Speak Out: Pass the For the People Act
One of my great passions is stopping the systematic disenfranchisement of American voters across the country.
Outright disenfranchisement — taking away a citizen’s right to vote — is pretty damned blatant. The laws doing so must be very creative. For example, a legislature might arbitrarily decide that if people haven’t voted in one or two election cycles, they lose the right to vote until they reestablish it. For good measure, such laws incorporate arcane rules to follow when re-registering. (It’s no accident many “rules” strongly resemble Jim Crow’s poll taxes or literacy tests.)
Among the worst practices are those that rob Americans of the franchise because of errors, overly aggressive attempts to clean voting lists and voting roll manipulation designed to influence elections and political power.
Washington Post, 5/13/19
And so Republicans — and I’m sorry to say voter suppression is an exclusively Republican effort — resort to other means. They make it as hard to cast a ballot as humanly possible. Republican tacticians study polling records for methods activists used to get more legitimate ballots into ballot boxes. They then devise tightly written new rules to prevent that method from being used effectively ever again.
Republicans have for the past two decades worked to restrict voter access, instituting voter ID laws, shortening early voting periods and purging inactive voters from registration rolls. Often, state lawmakers said these measures were necessary to prevent widespread voter fraud, despite a lack of evidence.
Pew Trusts report, 2/5/21
Believing is not seeing
Possibly you believe these allegations of problematic voting. Possibly your preferred news sources and the legislators you’ve voted for say these draconian measures are necessary. They have repeatedly told you such rules are the only way to ensure sound elections.
Perhaps you believe it’s acceptable that if certain types of voters cannot comply, it’s their problem to cure, not government’s. Such voters do not look like you, of course. Such voters include those too old or infirm to carry their ballots into a polling station in person. Or people who use public transit to get to work and thus lack a driver’s license to register. I can only assume that Republican tacticians believe their voters, including you, will never need someone’s help to get a ballot from hand to box. Timothy used the term “temporarily able-bodied” of people who shrugged at staircases…
If you believe these things, you do so as a tenet of faith. I call it faith-based because the facts do not support your suspicions.
For the rest of my gentle readers: If you’re not furious, you haven’t been paying attention.
Call to action: For the People Act
An email from the Biden-Harris campaign folks dropped in my mailbox this morning. It reads in part:
“While the GOP is working day and night to restrict voting access, House Democrats passed H.R. 1, the For the People Act, earlier this month. This bill is the most significant voting rights legislation introduced in more than half a century. It aims to fight big money in politics, expand voting rights, end extreme partisan gerrymandering. It will help hold our elected officials accountable.”
Read the text of the Act at the link. If you agree this is a good idea, you need to help ensure this bill passes the Senate, too. The email goes on:
You can take action by calling the Senate at (202) 224-3121 and asking for your senator to pledge their support for S.1, the For the People Act. Here is a script you can follow:
Hello, my name is (YOUR NAME), and I’m a constituent from (YOUR STATE), ZIP code (YOUR ZIP CODE). I’m calling to encourage Senator (NAME) to vote in favor of S.1, the For the People Act. This bill will put power back in the hands of the American people and protect our democracy. Thank you!
Want to call your Senators’ home-town offices, too? Great! You can find contact information for all senators on the Senators.gov website.