Reform Democracy and Protect Voting Rights
In the wake of the historic voter turnout in 2020, fraught with conspiracy theories about the inaccuracy of the results, states across the nation have increased their intensity to impose more stringent laws to make it even more difficult for citizen’s to vote. Laws that would expand voter suppression are at an all-time high in our nation.
According to the Brennan Center for Justice, thirty-three states have introduced, pre-filed, or carried over 165 bills to restrict voting access this year. While not limited to stricter ID laws, suppression tactics include restricting voter registration opportunities, reducing the number of early voting days, limiting mail voting access, and mass purges of voter rolls. Systemic racism is prevalent in the disenfranchisement of marginalized communities to exercise their right to vote. One could construe a government-issued ID as a simple requirement not to be a suppressive tactic on the surface. In looking closer, the ACLU reported that 21 million U.S citizens do not have government-issued IDs due to financial and accessibility obstacles. Millions of Americans with just this law do not have access to democracy.
Voter suppression has a long history in our country, specifically targeting black and brown communities, immigrants, the impoverished, the elderly, and people with disabilities. On the heels of Black History Month and now in Women’s History Month, we remember all those who fought hard before us for our most fundamental right, the right to vote. We not only remember but continue in our efforts to ensure greater access to democracy. With having a trifecta of Democratic leadership at the federal level, there is a narrow opportunity to reform our democracy to ensure that individual states cannot enact legislation at the peril of their constituent’s voting rights. Just last week, robust legislation passed the House and has now gone to the Senate.
HR-1/S-1, For the People Act, expands voting rights, stops big money flow into our elections, limits partisan gerrymandering, and much more critical legislation. A complete bill summary is outlined on Congress.GOV with the following primary inclusions:
- Expands voter registration and voting access. It also limits removing voters from voter rolls
- Requires states to establish independent redistricting commissions to carry out congressional redistricting
- Sets forth provisions related to election security
- Addresses campaign finance reform
- Addresses ethics in all three branches of government
- Requires the President, the Vice President, and certain candidates for those offices to disclose ten years of tax returns
Another important bill is the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. The Supreme Court took out portions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which protected voters from racial intimidation and discrimination. As reported by the NAACP, “As a result of the 2013 Supreme Court decision in Shelby County v. Holder, there are currently no states or jurisdictions which are required to comply with the “preclearance” directive under Section 5 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.” This means that states with a proven history of discrimination can enact deliberate voter suppression initiatives without federal oversight. HR-4, named after the civil rights icon John Lewis, re-establishes preclearance for nationwide suppressive tactics such as changing election practices, documentation requirements, access based on language, and reducing polling locations. The John Lewis Voting Rights Act is imperative for democracy reform to offer critical protection against racially prejudiced voter suppression policies.
In combination with HR-1/S-1 and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, structural reform can be enacted to put power in the people’s hands. At Rideshare2Vote expanding voter’s rights and increasing access to democracy is at the core of our mission. We realize that millions of Democratic voters don’t have their voices heard, don’t get their votes cast, so we are changing that one election at a time by providing wheels to democracy and removing a real barrier to voting. We support the For the People’s Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act.
