Overly unnecessary voter ID laws prevent millions of Americans from voting during an election. The security of elections can be improved through means other than barring voters from being heard. According to the Brennan Center, approximately 11% of eligible voters do not have the ID required to be able to vote.
Voter purges are often flawed and discriminatory procedures of erasing eligible voters from registration lists through the use of inaccurate data. Even though it’s important to remove voters who have changed their names, moved, or passed away from the database, millions of registered voters may also be prevented from voting during the process if done wrong. Check out this link to learn more.
Gerrymandering is the act of unfairly drawing district lines to favor one party. Here’s a more comprehensive explanation of how gerrymandering looks.
Especially with thousands of polling places around the country having closed due to Covid-19, the limitation of early voting days forces people to vote solely on Election Day, leading to extremely long lines and a suppressed number of votes. The effects of limited early voting and polling machines are seen mostly among the elderly and working-class, who usually find themselves unable to take their Tuesday off to wait in long lines to vote.
Only 2 states, Vermont and Maine, allow incarcerated people to vote. As of 2016, approximately 6.1 million Americans were forbidden to vote because of felony disenfranchisement (laws restricting voting rights for those convicted of felony-level crimes). To gain a more in-depth understanding of felony disenfranchisement in America, click here.
Polling places in low socioeconomic areas often tend to be underfunded, meaning voters in these areas are made to wait in line for overly extended amounts of time. Many of these voters cannot afford to spend an entire weekday at the polling station, especially those who are working class or elderly.
The VRAA is an act that will help prevent discriminatory voting restrictions before they affect voters, by requiring preclearance of laws passed in areas with a history of violating voting rights.To contact your state senator in regards to passing the Voting Rights Amendment Act, click on this link and fill out the form on the right.
Check out these links to learn more:
www.aclu.org
www.brennancenter.org
www.lwv.org
Visit this website to learn how you can register to vote, check your voter registration status, and find what’s on your ballot.