The basis and foundation of our democratic form of government is the right to vote. Voting is one of the most important tools Americans have to influence the policies the government adopts. Unfortunately, many Americans are effectively denied their right to vote.
Impact
Women and African Americans in the early part of the 20th century, African Americans again in the 1960s and Latinos in the 1970s, Native Americans in the 1920s and Asian Americans following World War II all had to fight for inclusion in the American polity. Even today, there are disparities in the voting system that have a negative impact on many minority and poor voters
- Discriminatory voting practices continue to exist. Today, these usually take the form of creative methods of establishing districts that dilute the voting power of minority groups. Establishing unusually large voting districts in areas with a geographical concentration of certain minority groups can discriminate against those groups by burying them within a larger white voting majority. This dilutes the voting power of minority groups that could otherwise constitute an influential voting bloc. Smaller districts can also be drawn in such a way that the voting power of a minority group is diluted by dividing a geographical concentration of minorities into several districts that are predominantly white. Minority voting power may also be diluted by encompassing an extremely large minority group into one district, rather than allowing that group to have an influence over several districts.
- 1.4 million African-American men (13% of the entire adult African-American male population) are denied the right to vote because they served time in prison. In five states, including Florida, one quarter of male adult African-Americans are disenfranchised.
- 14 states disenfranchise former inmates for life.
- 32 states disenfranchise former inmates while on parole.
- 29 states disenfranchise former inmates on probation.
- In addition to this, many former inmates who live in states where they can vote again are not aware of the process to regain the right. They also may not even be aware that there is no process in the state they reside.
- Among eligible voters, faulty voting booths and flawed voting procedures often result in uncounted or improperly counted ballots on election day. The November 2000 elections raised yet a new set of concerns about minority voting rights. Across America, voters - especially minority voters - reported that they had been effectively denied the franchise in a variety of ways. These included allegations that minority voters faced a significantly greater risk that their votes would not be counted accurately because of the disproportionate use of outdated and inaccurate equipment in minority neighborhoods. Asian American, Haitian American, Latino, and other language minority voters reported that they were denied language assistance to which they were entitled. Eligible minority voters reported that they had been inappropriately "purged" from voting lists. Moreover, many jurisdictions use equipment that is inaccessible to voters with disabilities.
Background
Prior to the Civil War, African Americans were almost totally disenfranchised throughout the states. The Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution, adopted in 1870, gave all men, regardless of race, color, or previous condition of servitude the right to vote. The Nineteenth Amendment, ratified in 1920, provided women the right to vote.
Many southern states continued to use various methods to prevent people of color from voting, including literacy tests, poll taxes, the disenfranchisement of former inmates, intimidation, threats, and even violence. Until 1965, federal laws did not challenge the authority of states and localities to establish and administer their own voting requirements.
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was designed to address these issues. It prohibits discrimination based on race or language minority status. Section 2 of the Act, which bars the use of voting practices or procedures that discriminate against members of such protected classes, has been used successfully to attack restrictive voter registration requirements and the location of polling places at sites inaccessible to minority voters.
Section 5 of the Act requires federal "preclearance" before covered jurisdictions (i.e., specified jurisdictions with a history of practices that restrict minority voting rights) may make changes in existing voting practices or procedures. The Act also provides the Department of Justice with the authority to appoint federal observers and examiners to monitor elections to ensure that they are conducted fairly. Initial enforcement efforts targeted, among other things, literacy tests, poll taxes, and discriminatory registration practices.
In 1975, the Voting Rights Act was amended to address the voting rights of language minorities. ." Sections 4 and 203 of the Act apply in jurisdictions with significant numbers of voters with limited or no English proficiency and require such jurisdictions to provide voting materials and assistance in relevant languages in addition to English.
In 1980, however, the Supreme Court dealt voting rights enforcement a significant setback. In City of Mobile v. Bolden, the Court narrowly interpreted the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution, as well as the Voting Rights Act, holding that the government must prove that any change in voting practices that harm minorities was actually motivated by discriminatory intent in order to establish a violation.
When it renewed the Voting Rights Act in 1982, Congress overturned the Bolden ruling despite the objections of the Reagan administration. The 1982 amendments make clear that it is unnecessary to prove that certain registration and voting practices have been established with discriminatory intent. Instead, section 2 is violated if a court concludes that a voting practice has the effect of limiting the electoral influence of minorities, even if not motivated by bias.
A second 1982 amendment allows for people who are blind, disabled, or illiterate to be assisted in voting by almost anyone of their choice.
After the 1990 Census and the resulting round of redistricting, the number of black representatives nearly doubled in Congress, with Latinos also making significant gains-demonstrating the Acts' ability to help address the dilution of minority voting power.
However, in the early 1990's, the Supreme Court issued two decisions that threatened to roll back many gains in minority voting power. In Pressley v. Etowah County Commission, in 1992, the Court gave more freedom to local governments covered by the Voting Rights Act to make changes in their political structure without approval or clearance from the Federal government. The result was that minorities elected to certain positions could have their power limited by local governments after elected.
In Shaw v. Reno, the Court called into question legislative redistricting plans that create districts likely to elect a member of a minority group. The sharply divided Court ruled in this 1992 case that North Carolina's 12th Congressional District, which gave the state its first African American member of Congress since Reconstruction, was so "bizarrely shaped" that it could violate the rights of white voters. Such "bizarre" districts, the majority suggested, could trigger strict scrutiny even though white voters could demonstrate no specific harm to themselves. In other words, an individual white voter could challenge a redistricting decision by simply alleging that race was a decisionmaking factor in drawing district lines - even absent evidence that the white plaintiffs' ability to participate had been impaired or that their votes had been diluted. Shaw v. Reno and its progeny thus created a litigation vehicle that threatens to undermine much of the increase in minority representation in Congress and in state legislatures since the 1990 reapportionment cycle.
In 1993, legislation called the National Voter Registration Act was enacted to promote voter registration. This Act-known as "Motor Voter"-- requires states to provide voter registration materials at departments of motor vehicles, offices that provide public assistance and/or disability benefits, and Armed Services recruitment offices. This Act also permits voters to register by mail for Federal elections. The Federal Election Commission data reported that in 1998, and additional 7 million voters were registered under the NVRA compared to 1994 numbers.
