Let’s Get Serious About Voting Rights
We must be very clear-eyed about what happened on January 6. The insurrectionists and some legislators tried to change our votes. That battle to suppress our votes continues in state legislatures today.
Over 360 new voting restrictions have been introduced in 47 state legislatures under the pretext of voter fraud. Those restrictions will make it harder to vote. Among those restrictions are reducing days for early voting and numbers of ballot drop-off boxes, and making it harder to register to vote and to vote absentee.
The Georgia legislature is one of those 47 states. Georgia recently passed legislation to impose restrictions on early and absentee voting and increase voter ID requirements. And, worse, the Georgia legislature now has the power to control state elections and the voter certification process. Georgia’s current attempt to make it harder to vote and to subvert the vote is directly related to the recent outcomes in the presidential and special elections in Georgia.
The good news is the recent filing of the For the People Act. That Act provides uniform national voting requirements to protect our right to vote. Among other provisions, it standardizes rules for voter registration, early and absentee voting, and requires the use of paper ballots. It also seeks to eliminate partisan redistricting and keep dark money out of politics.
Which raises the question: Why should requirements for voting be different in different states? Having those best practices in place nationally would make it easier to vote and ensure that every vote is accurately counted.
Until this recent election, we never understood how vulnerable our votes were to subversion. Some state legislators, with the support of our former President, actively toyed with the idea of substituting the Electoral vote, based on actual voter choice, with their own private voter choice. Clearly, the time has come to change how we count votes in Presidential elections.
Some states have agreed to join the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. As of March 2021, 15 states, which includes Maryland, and the District of Columbia, have agreed that all their electoral votes will be awarded to whichever candidate wins the popular vote in their respective states. These participating states have 196 electoral votes, or 36%, of the 270 Electoral College votes needed. Two bills to join this Compact were filed in the Virginia legislature this year. Both died in committee.
Typically, as in most Presidential elections, voter turnout last year was high. But, in 2020, it was especially high. Why? Not only were we voting against a particular candidate, but we also voted for and thereby insisted on a fair election. Attempts to suppress our votes were obvious and odious — false claims of anticipated voter fraud, challenges to mail-in and absentee voting, subverting our previous mail efficiency, removing mail and ballot drop-off boxes, reduced voting locations, and long voter lines.
Nowhere were these challenges more obvious than in Georgia. By January 5, voters took to the ballot boxes in previously unheard-of numbers for a special election. The numbers were almost as high as the voter turnout in the Presidential election in Georgia. I responded by doing something I had never done before: I volunteered to help get out the vote in Georgia, a state I do not live in and have never lived in. Why? Because of the importance of that election and because I had had enough of the chicanery.
Which brings me to my final point. Yes, we can, and we should, contact our legislators. They are (and should be) receptive to our views and suggestions for legislation. All it takes is a phone call or an email. I have never been sorry I made those contacts.
We can begin by asking Congress and our state and local representatives to act, but ultimately the responsibility to vote in every election is ours. The success of democracy depends on our vote.
It is not too early to start thinking about how we can be effective voters. If you are not registered to vote, register. If you plan to vote in an election, study the ballot before you arrive to vote. You can obtain the ballot online or from your local voter registrar’s office a few weeks before an election.
Our vote is the heart of democracy. Exercise it. Make a commitment to vote in every election — local, state, and national. If necessary, bring a chair bring a meal, and bring a neighbor. Send the message to those who work so diligently to sabotage our votes that we vote and our votes count.
