Access Denied: Voter Suppression is Not an Issue of the Past
The right to vote is a landmark of American society. As a free American citizen, you are entitled to this right. However, it’s not as simple as it seems. What we don’t talk about is the extent to which gerrymandering and state-specific voter regulations disproportionately affect certain demographics of voters over others.
To provide a quick overview of these regulations, there are far fewer polling locations in Black and Latino communities. On top of this, elected officials are allowed to move voter stations as they see fit. Therefore, previous locations where individuals were told they could cast their ballot at may have been changed without warning. Research reveals that on election day, five percent of white voters reported having trouble finding polling locations in comparison to the 15 percent of Black voters and the 14 percent of Latino voters that reported difficulty accessing polling locations.
Having fewer polling locations means that people who do not live near their closest option may not have transportation to get there, or have the time to travel there, wait in line, and vote.
Not only is accessibility to polling locations an obstacle for Black and Latino voters, but the increase in stricter voter I.D laws throughout the country has had negative effects. In Georgia, for example, if the name on your identification card does not exactly match the name on someone's voter registration card, then they are not only not allowed to vote but their voter license will be suspended as well.
In 2018 this law prevented 51,000 voters from casting their ballots. Out of those 51,000 individuals, 80 percent of them were Black.
Now get this: Democratic candidate Stacy Abrams who - if elected - would have been Georgia’s first Black and female State Governor, lost 55,000 votes to Republican candidate Brian Kemp in 2018. This makes you think about if every community and citizen in America had equal opportunities and access to participating in elections, how many outcomes may have been different?
Just recently, democrats proposed The Freedom to Vote: John R Lewis Act a bill to eradicate voter suppression and guarantee the right to vote for all individuals. For six months, Republicans blocked the bill. However, democrats had one last shot when Senate Majority Leader Schumer decided that he would allow for the bill to pass with only a 51 vote majority.
This time, Democratic Senator of Arizona Kyrsten Sinema and Democratic Senator of West Virginia Joe Manchin voted with Republicans and on its last attempt, the bill failed 52-48. What does this mean for voters who are disadvantaged by the system that this bill intended to help?
Let’s take a look. As students of Elon University, we can register to vote in the state of North Carolina, which is an influential swing state. In 2020, North Carolina received an extra congressional seat after the population census revealed an increase in the state's population. Black, Latino and Asian residents accounted for 90 percent of the increase in population.
Instead of adding another congressional seat that represented the new members of the population, the state chose to remove the seat of Democrat G.K. Butterfield, the state’s majority-minority congressional representative of the Black Caucus. Shortly after, Butterfield retired and expressed his concerns about how this will hinder the power of Black voters in North Carolina.
Butterfields concerns have to do with the congressional map adopted by the state in 2019, stating that he believed the new plan was “racially gerrymandered.” According to the Brennan Center of Justice, this map removed one of only two of North Carolina’s majority-minority districts and replaced it with a predominantly white district. Specifically, this map diluted the power of Black votes in and around the city of Greensboro.
Out of the residents added to the district who were eligible to vote at the time, 62 percent were White. This means that now, there are more districts of majority eligible white voters in the state, and therefore the outcome of North Carolina’s elections will largely represent the White vote alone.
To reiterate, we are in the position as students at Elon to use our voice and vote for change in a state where every vote really does matter, and the same goes for wherever you may end up after your time here. When you go out to vote in the next election, consider taking the time to read what the candidates running for state and local offices will do with their position and figure out where you stand. Regardless of what you believe, vote for who you think will do best for the people in the community however you may define best.
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