Voting Rights

Voting rights have been a subject of debate ever since the start of our country and government. Our country has gone from only letting Christian, white, land-owning men to vote, to supposedly letting everyone vote. The ratification of the 15th Amendment in 1870 prohibited people from not allowing someone to vote based on race, theoretically allowing people of color to vote. Then with the passing of the 19th Amendment in 1920 women were, again theoretically, granted the right to vote. Both of these took great amounts of effort and time, and were, and still are, questioned and challenged.  With the 2020 presidential election and the way voting methods have changed with the pandemic, new questions about voting have been raised and debate has reignited around those with a passion. 

In just 2021 alone, 34 voting restrictions were passed in 19 states. Many focused on mail-in and absentee ballots. All of them were pressed and encouraged by Republicans. Republicans make the argument that their restrictions are to prevent voter fraud, which unfortunately after the 2020 election that Donald Trump lost, has become popular. Some of these restrictions also unfairly target populated communities of color. The four big counties in Atlanta, Georgia now have only 23 drop boxes, which is a large decrease compared to their former 94 available in 2020. Since then, Democrats have attempted to use federal legislation, in particularly,  two acts to undo those restrictions, but they have been unsuccessful. These acts are the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act. The John Lewis Act will add to and strengthen parts of the 1965 Voting Rights Act that was shot down by two Supreme Court decisions.  It would also require any state, including states with a history of voting discrimination to get pre-clearance from the Department of Justice before changing and voting laws.  For example, they would change polling locations and create stricter voter ID requirements. 

The Freedom to Vote Act is a much larger act that would make changes from how campaigns are funded to the accessibility of polling sites. It would make Election Day a national holiday so everyone can get to the polls more easily, allow voters to vote up to two weeks prior to Election Day, allow them to send in a ballot with no explanation, make voter ID requirements less strict, and make voting sites more accessible. It would also prevent campaigns from using “dark money”, meaning any group that spends over 10,000 dollars on influencing an election would need to show all their donors. These are all meant to combat the recent onslaught of restrictions states have passed. Democrats and allies say that these acts will prevent voter discrimination and suppression, especially based on race, in states. In Congress, Democrats have been pushing to approve these two acts but the Republicans in the Senate, which is currently split 50/50, have blocked both. 

Right now, things are very uncertain when it comes to voting but Americans haven’t fought so hard for voting rights just to let it all wash away. We’ve fought against oppression and discrimination before, we can do it again.