Advocates working to combat voter suppression laws across the country say multipronged strategies are being pursued and they aren’t deterred by the U.S. Senate’s shameful failure last week to advance legislation to protect voting rights.
They also stress concerned citizens here and across the country can play a vital role in this important battle that is critical to protecting our democracy.
“This isn’t the first thing we tried to pass that it’s taken multiple efforts,” said U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly, D- Matteson. “Activists have to keep up those efforts … They need to make their voices heard, write letters, make phone calls peacefully protest. The pressure still has to be on.”
Kelly said perhaps some things can be split up in the bill and passed separately.
“I don’t know what executive orders President Biden could possibly do,” she said. “I’m sure they are researching that now.”
The legislation that stalled last week would modernize the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which was weakened by the U.S. Supreme Court. It would create a new formula to determine which states and localities would be subject to pre-clearance, a requirement that jurisdictions with a history of voting discrimination get preapproval from the federal government before changing voting laws, notes the Brennan Center for Justice. The Supreme Court in 2013 struck down the previous formula contending in part that it was outdated.
Among other provisions, the legislation, which had already passed in the U.S. House, would require all 50 states to offer early voting periods for at least two weeks before Election Day, including on nights and weekends, make Election Day a national holiday, create a national standard for voting by mail and establish rules for the drawing of congressional redistricting boundaries to prevent partisan manipulation.
In the absence of such federal legislation, between Jan. 1, 2021 and Dec. 7, 2021, at least 19 states passed 34 laws restricting access to voting, according to the Brennan Center. More than 440 bills with provisions that restrict voting access were introduced in 49 states in the 2021 legislative sessions, and state legislators also introduced bills to allow partisan actors to interfere with election processes and reject election results entirely, the Brennan Center reported.
With elections upcoming this year, African Americans and other minorities and disenfranchised groups will remain at a disadvantage, said Gary Dingle, president of the NAACP Chicago Far South Suburban Branch.
“What we have to do is get out and vote,” Dingle said. “We have to make sure that everybody votes. We have to vote no matter what happens.”
Similar sentiments were echoed by Ed Yohnka, director of communications and public policy with the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois.
“First, it’s really critical not to give up and just become hopeless and let the forces of voter suppression win this battle,” Yohnka said. “Second, we need to get as much information as possible into the hands of both newly eligible voters, so they register, as well as into the hands of infrequent voters.
“We probably all need to be better in terms of reaching out to people in our families, in our extended networks to ensure they are registered to vote and informed. It’s not enough to post on social media or howl at the moon. We have to roll up our sleeves and get in the game.”
He said it’s important to support organizations already doing this work, especially those in states and locations where there are have been changes in voting laws.
Yohnka said he expects in many states, groups and individuals will band together to provide resources to help voters navigate what could be a very complicated process for them, given all the voting rights changes.
Amir Badat, voting special counsel and manager with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, said the organization continues to push for federal and state legislation across the country to fight against suppressive bills and support legislation to expand and protect voting rights.
It’s also continues to litigate against voter suppression initiatives in Georgia, Texas and Florida.
“Some of them are close to trial, so hopefully we’ll get decisions on them fairly soon, ideally before the midterm elections,” Badat said.
The Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law remains focused on pushing for laws, policies and procedures in the Midwest to ensure voter access and remove barriers that disproportionately burden people of color, immigrants and low-income communities.
On Election Day, the group operates a hotline that takes calls from people in Illinois and Indiana to answer questions about voting and to get reports of barriers to voting, said Clifford Helm, a program counsel for the organization.
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The group is continuing to support legislation in the Illinois Senate that would restore voting rights for 30,000 incarcerated individuals. It also has been a part of litigation challenging redistricting in the East St. Louis area of Illinois and filed a lawsuit over concerns about how automatic voter registration was being rolled out in Illinois.
Advocates say that while, compared to many other states, Illinois has some strong laws on the books to make voting access easier for citizens, including same-day voter registration, automatic voter registration, expanded early voting, expanded mail-in voting and making it possible for the formerly incarcerated to vote, there is cause for concern.
“We really don’t want to have a tale of two nations where access to the ballot is dependent on where you live,” said Marcia Johnson-Blanco, the co-director of the Washington-based Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.
Voter suppression efforts in other states often serve as “testing labs” and can spread to other states, depending on how the composition of one’s state legislature changes, said Badat.
Many people only pay attention to voting issues around election time or when relevant legislation is being proposed, noted Johnson-Blanco. There is a need for “a continuous check on how our democracy is doing,” for sustained, focused effort and engagement, she said. “Our democracy is in a fragile state. We can’t be complacent.”
Francine Knowles is a freelance columnist for the Daily Southtown