How to stop the vote stoppers
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Dear Leading Ladies,
If passed, the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, now before Congress, will combat the insidious voter suppression laws that are surging in many states and districts in our country, preventing citizens, particularly those of color and living in neighborhoods of poverty, from participating in the electoral process guaranteed by the US Constitution.
Why do we need these acts? What is the history of voter suppression in this country? Are not citizens already guaranteed the right and access to vote?
We thought this might be a good time to offer a crash course in the history of efforts to keep certain groups of people from being able to vote and what the proposed bills will do to bring some more justice to our democracy.
Black men and women stand in line in the rain while trying to register to take a voter registration test in Selma, Ala., Feb. 17, 1965. AP photo.
Voter Suppression’s Long History
As we all know, voter suppression historically has been used to disenfranchise Black voters and other minorities in this country, and particularly in the South.
Although the 13th Amendment abolished slavery, it was the 15th Amendment (1870) that gave African Americans voting rights. Specifically, it prohibits the federal and state governments from denying a citizen the right to vote based on that citizen's “race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” However, the amendment did not supersede a state’s right to invoke the 14th Amendment which called for “equal protection” and “due process” for all, but also permits states to deny the vote for “participation in rebellion or other crime.” And therein lies the gaping loophole that led to “felony disenfranchisement” of so many of the newly emancipated. (Click here to read statistics on the ways different states still treat felons during and after their incarceration.)
After the Civil War and at the end of Reconstruction, various other measures were adopted (as part of Jim Crow laws), particularly in the South, to ensure that the freed African Americans could not enjoy their newly won right to vote. Poll taxes were put in place, charging fees to even register. These continued in some areas until the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Add to this literacy tests, fraud and intimidation, and the “grandfather clause” (struck down in 1915 by the Supreme Court) that deemed you could not vote unless your grandfather had (a virtual impossibility for those born into slavery), and you start to get the picture of a system stacked against Black American participation in the election process. (For more info about the history of voter suppression, click here and here.
In 1920, of course, the 19th Amendment was ratified by Congress and granted women the right to vote, but most Black women continued to be excluded. Many showed up at the polls but were turned away and told they did not meet the requirements for suffrage. In all but a few states, notably California, Illinois, and New York, the same methods that kept Black men from voting were invoked to keep Black women from the polls until the 1965 Voting Rights Act. (For more info about Black women and the right to vote, click here.)
The final most common form of voter suppression (first used in 1812), though in a different category than the others, is gerrymandering, that is, the redrawing of electoral districts to influence voting outcomes for the benefit of a particular party.
What happened to the Voting Rights Act of 1965?
The Voting Rights Act of 1965, signed by President Lyndon Johnson, did much to guarantee access and ensure the voting rights of African Americans. And then, in 1971, the 26th Amendment lowered the voting age to 18 and, in 1993, people could register to vote at the Department of Motor Vehicles and other easily accessible public facilities. The voting rolls of African Americans and other previously underrepresented citizens quickly swelled to unprecedented levels.
But what happened in the new millennium?
Basically, Shelby v Holder.
To understand, we need to backtrack to 1965. The Voting Rights Act included a unique section unlike any other federal law. It required that states receive clearance from the federal government for any change in their voting laws, procedures and requirements. This was meant to put a check on what was realized to be the unfair literacy tests that kept Blacks from voting, but it also meant the states would have to ask for approval of any plans to change district boundaries, close or move polling stations, or engage in any other activities that might inhibit Black voter turnout. At the time the act was adopted, there were complaints, but nonetheless it passed. And although Southern states soon found loopholes, Section 4 held them somewhat in check. (For more info about the preclearance section of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, click here.)
In 2013, however, the Supreme Court, in a 5–4 decision, ruled that Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act was unconstitutional and outdated. Justice Roberts noted that literacy tests had long been “banned nationwide” so were no longer a concern. Even before Shelby v Holder, beginning in 2010, voter ID laws, cutbacks to early voting, and the closing of polling places have been seen in several Southern states. All of these actions impact poor people of color disproportionately.
Since Shelby v Holder, and particularly recently, there has been a surge of activity to suppress voting access, most especially for Black voters and other minorities. “Already in 2021, more than 250 bills in 43 states have been introduced by Republican state legislators that create more unnecessary barriers to voting,” according to rollcall.com. These bills range from “cutting early voting to increasing purges of voter registration lists, to limiting absentee voting options” and more.
Now What?
The two bills, HR 4 (known as the For the People Act) and HR 1 (known as the John Lewis Voting Rights Act), aim to turn the clock back and restore the letter and intent of the 1965 Voting Rights Act and go even further in ensuring access to the electoral process for all Americans, despite their race, religion, socioeconomic level, gender, zip code, etcetera.
Specifically, the For the People Act would:
Streamline the voter registration process by allowing voters to register securely online or on Election Day
Stop the purging of voters from registration records
Increase security by requiring paper ballots and increasing oversight of election vendors
Crack down on voter intimidation and the spread of misinformation by increasing penalties
Ensure more secure and accessible options to vote and reduce long voting lines by expanding early and absentee voting
Restore the right to vote for people who have completed their felony sentences
End partisan gerrymandering by calling for reforms to the way congressional district maps are drawn
Give DC residents full voting rights and representation by supporting DC statehood
(adapted from rollcall.com)
And the John Lewis Voting Rights Act would:
Restore the 1965 Voting Rights Act including the preclearance provision that was removed by Shelby v Holder in 2013
Prevent future discriminatory laws
(adapted from networklobby.org)
The two acts are complementary; both are necessary and need support. The John Lewis Voting Rights Act will take longer to get passed and put into practice; the For the People Act is ready to be passed by the Senate by the end of the summer. (It passed the House in March.)
What can we do?
Keep your eyes and ears open to the latest developments. Over the weekend, Sen. Manchin (D) said he will not support the For the People Act, claiming that partisan politics will destroy the country. Learn more here.
Let your representatives and senators know you want them to support the For the People Act and John Lewis Voting Rights Act. Find your representatives and their contact info here. Find your senators and contact info here.
Support candidates at the state level throughout the country who will work to push back against voter suppression efforts. Forcemultiplierma.org and fairfight.org are two organizations that identify these candidates and raise funds for them.
This week, we recommend
you watch “Voter Suppression: Then and Now,” a Zoom presentation with Cheryl Crawford, executive director of MassVOTE, and Alex Psilakis, policy and communications team member, at MassVOTE. Sponsored by Leading Ladies sister organization, We are America the Beautiful. Monday, June 14, 6–7:30 pm. Watch on FB then, or afterward on the website. No registration required.
Did you know that the 14 most common synonyms for hope are aspiration, desire, wish, expectation, ambition, aim, plan, dream, daydream, pipe dream, longing, yearning, craving, and hankering? Choose your favorites and bring them out when you need them.
Therese
Judy
Mary
Beth
ladies@leadingladiesvote.org
Leadingladiesvote.org