Our nation’s Constitution has several Amendments to ensure the enfranchisement of all sorts of subgroups. Congressman John Sarbanes has added his voice to the chorus of people who wish to enshrine everyone’s right to vote. The stated purpose of the For The People Act of 2021:
To expand Americans’ access to the ballot box, reduce the influence of big money in politics, strengthen ethics rules for public servants, and implement other anti-corruption measures for the purpose of fortifying our democracy, and for other purposes.
The bill passed in the House of Representatives early in March. It has since been seen wandering the corridors of power, where Republican legislators kick it whenever they come upon it. Their most common complaint intrigues me. In a nutshell: If Congress enacts such sweeping protections of citizens’ right to vote, Democrats will seize power.
Seize that voter!
I wonder how you “seize” power without going through an election? Oh, right: you have a mob storm the Capitol. Or perhaps you have other plans…
If the President signs these protections of voting rights into law, everyone who can legitimately vote will be able to do so easily. If your party platform doesn’t appeal to them, well, they won’t vote for you, whatever party you partake of. Perhaps because Republican legislation looks unappetizing to many women, people of color, and people with consciences, these legislators are worried. What worries them? Well, that none of those groups will buy their wares. Meaning, these voters — assured their right to access the ballot box without fear or hindrance — will choose someone else. (Like, say, a Democrat or an Independent.)
Well, yes, that’s how voting works. If you prefer not to adjust your policies to appeal to and serve such people, then you risk losing votes. And thus the election. If that must be prevented at all costs, then your next rational step is pretty ugly. You must prevent such people from getting anywhere near the ballot box.
Whither shall I go to vote then?
As Mother Jones has already told you where it was most difficult a few years ago, let’s update the picture. The left-leaning website FiveThirtyEight.com has an excellent overview of current voting-related bills. It shows the vastly disproportionate sponsorship of restrictive statehouse bills by Republicans. (By the way, the article also has a wonderfully Tuftean spark-lines visual. It shows, state-by-state, the change in voters voting by mail in 2020.)
The non-partisan Pew Charitable Trusts looked into the tsunami of frantic bills seeking to limit access or outright disenfranchise whole segments of state populations. Its roll-up article, politely, it did not call it a tsunami in the headline but a wave of voting restrictions. It quoted the Brennan Center for Justice:
As of last month, Republican lawmakers in 43 states had introduced more than 250 bills that would make it more difficult to vote, according to the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University Law School, up from about 100 in 28 states two months ago.
An exercise of will just to cast a ballot
There are plenty states where casting a ballot calls for an exercise of will that most ordinary citizens — already scrambling for their health and a job — can ill spare right now. As it happens, Northern Illinois University developed a nifty map for the last election cycle. The article talks about “the cost of voting.” It assesses the cost of exercising your access to the ballot box. It isn’t pretty reading.
Voting laws vary widely from one state to another and change frequently. The index uses an assemblage of dozens of current election laws to rank each state according to the time and effort it takes to vote in U.S. presidential elections. … States with more restrictions have higher cost-of-voting scores and lower rankings for ease of vote.
Read the original analysis here.
Start doing bicep curls now, friends. It looks like we have a heavy lift ahead of us to defeat the hundreds of bills that would happily add to the cost of casting your ballot.