Since the record voter turnout in 2008, 30 states have passed measures making it more difficult for Americans to vote. Proponents suggest that these measures help prevent voter fraud, but that problem is virtually non-existent. There is much more evidence that qualified voters are disfranchised by these measures than there is evidence of fraud. Since I last blogged about voting rights, the ACLU has uncovered even more personal stories about obstructions to voting across the country.
Andre Washington, for example, takes care of five children while working and attending college. In his state of Ohio, the measure would cut the early voting period in half. Andre and 1.5 million other voters (or roughly 30% of the electorate) voted early in Ohio’s 2008 election. Early voting has increased turnout, especially among working people who don’t have the flexibility to take time off of work—why restrict it?
In Pennyslvania, the ACLU has a lawsuit against voter ID. One of our plaintiffs there is Wilola Lee. A resident of Pennsylvaniasince 1957, she has voted since she was 18. She was born in Georgia during the Jim Crow era and the state kept no record of her birth. Without a record of her birth, she cannot get a photo ID and will be unable to vote.
And while voter suppression laws have a disproportionate and unfair impact on low-income individuals, racial and ethnic minority voters, and voters with disabilities, they also impact people who otherwise experience few disadvantages. Even Representative Lincoln Davis, former U.S. Representative from Tennessee, has had difficulty voting. During a primary election earlier this year, Representative Davis went to the polls only to discover that he had been purged from Tennessee’s voter rolls.
He’s since filed a class action lawsuit against the state for unlawfully purging the voter rolls.
Voter suppression laws are fundamentally incompatible with principles of democracy, which is why the ACLU continues to fight for voting rights in Maine and across the country. Read more about our efforts here.