Our founding fathers viewed voting as fundamental to the freedoms and democracy they hoped to create, and the right to vote has long been one of the hallmarks of American liberty.
Back in 1776, only land-owning men were allowed to vote. Over time, voting rights were slowly achieved by all Americans through the passing of various laws and constitutional amendments. Today, it’s widely assumed that all Americans have the right to vote, however, the reality is that millions of Americans are excluded from voting due to disenfranchisement laws, gerrymandering, and issues with ID requirements.
Are Voting Rights Under Threat?
That depends who you ask, and what beliefs you how around the right to vote.
During the 2016 Presidential election, millions of otherwise eligible voters were denied the right to vote simply because they didn’t have identification that matched the often-confusing state laws around voter ID. For example, in North Dakota Native Americans who live on reservations have a PO box listed on their ID, while state voting laws require a government ID with a residential address.
Residents of numerous US territories like Guam, the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico are not allowed to vote in federal elections despite the fact that they pay federal taxes and serve in the U.S. military in record numbers.
Where Can I Learn About The Candidates?
When it comes to choosing the candidate who you’d like to vote for, it’s important to do your own fact-checking and research. While it’s always a good idea to learn about your candidates in person by attending town hall meetings and speaking directly with the candidate, sometimes that’s not possible.
Vote Smart is a non-partisan, volunteer-run organization that is committed to collecting and publishing free, factual, and unbiased information about political candidates and elected officials. The goal is simple—to increase electoral transparency and provide voters with a trustworthy source of accurate information generated by voters, for voters. Vote Smart has no political or corporate affiliations, and every member of the board of directors must be balanced by another member who has opposing political affiliations.
How Can I Protect My Voting Rights?
The single most important thing you can do to protect your right to vote is to use it—that means taking the time to verify that you are registered as a voter, knowing the voter ID requirements in your area, and actually casting your vote.
Be sure to start the registration process early. You don’t want to wait until election day to find out if there are any issues with your identification or voter registration, otherwise, you likely will be denied your right to vote.
To find out about voter registration requirements, visit Vote.gov—a non-partisan U.S. government website where you can learn everything you need to know about registering to vote and casting your ballot.
What Else Can I Do To Improve Voting Rights in America?
You can contact your congressman or congresswoman to let them know you support the For The People Act (HR-1)—a historic piece of legislation introduced by Representative John Sarbanes designed to strengthen voting rights in America while limiting corporate lobbying and campaign finance abuses.
This proposed act includes changes that would potentially increase the size of the voter roll by both automatically enrolling eligible voters using information from the DMV or other government agencies and restore federal voting rights for ex-convicts.
If passed, the For The People Act would also bring major changes to the practice of partisan gerrymandering by engaging local communities, and in particular minority communities, in the redistricting process. Other proposed changes under the Act include declaration of a national holiday on federal Election Day; a one-week notice period for polling location changes; and a requirement that all states replace their electronic voting machines prior to the 2020 Presidential Election.