The Supreme Court’s decision in the 2013 Shelby County v. Holder case has drastically changed how we think about voting in America in just a few short years. Probably the most notable impact is that the presidential election this year will be the first one without the full protections of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA).
While Congress contemplates legislation to restore a coverage formula to require “preclearance,” or federal approval before implementing new voting rules in some places with particularly egregious voting rights records, voters in the meantime have borne the brunt of the many major changes to voting rules in their states. Many of us in the voting rights community have seen firsthand how new, restrictive voting laws have practically impacted voters through volunteering at the Election Protection helplines.
Election Protection is a coalition of organizations throughout the country that work to advance and defend the right to vote. The coalition also provides a number of resources, including voter helplines: 866-OUR-VOTE (run by the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law); 888-VE-Y-VOTA (run by the NALEO Educational Fund); and 888-API-VOTE (run by APIAVote and Asian Americans Advancing Justice-AAJC). A team of volunteers staffs each of these helplines, and they have been trained to ensure that voters throughout the country have comprehensive information on how to register and cast ballots that count.
The Election Protection helplines have fielded calls from thousands of voters so far this primary season. Voters have called with questions ranging from what identification they should bring with them to vote to where their polling locations are located, and problems they encountered with broken voting machines.
The absence of the coverage formula under the VRA has been particularly noticeable in some states, counties, and cities that were previously covered by the protections of preclearance.
The March 15th presidential primary in North Carolina was the first statewide election administered under the new voter ID law, which was enacted in 2013, along with a host of other restrictive voting changes, including a reduction in early voting days and elimination of preregistration of 16- and 17-year-olds. During the March primary, voters experienced confusion over the ID requirements, last-minute changes in polling places, and failure to provide provisional ballots when needed. Prior to the Shelby County ruling, North Carolina was partially covered under the VRA preclearance formula.
“These are just some of the many challenges voters have faced this primary election cycle. “
In the Arizona March 22 presidential primary, we saw lines at the polls, some as long as five hours in Maricopa County, the state’s largest county. The long lines resulted from the county’s decision to cut down from 200 polling locations in the 2012 primary to just 60 in this year’s presidential primary. Out of frustration, many voters ended up leaving the polls. Arizona was wholly covered by the old preclearance formula under the VRA.
In their April 19th primary, New Yorkers encountered a host of problems at the polls, which resulted in the state’s opening of an investigation after the election. Among the many problems, 126,000 Brooklyn Democrats had been removed from the voter rolls because the city had marked their registration as inactive. Other problems included the late opening of polling places and confusion over the closed primary process, which required changes to voters’ party affiliation to have been submitted by October 9, 2015. Similar to North Carolina, New York was partially covered by the VRA preclearance formula prior to 2013.
Ahead of the April 26th primary in Rhode Island, a number of activists were concerned with the reduction of polling places statewide from 419 to 144, in addition to the state’s new voter ID requirements. On Election Day, voters throughout the state expressed frustrations with long lines and broken voting machines, among other issues.
Other states, like Texas (which was previously entirely covered under the VRA preclearance formula) and Wisconsin, held elections under new restrictive voter ID laws during their respective presidential primaries this year. Countless voters in these states encountered confusion over what forms of ID were acceptable at the polling place.
“Project Vote staff alone has dedicated about 80 hours volunteering at the 1-866-OUR-VOTE helpline over the course of this primary election…”
These are just some of the many challenges voters have faced this primary election cycle. Fortunately, Election Protection helplines have provided assistance to many voters who were left unaware of their rights after changes to their state’s voting rules; however, for many other voters, Election Day was simply too late or entirely impossible to ensure their votes counted, particularly if it required obtaining the proper identification to cast a ballot.
Project Vote staff alone has dedicated about 80 hours volunteering at the 1-866-OUR-VOTE helpline over the course of this primary election, providing voters assistance in almost every primary that has taken place so far this year. However, it is not enough that voters have an incredible resource like this helpline to call with potential registration and voting problems. Congress ought to take note of the significant number of voters who have been entirely disenfranchised of their right to vote as a result of confusing and restrictive changes in many states across the country, and take swift action to restore a coverage formula to the Voting Rights Act.
