Voting rights advocates prep for perfect storm in 2020
Carla Duffy and Janet Savage waited nearly three hours in the hot sun outside the George Ford Center in Powder Springs, Georgia, to cast ballots in the state鈥檚 June 9 primary. Masked up to ward off the coronavirus, they were determined to vote despite lines that snaked down the street.
After about 90 minutes in line, voters at the predominately Black precinct were told the state鈥檚 new voting machines were not working. In a scene that played out across the state, they were given paper ballots. The ordeal left Duffy and Savage with little confidence in Georgia鈥檚 ability to conduct a fair election in November鈥檚 presidential contest. The primary, for example, was originally scheduled for May 19, but was pushed back due to concerns about the pandemic, a delay that appeared to have little effect on the state鈥檚 readiness once voters arrived at the polls.
鈥淚鈥檓 very afraid,鈥 Savage said of what may happen at Georgia polling places in November. 鈥淭he experience [during the primary] and the fact that they were not prepared. I don鈥檛 know if the [poll worker] training was adequate and we did hear that some people did not show up because of the COVID-19 crisis. I am very, very afraid. Had the provisional ballots been ready to go I would have felt better.鈥
The pandemic and the typical partisanship divide on what constitutes a fair election have voters, advocates and others concerned what will happen at the polls this November. Republicans, including President Trump, often insist the absentee ballot process 鈥 which some advocates say must be widely available in November to ensure the pandemic doesn鈥檛 suppress voter turnout 鈥 is rife with fraud, despite failing to substantiate such claims.
Perhaps the biggest blow to voting rights came in 2013, when the U.S. Supreme Court decided in Shelby County, Alabama, v. Holder, to dismantle Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The decision meant that states with histories of racial discrimination were no longer required to pre-clear changes in voting laws with the federal government before they went into effect.
Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Meanwhile, Democratic leaders in many states are accusing Republicans of using suppression tactics to prevent people of color from voting: voter roll purges, the closing of polling places at historically black colleges and universities, and the passage of voter ID laws that disproportionately affect low-income and Black and brown voters.
It鈥檚 a seemingly perfect storm for voter suppression that could potentially dim the election prospects of women and candidates of color, and has advocates motivated to increase turn out and ensure everyone鈥檚 vote is counted.
A Moral March on Washington
The Rev. Dr. William Barber leads , an organization working to make sure the voices of low-income people are heard by politicians on all levels. Barber鈥檚 group embarked on a 25-state listening tour that culminated in a Mass Poor People鈥檚 Assembly and Moral March on Washington Digital Justice Gathering on Saturday, June 20.
The three-hour included celebrities, experts and citizens sharing information and giving impassioned speeches about creating solutions to fight poverty and voter suppression, among other issues.
The virtual gathering has already garnered 2.5 million views on Facebook, and 300,000 letters have been sent to governors and members of Congress, said Martha Waggoner, director of communications for Repairers of the Breach.
Barber said it is imperative that people of all races form a coalition to fight for fair elections and other issues such as better wages, adding that voter suppression tactics don鈥檛 just impact communities of color 鈥 they affect people of all races, particularly the poor.聽 聽 聽聽
鈥淲e are working to build power and shift the narrative. When we took a hard look at the numbers there are 140 million poor and low-wealth people in this country; 66 million are white, 26 million are black. We also have a study coming out that鈥檚 going to show that if you were to register anywhere from 2 to 10% of poor and low-wealth people and organize them around an agenda, you could fundamentally shift the political calculus all over the country and especially in the South.鈥澛 聽 聽 聽聽
Barber says 100 million people, however, didn鈥檛 vote in the 2016 presidential election. Many were low-income people who don鈥檛 believe their issues are ever addressed. That鈥檚 why Barber鈥檚 group has traveled to many places throughout the South 鈥 including the hills of Eastern Kentucky 鈥 to meet with low-propensity voters and explain how they are victims of political disenfranchisement and their vote is power.聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽
If voting wasn鈥檛 important, notes Bakari Sellers, an attorney and CNN commentator, 鈥渢hey wouldn鈥檛 try so damn hard to take it from you.鈥澛 聽
鈥淚t鈥檚 not as if it鈥檚 an original thought,鈥 he says of voter suppression. 鈥淢ost of these Republican-led initiatives come from [the American Legislative Exchange Council], a conservative think tank that is behind voter ID laws, limiting early voting and ensuring that voting is not a national holiday.鈥澛
Such tactics are especially prevalent in the South, 鈥淏ut we are starting to see it trickle up,鈥 he said.聽 鈥淭here was no greater threat to our democracy in terms of using voter suppression strategies than in Wisconsin.鈥澛 聽 聽 聽
Walker, a former governor of Wisconsin, was accused of backing voting laws that suppress the vote. In 2016, presidential candidate Hillary Clinton lost Wisconsin by 30,000 votes.
鈥淢any would say [Clinton] had to go to Wisconsin, and I don鈥檛 disagree with that,鈥 Sellers said. 鈥淏ut we鈥檙e not talking some whopping defeat she took, we鈥檙e talking 30,000 votes.鈥澛犅
In Georgia, Stacey Abrams lost the 2018 gubernatorial race by less than 50,000 votes during an election where Abrams questioned whether all the absentee ballots were processed. Abrams has been an outspoken critic of an issue other politicians and voters in the state have raised for years: malfunctioning voting machines and the resulting long lines that seem to crop up more often in predominantly Black areas. Her opponent, Brian Kemp, oversaw the elections process as secretary of state. He did not recuse himself until the election results were formally contested.
Abrams has since launched Fair Fight, an organization which aims to ensure that every vote is counted. On CBS鈥 鈥淭he Late Show with Stephen Colbert,鈥 she described the 2020 Georgia primary as 鈥渁n unmitigated disaster,鈥 noting that the secretary of state placed the responsibility for the polling problems at the feet of local officials.
鈥淚t depended on the county you lived in if you had access to democracy,鈥 she said during the interview.
The Rev. Dr. William Barber
The Rev. Dr. William Barber leads Repairers of the Breach, an organization that works to ensure that low-income people are heard by politicians. Barber said registering and organizing 2% to 10% of low-income and low-wealth people 鈥渃ould fundamentally shift the political calculus all over the country and especially in the South.鈥
Getty Images/CQ Roll Call/Tom Williams
Bakari Sellers
If voting wasn鈥檛 important, said Bakari Sellers, political analyst, attorney and CNN commentator, 鈥渢hey wouldn鈥檛 try so damn hard to take it from you.鈥
Photo by Sean Rayford
Stacey Abrams
Former Georgia gubernatorial candidate, Stacey Abrams, is the founder of Fair Fight, an organization that seeks to protect voting rights. Abrams lost the 2018 gubernatorial race by less than 50,000 votes in an election where she questioned whether all the absentee ballots were processed.
Getty Images/Jessica McGowan
Dr. Bernard LaFayette Jr.
Dr. Bernard LaFayette Jr. led the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee鈥檚 voter registration efforts in 1963 and 1964 in Selma, Ala. The organization considered registering people to vote in Selma nearly impossible because 鈥渢he white folks were too mean and the black folks were too scared,鈥 recalls LaFayette, now a professor at Auburn University.聽
Photo by Sydney Foster
Cleveland Sellers
Cleveland Sellers 鈥撀爁ather of Bakari Sellers 鈥 is one of the survivors of the Orangeburg Massacre, where highway patrolmen shot and killed three people who were protesting a whites-only policy at a bowling alley in Orangeburg, S.C., on Feb. 8, 1968. Sellers and 19 others were wounded in the melee. The protesters, mostly college students, were unarmed.
Photo by Sean Rayford
Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed
聽鈥淲hat we face today is nothing compared to what our foremothers and forefathers faced with literacy tests and poll taxes,鈥 said Steven Reed, the first Black mayor of Montgomery, Ala. 鈥淲e鈥檝e seen this playbook before in our history, we just need to understand how to respond to it.鈥
Photo by Cierra BrinsonShelby v. Holder
Perhaps the biggest blow to voting rights came in 2013, when the U.S. Supreme Court decided in聽Shelby County, Alabama, v. Holder, to dismantle Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The decision meant that states with histories of racial discrimination no longer were required to pre-clear changes in voting laws with the federal government before they take effect. Since then, a torrent of聽, such as voter ID laws,聽have fallen on communities of color in states that were once subjected to preclearance and some that were not.
For voting rights advocates, the situation underscored Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg鈥檚聽, which argued 聽that聽鈥渢hrowing out preclearance when it has worked and is continuing to work 鈥 is like throwing away your umbrella in a rainstorm because you are not getting wet.鈥
Since the聽Shelby v. Holder聽decision, voting rights activists have been working in the courts and in communities to encourage people to understand the need to educate themselves so they can be better prepared to counter voter suppression.聽
鈥淪ystemic racism and voter suppression are at a height we haven鈥檛 seen since Jim Crow,鈥 Barber said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e had 26 states since 2010 pass voter suppression laws of various sorts. We know very clearly that every state that is a voter suppression state is a low-wealth state or a living-wage state.鈥
鈥淭he Voting Rights Act needs to be fully restored,鈥 Barber said.聽 鈥淓ver since June 5, 2013, Congress could have fixed the Voting Rights Act. They have not fixed it and by not fixing it they continue to allow states like Alabama and Georgia and North Carolina 鈥 the legislatures 鈥 to pass these laws and have them be implemented while we have to fight them in the courts.鈥
A victory for voting rights
But it hasn鈥檛 been all bad news for voting rights.
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida聽recently struck down provisions in Florida law SB 7066 that required people with felony convictions to pay off legal financial obligations before voting. The court held the law discriminates against those who lack a genuine ability to satisfy restitution and fines. What鈥檚 more, the court concluded that conditioning voting rights on the payment of court costs and fees constitutes an unconstitutional poll tax.
SB 7066 was quickly passed by the Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis after voters overwhelmingly approved Amendment 4 in 2018. The amendment restored the vote to 1.4 million residents with previous felony convictions. It was the largest single expansion of voting rights since the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Felon disenfranchisement is a form of continuing punishment, said Nancy Abudu, who heads the 澳彩开奖鈥檚聽聽practice group, which was among those bringing litigation challenging SB 7066. 鈥淛ust because you lose your right to vote doesn't mean you are stripped of all constitutional protections. Requiring people to pay money [in the way of fines, victim restitution and court costs] that they don't have to vote is totally irrational.鈥
She also highlighted how it affects women and, particularly, Black women.
鈥淵ou talk about women who already statistically make less money than men and our numbers are statistically high compared to men,鈥 she said. 鈥淲e come out of prison and simply don't have the same access to employment opportunities that men do. Usually the work is seasonal or part time and it's not a living wage. Couple that with the intersection of race and there鈥檚 a significant gap in pay. Almost 44% of Black women with a felony conviction are unemployed.鈥
The past is prologue
When it comes to today鈥檚 voting rights issues, some civil rights activists of the 1960s see the strategies of the past as key.
Dr. Bernard LaFayette Jr. frequently talks with people who are apathetic about voting. Instead of reminding them that people like him nearly died for the right to vote, he tries to appeal to them from the standpoint of improving their lives. They need to see what鈥檚 in it for them, said LaFayette, who led Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.鈥檚 Poor People鈥檚 Campaign in 1968.
LaFayette also led the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee鈥檚 voter registration efforts in 1963 and 1964 in Selma, Alabama. The organization considered registering people to vote in Selma nearly impossible because 鈥渢he white folks were too mean and the black folks were too scared,鈥 recalls LaFayette, now a professor at Auburn University.
Cleveland Sellers, Bakari Sellers鈥 father, and other SNCC activists who registered people to vote in Mississippi in the late 1960s, said 鈥減eople had to be willing to put their lives on the line. They had to understand the importance of organization and empowerment of people who had been undermined and, in some cases, in communities actually destroyed.鈥
鈥淒r. King often talked about the beloved community, community on the hill,鈥 Cleveland Sellers said. 鈥淚t was multiracial, it was inclusive, and it also allowed for other differences for people to come together over having that control and that control is simply in the vote.鈥
The elder Sellers is a survivor of the Orangeburg Massacre in South Carolina, where 200 unarmed college students were shot by highway patrolmen while demonstrating against a whites-only policy at a bowling alley on Feb. 8, 1968. Three people were killed.
Sellers, however, was the only person charged in the melee. He was convicted of rioting and spent a year in jail. In 1993, 25 years after the massacre, he received a full pardon from the state of South Carolina. He went on to become director of the African-American Studies Department at the University of South Carolina, and later, president of聽聽in Denmark, South Carolina.
The next generation of progressive leaders 鈥 such as Mayor Jacob Frey of Minneapolis, and Steven Reed of Montgomery, Alabama 鈥 are carrying the elder Sellers鈥 work forward.
While people were excited to see him elected as the city鈥檚 first Black mayor, citizens want to see results, said Reed. 鈥淭hey want to see opportunity. I don鈥檛 mind them having those type of expectations, they are not higher than the ones I place on myself,鈥 he said.
Reed said there will always be people opposed to progress made by women and people of color. Challenges to the Voting Rights Act are to be expected as some people feel threatened by those gains.
鈥淚t was manifest by the voting rights laws that were carried out by the secretaries of states. It鈥檚 important to understand how our government works,鈥 Reed said. 鈥淸Voter suppression] doesn鈥檛 just happen at the congressional level. It happens through聽Shelby v. Holder聽that helped remove preclearance. It happens at the judicial level. Then you come down to the state level where they are moving precincts off college campuses and where they are purging voter rolls.鈥
Citizens must stay engaged and aware of the strategies being used to keep people away from the ballot box, he added. 鈥淲e have to be sure that despite those obstacles that might be placed in our way that we are willing to persevere and that we are courageous enough to fight back.聽That means, organizing, that means engaging. And that means pushing things on the national, state and local level 鈥 all the way through.鈥
鈥淲hat we face today is nothing compared to what our foremothers and forefathers faced with literacy tests and poll taxes,鈥 Reed continued. 鈥淲e鈥檝e seen this playbook before in our history. We just need to understand how to respond to it.鈥
As for Carla Duffy who took part in Georgia鈥檚 primary with her 18-year-old daughter Jasmine, a first-time voter, the duo didn鈥檛 let the long lines and malfunctioning voting machines dampen their enthusiasm.
Said Carla Duffy: 鈥淚 vote because I want to make a difference by supporting those men and women who step up to the plate to serve on everyone鈥檚 behalf. I also vote to serve as a role model for my daughters.鈥
Lead photo by AP Images / Brynn Anderson
Angela Tuck is a senior editor with 澳彩开奖鈥檚 Intelligence Project. For more information on the 澳彩开奖鈥檚 work on voter rights, go to:聽www.splcenter.org
