For most states this year, the economic crisis has taken precedent over other serious policy issues, including election reform. In fact, the few key states that are dedicating this year's session to election reform instead of major budget issues are stirring up voters as they put their rights on the line. Like the highly publicized battles to pass voter ID in Texas and proof-of-citizenship registration requirements in Georgia, Florida's notorious 80-plus page omnibus election bill takes the cake in breaking the spirit of democracy.
Recent analyses of the 2008 general election find that overall participation increased on November 4, with a significant surge in voter participation among historically underrepresented Americans. Yet, while some lawmakers have been inspired by the recent voter turnout to propose election reforms that expand access to voting rights, others continue to focus on creating additional barriers to voting.
America's Democratic Promise The history of democracy in the United States is one marked by the steady, though intensely contested, expansion of the right to vote. Where once only male landowners were permitted the right to choose their representatives, the United States now proudly extends that right to all adult citizens. The most recent expansion of the franchise were the result of years of struggle through the Civil Rights Movement and the anti-Vietnam War movement. The seminal Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the 26th Amendment ratified in 1971 created enforcement mechanisms to protect minority voting rights and extended the right to vote to 18 year olds.
This week the Associated Press would have you believe that Texas is reliving its Wild West days, complete with outlaw voter rolls that are packed with felons and the deceased. Peppered with urgent language ("The auditor's report warns that improvement is needed...") and frantic headlines ("State's Voter Registration Rolls Need Policing"), the AP and local news outlets conjure images of wild-eyed ex-cons assaulting the integrity of Texas' electoral system.
"To me, it's a very clear view of the Republican agenda, said former [Department of Justice Civil Rights Division] Voting Section Chief, Joe Rich. "The GOP agenda is to make it harder to vote. You purge voters. You don't register voters. This is ripe for partisan decision making. You pick the states where you go after Democrats."
Project Vote has repeatedly reported on the Department of Justice's selective prosecution of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA). Instead of addressing state's clear failure to enforce NVRA Section 7's mandatory provisions requiring states to offer public assistance clients the opportunity to register to vote (see this study which details the continuing problems), the DOJ chose to pursue enforcement of Section 8, which details how voters should be purged from voter rolls. Many states have buckled to the DOJ's pressure and eligible voters have been removed from the lists and barred from voting.
STATE BLOGS
