years of Fighting for the Ballot