The history of voter suppression in the United States is essentially the history of voting in general. From the beginning, voter suppression was about the black vote. After the Civil War when four million slaves were freed, there was fear that black voting would overwhelm the white power brokers of the south.
Despite the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments designed to guarantee equal rights and voting access to blacks, suppression of the black vote continued. As early as 1870 efforts to suppress the black vote were ramping up in earnest. Known collectively as the Jim Crow laws–poll taxes, literacy requirements and “whites only” primaries–were the main ways the black vote was suppressed. The “Grandfather Clause” allowed poor whites to vote, regardless of their literacy, if their grandfathers voted by 1867. Some of these measures were not repealed until the mid- 1960’s.
This did not mean that voter suppression was over. Gerrymandering, misinformation, tightening the window for absentee voting, banning same day voter registration, providing proof of citizenship and/or a government issued photo ID, closing polling places in minority communities, slowing down the mail and failing to count actual ballots cast in predominantly African American districts (that have already been gerrymandered) are forms of voter suppression. All these tactics were used in the 2016 election.
Disenfranchisement exists in all fifty states and is a tactic used by both Republicans and Democrats. According to the Brennan Center, thirty-three states have introduced 165 bills to restrict voting access. The bills primarily have to do with stricter voting ID laws, limiting mail-in voting, decreasing voter registration opportunities and enabling more aggressive voter roll purges.
Legislators in 37 states are fighting back with voter expansion bills that address issues like mail- in voting, early voting, increasing access to voter registration and voting rights restoration. Included in this are voting rights restoration that are aimed at felons and other criminals who have served their prison sentences, but are prohibited from voting because of antiquated laws.
The Supreme Court is also taking up bills that will define the future of the country in regard to voting rights. Two cases from Arizona have reached the Supreme Court and are being litigated at the time of this writing. According to the Brennan Center, the cases themselves are less important than the implications of them receiving a fair ruling. The first suit comes from 2016 when voters filed suit in federal court to challenge Arizona policies as racially discriminatory. It is an “out of precinct” rule that any vote cast in the wrong polling place must be excluded even if it is for ballots cast in state wide or national elections. The other is a ban on collecting and turning in mail ballots by anyone other than voter’s immediate family or a caregiver.
Both of these policies were deemed discriminatory, and the ninth circuit court of appeals asked the Supreme Court to take up the matter. This is concerning because this Supreme Court is not friendly to voting rights. Chief Justice John Roberts has a long history of chipping away at voting rights laws (it stretches back to his days as a clerk). This issue is important because it rests on precedents set in the Voting Rights Act, one of the most successful pieces of civil rights legislation in American history.
The Voting Rights Act prevents discrimination and lack of access to voting for people of color. Section 2 prohibits states and localities from imposing any “qualifications or prerequisite to voting or standard, practice, or procedure…in a manner which results in denial or abridgement of the right of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race of color.” It also allows voters to file suit to challenge discriminatory policies.
The upshot of all this is simple. The landslide victory of the Democratic Party in last year’s election is the direct result of increased voter registration, primarily among people of color. These voter suppression proposals are an effort to suppress the black vote. This is a tactic that is as American as apple pie.
In a representative democracy, the right to vote is guaranteed. We have standing laws to prevent voter suppression, but they are coming under strong attack. Part of what is at stake is the limit of state’s rights and the reach of the Federal government to regulate voting. This tension is as old as the country. As long as racism exists, there will be voter suppression. As long as white (primarily) men make the laws there will be voter suppression. It is clear that Republicans cannot win if blacks vote in high numbers. Their solution–make it harder for blacks to vote. In a representative democracy, this is just plain wrong.
The Irreverent Reverend 