A longer version of this editorial was published in our sister publication, the People’s Tribune in its October/November issue.
As the movement for real change and real democracy in America grows, some powerful people and corporations are feeling threatened by even a limited democracy, and they would prefer this country be put under a corporate dictatorship of one form or another. The central battlefield where this struggle between democracy and dictatorship is being waged is the electoral arena, including around the right to vote.
One tactic is simply purging voters from the rolls. At least 17 million voters were purged nationwide between 2016 and 2018. Many don’t know they have been purged until they show up to vote.
Another tactic is gerrymandering voting districts to disenfranchise certain voters, especially the poor and voters of color, during the redistricting process, which is under way this year.
Another approach is U.S. Supreme Court decisions that limit the federal government’s power to protect voting rights.
Another tactic is passing voter suppression laws that erect unnecessary barriers for people to register to vote, vote by mail, or vote in person. Public Citizen reports that since 2015, corporations in the United States have given $50 million to the state lawmakers supporting voter suppression bills. Hundreds of anti-voter bills have been introduced in the states in recent years (425 just this year so far), and dozens have been passed, often under the guise of “fighting election fraud.”
According to the Brennan Center for Justice, between January 1 and September 27, 2021, at least 19 states enacted 33 laws that make it harder for Americans to vote, and these are typically states where voting was already difficult. States that have passed restrictive voting laws are concentrated in the South and the intermountain West.
Texas is a case in point, having recently passed SB 1, one of the most comprehensive and onerous voter suppression bills in the country.
As the fight in Texas shows, the rights of American voters are vulnerable precisely because voting is regulated at the state level. But there are two bills now before Congress that would impose — or reimpose — some national standards designed to protect the right to vote.
One is the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. Proposed by Senate Democrats, it would restore the power of the federal government to oversee state voting laws to prevent discrimination. U.S. Supreme Court rulings in 2013 and 2021 made it harder for plaintiffs alleging discrimination to challenge state voting laws under the federal Voting Rights Act. The House passed its version of the John Lewis Act in August. In the Senate, Joe Manchin of West Virginia is the only Democrat to not sign on as a cosponsor, although he has said he supports the bill. Senate Republicans oppose it.
The other bill originated as the For the People Act, which, according to its sponsor, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, would “restore the promise of American democracy by addressing voter intimidation and suppression, ending the corrupting power of dark money in campaigns, putting an end to gerrymandering, and strengthening ethics laws.” The bill passed the House more than six months ago, but Republicans were able to block it in the Senate this summer because Joe Manchin refused to support it. Manchin and Klobuchar have since agreed on a weaker “compromise” bill, the Freedom to Vote Act. Among other things, the act would set uniform national policies on mail-in ballots, early voting and voter registration, which vary widely across states. Republicans still oppose it.
Voter suppression is a giant step toward open dictatorship
Elections have real consequences, in terms of what kinds of laws get passed, whose voices get heard, and whose don’t, what kinds of decisions are made by the courts, who gets resources for their communities, and so on. The right to vote must be seen as sacred, and protecting it is a key part of staving off a dictatorship and advancing toward a real democracy. The movement must increase the pressure in the streets, both to stop the voter suppression at the state level, to force the Senate to end the filibuster and pass strong federal voting rights bills. Passing these bills won’t mark the end of the struggle, but it will be a needed victory in the long fight that lies ahead.
