Legislation affecting voting rights brings cause for alarm over future of democracy

Legislative moves across different parts of the country have raised concerns from those who fear stepping back from the gains made in the 1960s.
(Photo: Unseen Histories / Unsplash)

By Lori Lee
NDG Contributing Writer

Despite that it happened early in the pandemic, the high voter turnout of the 2022 election has prompted some states to adjust their voting laws. After concerns over virus transmission prompted states and local authorities to support mail-in voting and drop boxes, some states have chosen to adopt those practices permanently, National Organization for Women reports.

Seeing their success, Nevada and Vermont will continue to mail ballots out to all active registered voters for future general elections. Others will expand voter access by allowing mail-in ballots without excuses, Politico reports.

Some states have gone the opposite route, making voter laws more restrictive. Republican-led states, citing false claims of voter fraud, have passed bills limiting drop boxes and mail-in voting, and shortening the time allowed to vote.

Legislative moves across different parts of the country have raised concerns from those who fear stepping back from the gains made in the 1960s.
(Photo: Unseen Histories / Unsplash)

Georgia, known for longer wait times in black areas, now makes it a misdemeanor to distribute food and water to voters, reports the Poynter Institute. Other laws limit assistance to mail-in voters and hold to strict signature requirements.

Alternative efforts to suppress the vote are through electing candidates who subscribe to Donald Trump’s philosophies of overturning elections and intimidating election officials. Alex Koppelman of CNN suggests that if Republicans take over the Senate or the House, and if another Trump-inspired Republican runs for president, “there may be no stopping the tide.”

Secretaries of state offices may be most important, as overseers of elections and influencers of public opinion. Barbara McQuade of Time reports, there are least 17 election deniers of the 27 secretaries of state to be elected this fall.

Kansas House Bill 2332 prevents the executive and judicial branches from changing election laws by transferring some key powers of election administration to the legislature.

Then, there are efforts to suppress certain types of voter turnout by restricting the type of Voter ID accepted at the polls. These laws tend to negatively affect those In lower income neighborhoods and in areas with a history of segregation, where many may not own a car or have a driver’s license. For these citizens, obtaining voter I.D.s and birth certificates may be more difficult, National Organization for Women reports.

Similarly, restrictions that require the exact same name on all government documentation hurt women and LGBTQIAs, who have a tendency to experience name changes, they report.

Other efforts to control the vote allow concealed carry permits, while not accepting student IDs as a valid form of identification. One such state is Texas.

Despite the brave walk-out Texas Democrats organized to avoid our massive voting rights bill, S.B. 1 bans drive-thru voting, tightens documentation requirements for mail ballots, limits polling hours, and allows partisan poll watchers.

There is also an increasing tendency for states to purge voter registration rolls. Iowa has justified purging its “bloated voter rolls” by reducing opportunities for voter fraud, as reported by CBS News. New Iowa election laws will make voter status “inactive” after skipping one election and cancel voter registration for those who skip just four years of voting.

Other limits on voter registration come by not allowing voters to register on election day. Montana recently ended its election day registration option, which the state had successfully used for 15 years. The state has even gone so as to ban voter education and registration efforts at public colleges. In a similar way, Florida has been targeting get-out-the-vote and third-party voter registration organizations that encourage civic engagement.