Voting is a fundamental right that all Americans are entitled to, one that may hang in the balance in a year marked by change.
Whether under assault or denied to any group in our society, the right to vote must be protected by every American willing to fight with all they have to keep it around for future generations.
Several factors have emerged in recent years that hinder our ability to vote, and we cannot let them stand in the way, such as a shortage of voting locations, voter ID laws, and Georgia's Exact Match rule. Minorities and the elderly find it difficult to comply with these unnecessary requirements due to barriers to transportation, financial hardship, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Most of the current attacks on voting are related to the gutting of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. In Holder v. Shelby (2013), the Supreme Court removed a key provision that required states with a history of voter suppression to obtain approval from the U.S. Department of Justice before making any changes to "their voting laws or practices." In the wake of Obama's two decisive victories and shifting demographics, Conservatives rushed to get their argument before the high court that such protections were no longer needed, with startling consequences. The states seeking the change fell under Federal guidelines. A bill to restore the historic measure to its original glory, which has passed the House, currently sits on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's desk.
Gerrymandering, a much older form of voter containment, which has been practiced by both Democrats and Republicans, impacts voting, too. Every ten years, districts have to be redrawn based on population changes. The party in power may skew the Congressional map to increase its representation in Congress. It was recently used by Democrats to enhance African American voting in Georgia, resulting in a majority African American Democratic delegation representing the state.
In addition to Gerrymandering, many Southern States introduced the Runoff Primary system in the 1960s to curtail black and Republican voting. It mandates that if no candidate receives a majority of the votes or 50.1 percent, a second election will be held between the two top vote-getters. The theory was that if blacks or Republicans were to vote in a bloc, giving their candidate the most votes in a crowded field, it could give Democrats and Segregationists, who made up a majority of the electorate, a chance to mobilize against the minority opponent.
A new form of voter suppression may be in the works involving the U.S. Postal Service. Due to COVID-19, Democrats and Republicans may have to rely on their local post office to cast their ballots in the general election. The country's mail system, however, is facing financial setbacks. The president has tied any attempt to fully fund the agency to the money to help fight the Coronavirus outbreak, which will fall far short of what it needs to function. The president has even threatened to withhold funding altogether if he does not get what he wants as a way to punish the Democratic Party. Lastly, the postmaster general, who donated handsomely to the Trump campaign in 2016, has reportedly eliminated much-needed employee overtime, dismantled sorting machines, and removed drop boxes. If Democrats lose this election and it is proven that mail delays or White House corruption played a role, there will be a civil war in this country.
We cannot wait to prepare the U.S. Postal Service for an onslaught of mail-in ballots or closely monitor any efforts by the president to disrupt the process. The post office can process millions of Christmas cards in any year, but now we have a president who stands in the way of progress. Thus, we cannot use or rely on the mail system as a primary source of voting and must, as former First Lady Michelle Obama said, vote early, wear a mask, pack a lunch, and be willing to stand in long lines well into the night if necessary and make sure everyone has the documents to vote and fix any voting irregularities.
America needs bold leadership. We must overcome partisan differences in favor of the right to vote, whether it's for Democrats or Republicans.
