This guest blog post was co-authored by Sierra Club volunteers Rachel Parham, Felix Mbuga, Steve Murphy, Dana Schwartz-Benedetto, Jennifer Wood, and Jane Felice
"The Congress may at any time by law make or alter such [election] regulations."
-- Article 1 Section 4, United States Constitution
Voter suppression is not a new phenomenon in the United States.
The Founding Fathers grappled with how to make sure the vote of white male property owners overpowered the vote of those who didn’t own land.
In the aftermath of the Civil War, states subverted the Fifteenth Amendment by implementing literacy tests and poll taxes. The Confederate states used intimidation, violence and intentionally established voting laws to block Black people from voting. These same tactics, as well as a longtime unwillingness to recognize them as US citizens, also kept Native Americans away from the ballot.
Women could not participate in the electoral process at all for the first 130 years of their country’s existence.
So yes, voter suppression is not new. But you know what else isn’t a new phenomenon in the United States? Addressing and correcting voter suppression so that every US citizen can exercise the right that Thomas Jefferson himself wrote is foundational to the power of government. It takes time - decades in some cases - but the government has stepped in and corrected the course.
For example, throughout the early 1800s, as new states joined the union and America’s boundaries extended west, voting rights were expanded to include all white men, not just property owners.
In 1919, almost 80 years after the inception of the women’s suffrage movement, the Nineteenth Amendment was passed, finally granting women the right to cast a ballot.
And in 1965, after almost 100 years of Black and indigenous voter suppression, the Voting Rights Act passed, prohibiting the use of intimidation tactics that make it difficult for targeted groups to vote.
State governments and the federal government have corrected the injustice of voter suppression before, and we need them to do it again. Now. Because, as of October 2021, 19 states have passed 33 laws that make it more difficult for certain people in those states to vote.
Furthermore, at least four states - Arizona, Georgia, Missouri, and Nevada - have introduced legislation that allow state legislatures to essentially overturn the election results in those states if the electorate doesn’t choose what the legislatures want.
Sixteen states are considering shifting election authority away from the executive branch and moving it to the legislative branch, a tactic the non-profit United to Protect Democracy and The Protect Democracy Project state “would alter the balance of power between branches of state government in significant ways,” and “create a heightened potential for partisan election meddling.”
And that is only a sample of what is happening to voting rights today. Again, as of October 2021, more than 400 bills attempting to restrict voter access in some form have been introduced in 49 states.
So, it is time for Congress to do what it has done in the past. It is time to correct the injustice again. But we can’t wait 20 years or 80 years or 100 years this time around. Because today, it is not just that US citizens are losing their right to vote. Today, we are facing a series of existential crises: climate disasters, systemic racism, economic and social inequality, environmental injustice, and unhealthy living conditions are all plaguing the country, and we need every US citizen to have a voice in solving these problems. We need everyone to have easy, equal, and secure access to the ballot box.
And it is within Congress’ powers to pass the key legislation that will correct these injustices: the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act are the ways to fix the course. Not only will they stop the voter suppression efforts passing right in front of us, they will also put a stop to election subversion, partisan gerrymandering, and cloaking the identity of big money donors, among other provisions. They will make it easier for citizens of any political persuasion to vote.
They will ensure the security and integrity of our elections. And they will protect the voice of those who use it in the electoral process.
So, let’s get history to repeat itself. Let’s pass legislation that enfranchises voters. Congress, do right by the people of the United States as you have done before and do whatever it takes to pass these two bills. That includes eliminating the filibuster, which as of this writing in December 2021, is being used to block both pieces of legislation.
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Additional References:
- ACLU. (ND) A History of the Voting Rights Act.
- Library of Congress. (ND) The Right to Vote.
- McKeever, Amy. (August 21, 2020) Voter suppression has haunted America since it was founded. National Geographic.
- National Geographic Society. Voting Rights Throughout History.
- United States Senate. (ND) Constitution of the United States.