Depriving citizens of their vote: New maneuvers, old strategy

The right to vote is a normative founding principle of a democracy; it is implicitly understood that government by the people entails public participation in the policy making process. Voter turnout fluctuates the United States, but has been averaged to 52%, much lower than most European democracies (Almond, Powell, Dalton, & Strom, 2006). The reason for this low turnout has been debated; some have posited that the percentage is based on census numbers of people of voting age, without consideration for the number of illegal immigrants or convicted felons, who are disenfranchised in many states (Almond, Powell, Dalton, & Strom, 2006). Recent developments might curtail this number even more, as states deliberately seek ways to eliminate voters from the rolls and skew election results by depriving certain groups of their vote. This reminds us of the early 20^th century, when women fought to get the vote, and were pushed back by those who did not want their monopoly on power threatened.

Some of the measures being implemented with the direct intent of disenfranchising voters include restricting early voting and absentee ballots, in order to force voters to show up at the polls in person and present a photo ID. One example of this is HB 194 of Ohio, which would disallow counties from mailing absentee ballots to residents, halve the number of days allowable for early voting, and eliminates online registration (Voting Rights, 2011).

A number of states have passed photo ID laws, most of which will take effect before the 2012 elections (Voter Identification Requirements, 2012). “Strict” photo ID states require voters to present a photo ID when they come to vote; if they do not have one with them, they can use a ‘provisional” ballot that is invalidated if they do not return within a set number of days with the acceptable identification. Other photo ID states allow the person to vote if he or she can prove in some other way that they are who they claim to be (such as signing an affidavit) (Voter Identification Requirements, 2012). A number of the strict photo ID laws have been challenged in court because they appear to target the poor, students and minority populations, all of whom are more likely to not have acceptable forms of photo ID (Voter Identification Requirements, 2012).

These attempted legal restrictions on voter’s rights have been implemented in most “battleground” states, where preventing large demographics from voting could determine the presidential election (Dade, 2012). The purported reason for these tactics is to “reduce voter fraud” (Dade, 2012), which, according to the Brennan Center for Justice, is very rare; because it can disenfranchise up to 10% of eligible voters, it should be carefully evaluated before implemented as a ‘remedy” for a non-existent threat ( Policy Brief on the Truth About “Voter Fraud”, 2006).

While the Constitution of the United States does not guarantee the right to vote, it does emphasize that no state shall deprive a citizen of their voting rights. The normative principle of a democracy upon which the Constitution rests is centered on the concepts of populism, self determination and government by the people. Infringing upon these is a violation of this principle and a very real threat to the legitimacy of future elections, and of the resulting governments.


Sources:

Policy Brief on the Truth About “Voter Fraud”. (2006). Retrieved from The Brennan Cneter for Justice: http://www.brennancenter.org/content/resource/policy_brief_on_the_truth_about_voter_fraud/

Almond, G., Powell, B., Dalton, R., & Strom, K. (2006). Comparative Politics Today. New York: Longman.

Dade, C. (2012, January 12). Political Battle Brewing Over New Voter ID Laws. Retrieved January 24, 2012, from NPR: http://www.npr.org/2012/01/11/145044060/political-battle-brewing-over-new-voter-id-laws

Voter Identification Requirements. (2012, January 9). Retrieved from National Conference of State Legislatures: http://www.ncsl.org/legislatures-elections/elections-campaigns/voter-id-state-requirements.aspx

Voting Rights. (2011, December 19). Retrieved January 23, 2012, from ACLU: http://www.acluohio.org/issues/votingrights/