WIP: What does voter suppression look like in 2020?
Advocating for fair elections and democracy.
This is part of an ongoing series we’re calling WIP, meaning “work in progress.” WIP posts will explore a topic that we’re committed to learning and talking about and we welcome you to join the work.
The backstory
Make a mental note and put this post in the “learning” bucket of our tagline - “living and learning as husband & husband.”
With the 2020 election nearly a month away, E and I find it hard to talk about anything else. Exception, Boba. One of the biggest things we’re hung up on is whether or not it will be a fair election. Which, let’s face it, that is a sad thing to have to worry about. Also, we can look back as soon as the 2018 mid-term election to know that we already don’t have fair elections. And we can look further back at the Jim Crow era to know that we have a history of unfair elections with voter suppression tactics designed to prevent Black voters and other marginalized groups of people from voting.
So, going back to basics, what were some of the earliest voter suppression tactics? During the post-Civil War era and up until 1968, nearly 100 years, Jim Crow laws were state and local laws that enforced racial segregation, preventing African Americans from holding jobs, getting an education and voting. Poll taxes and literacy tests were two devices used to exclude African American voters after the right to vote was extended to all races by the enactment of the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1870.
Poll Taxes: It is what is sounds. A payment that was a prerequisite to the registration for voting in a number of states until 1964. 1964?! My mom was almost a teenager by then.
Literacy Tests: Also what it sounds like. Tests administered to prospective voters from the 1890s to the 1960s, essentially to test their literacy in order to vote and ultimately disenfranchise racial minorities.
So what does voter suppression look like in 2020? The scary thing is, tactics these days aren’t as blatantly suppressive like “pay to vote” or “pass a test to vote.” Today, voter suppression tactics resemble inconveniences we are well acquainted with that almost seem normal and not worth our time to fix like long lines and inefficient polling places. Yes, some are still an obvious “um, that’s not right” like ballots not being counted. But others are so subtle, nuanced and under-the-radar that it takes time and money to combat them. These are the ones that I - to a fault - disassociate from because they seem beyond my depth like voter registration restrictions, voter purges, gerrymandering and felony disenfranchisement. And here’s where I admit that I am no expert, but will keep putting pressure on my representatives to fight for voter rights. I learned a lot from this piece from the ACLU. Want to know the first step in joining forces against modern day voter suppression? Tell your senators to pass the Voting Rights Advancement Act and reinstate critical protections left behind after the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act in 2013. This form takes seconds to fill out and will send a canned message to your senators.
Simple ways to protect the vote
Know your voting rights. Here’s a helpful guide from the ACLU with scenarios and what-to-dos.
Make a plan to vote and vote early. Here’s an Early Voting Calendar from Vote.org.
Staff your local polling place. We’re facing a record shortage of poll workers because of the pandemic. If you are able to, consider becoming a poll worker here.
