The U.S. Constitution would indicate that voter suppression ended with Jim Crow, when the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed to protect African Americans’ and other minorities’ constitutional suffrage. But the 2013 Shelby County v. Holder case has lead to a resurgence in voter suppression laws. The supreme court reversed a provision of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that has lead to nearly a thousand polling locations being closed down. A MIT study of the 2016 election found that 14 new states had new voter restriction laws and an estimated 1 million votes were lost because of voter ID laws, long lines at the polls, and registration problems.
Voter suppression laws have been leveraged to protect House and Senate seats. This systemic oppression is reaching all the way to the Supreme Court. Laws are blindsiding young, minority, and lower income Americans. To combat these discriminatory actions, marginalized people need to be empowered, educated, and supported on how to use the law as their shield.
Below are three main cases of voter suppression that could sway results in the 2018 midterm elections, followed by five ways to fight back.
Three Cases of Voter Suppression
It’s only been 231 years since the U.S. Congress considered African Americans 3/5ths of a person in the constitution; 153 years since slavery was abolished; and 53 years since discrimination of voting rights based on race was prohibited. These 2018 cases of voter suppression demonstrate that systemic racism is still rooted in America’s soil.
Location: North Dakota
Target: Native Americans
Last month, the Supreme Court approved a North Dakota law that requires voters to show identification with a current street address. This law is a discriminatory technicality that disproportionately targets the 19,000 Native Americans without physical addresses, because they live on reservations and instead use P.O. boxes.
After Heidi Heitkamp, a North Dakota Democrat, won a 2012 Senate seat by 3,000 votes with strong support from Native Americans, North Dakota’s Republican-controlled state legislature began lobbying for this requirement, claiming her victory was due to voter fraud.
Location: Georgia
Target: African Americans
Republican governor nominee Brian Kemp, Georgia’s Secretary of State, is enforcing an “exact match” policy, which places voter registrations on hold if they do not precisely mirror the information contained in government documents — even for minor infractions such as missing a hyphen in a name. An investigation by the Associated Press estimates the policy will place the registrations of 53,000 voters — 70% of whom are African American — on hold. If Democratic Governor nominee Stacey Abrams wins the election, she’d be America’s first African American woman governor.
Rolling Stone obtained an audio file from a Brian Kemp campaign, where he expressed concern about Abrams’ supporters exercising their right to vote. Amidst this conflict of interest, even former President Jimmy Carter called for Brian Kemp to resign from the governor race stating the “exact match policy” is blatant example of racial discrimination and an unjust electoral process.
Location: Dodge City, KS
Target: Hispanic Americans
The only polling location in Dodge City, KS was moved to a neighboring city. Dodge City’s majority-Hispanic residents have complained the new polling location requires additional transportation provisions for factory workers, that wait times will increase on Election Day, and neighboring cities have similar populations but more than one polling location.
Debbie Cox — the Ford County clerk who lead the removal of Dodge City’s polling location — responded to these complaints, claiming that residents have attended events at the new polling location before, and if there are transportation issues, voters should be proactive and vote by mail. Her response shows no intent in ensuring the highest voter turnout in the city.
Five Ways to fight Voter Suppression
Issues of voter suppression have been identified, what are some solutions? While laws are being worked on to protect all Americans’ right to vote, here are a few grassroots actions to combat voter suppression.
1. Organize rides to polling locations
Transporting voters to the polls is an immediate action you can take to support Americans in exercising their right to vote, especially in a jurisdiction like Dodge City, KS where polls have been moved to remote locations.
CarpoolVote is still accepting volunteers across the nation to provide rides for tomorrow’s midterm election. Lyft is offering 50% off promo codes on rides to and from polling locations and Uber is offering $10 discount on rides to the polls with the code “VOTE2018”.
2. Volunteer as a Poll Worker
Poll workers are important members in the voting system. San Francisco reports it needs 3,000 poll workers to conduct an election. This need becomes more extreme in areas where voter suppression is taking place. In addition to helping conduct the elections, poll workers encourage voters to ensure they do not leave polling locations without casting a vote. There have been cases of voters being turned away on election day. Poll workers can support voters by demanding paper ballots in jurisdictions with broken or insufficient electronic equipment.
It’s recommended to apply as a poll worker volunteer 1–3 months in advance before an election, but some jurisdictions take applications until the week before election day. While midterms are taking place tomorrow, here’s a link with information on how to volunteer for future elections.
3. Educate poll workers and voters
Distributing candidate fliers and canvasing is a good tool for mobilizing voters for a single election, but the process needs to be repeated for upcoming elections. Some voters don’t know their rights at polling locations or which voter suppression laws to be aware of. By improving the voter literacy of poll workers and voters, it empowers them for the 2018 midterms and for the future.
In preparation for tomorrow’s election, read through RockTheVote’s nationwide glossary of voter rights terms and rules.
4. Donate to organizations
If voter suppression is taking place outside of your area, donating to local voter empowerment organizations is a way to support democracy and the constitutional rights of all Americans. In response the suppression in North Dakota, The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe started a GoFundMe campaign to raise funds for (1) transporting tribal members to the polls; (2) purchasing ID cards for tribal members; (3) filing voting information paperwork; and (4) media funding.
5. Vote
Voter suppression laws are being passed by elected officials. Supporting candidates like Georgia Governor nominee Stacey Abrams that want all citizens to exercise their right to vote is a step in reversing discriminatory voting policies.
Here’s a link to find and confirm your specific polling location.
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