On a recent trip to New York, I was able to catch Suffs, the Tony Award®-winning musical making history on Broadway. The show reminded me of the battles that the women of the suffragist movement fought in order for me, just over 100 years later, to cast my vote. Remember, women were denied the right to vote until 1920 when the Nineteenth Amendment was ratified. Before that, women were only able to vote in select states. It is also important to note that the 1920s victory only applied primarily to white women. While Black women organized, protested, and supported the suffragist’s efforts, it would be years – nearly five decades – before they could fully join the ranks and cast their votes.
According to WhiteHouse.gov, extending full voting rights for all American citizens was a long and challenging process and the opportunity was first extended to Black Americans under the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution. However, “this was not the end of the voting rights struggle. Because of widespread discrimination in many states, including the use of poll taxes, grandfather clauses, and literacy tests, and other more violent means, Black Americans were not assured basic voting rights until President Lyndon Baines Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act in 1965.”
When you put that into context, all Americans did not have the right to vote until 1965 – which was just 59 years ago. 59 years! That is horrifying because voting is fundamental. It’s how we make our voices heard and have a stake in what matters, and it is the bedrock of a democracy. The League of Women Voters states, “In a democratic government, every person is considered equal and is empowered to both participate in their government and speak on the issues that impact their daily lives. Through our votes, we’re able to express our values around concerns like health care, climate change, criminal justice, taxes, and so much more.”
And yet today, in 2024, our voting rights are under attack. Even though – since 1965 – the Voting Rights Act (VRA) has protected voters of color from practices that make it harder for them to vote and those that unfairly diminish their voter power, in 2013 the Supreme Court struck down the heart of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 by a 5-to-4 vote. That allowed nine states, mostly in the South, to change their election laws without advance federal approval. The New York Times reported, “The court divided along ideological lines, and the two sides drew sharply different lessons from the history of the civil rights movement and the nation’s progress in rooting out racial discrimination in voting. At the core of the disagreement was whether racial minorities continued to face barriers to voting in states with a history of discrimination.”
Between 2012 and 2018, 1,688 polling places closed in states previously covered by section five of the Voting Rights Act, according to a report from the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. Prior to the Supreme Court ruling, local officials would have been required to seek federal review and show that their closure plans were not discriminatory. Now, local officials are free to make those changes under the radar. The Guardian reports that in addition to closures, Voter ID laws continue to disenfranchise people of color and marginalized communities, who are less likely to have the kinds of IDs that states require to vote. Proof of citizenship has also become an increasingly popular stance among GOP lawmakers, even though the Brennan Center For Justice finds noncitizen voting is extremely rare.
To add to that onslaught, the ACLU reports that after the 2020 presidential election, legislators introduced more than 400 bills in nearly every state, aimed at restricting access to the vote, primarily in communities of color. The march continued, and in 2023, lawmakers introduced at least 356 new anti-voter bills.
In light of recent actions, The League of Women Voters warns, “Our voting rights are under attack.” The League is “dedicated to using advocacy, litigation, and resources like VOTE411 to include more voters, expand and protect voter access, and ensure that elections remain fair and accessible.” They call out obstacles to voting that threaten our democracy, like “Bills that make voting harder for women and Black and Brown Americans,” other bills that empower “wealthy special interest groups that influence elections,” and redrawing “district maps that don’t reflect our communities,” also called gerrymandering.
In Missouri, where Women Connect4Good is headquartered, the state legislature passed sweeping changes to elections and voter-engagement practices, prompting legal action from the ACLU of Missouri. In 2022, their team partnered with the Missouri Voter Protection Coalition and filed a lawsuit against the State of Missouri and Secretary of State John Ashcroft challenging the voter identification requirements with the passage of House Bill 1878. The lawsuit, brought on behalf of the Missouri NAACP, the League of Women Voters of Missouri, and individual voters, alleges that the new restrictions violate the fundamental right to vote and equal protection under the Missouri Constitution.
“So-called Voter ID laws have always been a part of a deceitful agenda by politicians in power to stoke fear and reduce participation of registered voters in elections without evidence of a problem,” said Luz María Henríquez, Executive Director of the ACLU of Missouri. “This new law will disenfranchise Missourians, particularly people of color, people with limited income, rural Missourians, and voters with disabilities. These unnecessary and burdensome legal obstacles put in place by Missouri’s lawmakers are unconstitutional.”
“We will do everything in our power to make sure the rights of Missouri voters are restored, and everyone can have their vote counted,” Nimrod Chapel, Jr., President of the Missouri State Conference of the NAACP added. “The NAACP has long raised concerns about Missouri’s efforts to implement a discriminatory voter ID law, and it is one of the reasons we have issued a travel advisory for the state. Democracy in Missouri is not a safe place for Black voters.”
In November 2023, the Missouri ACLU contested the new requirements, including the provisions that limit voter registration activity and the distribution of absentee ballot applications. These constraints blatantly infringe on the right to political speech by severely restricting engagement with voters. Luz María Henríquez says, “Voting is the cornerstone of our democracy. Through the ballot, the public provides a check on our elected officials, giving the people the opportunity to approve politicians who have upheld their promises and oaths to the office and allows us to remove those who have failed. Not only do we get to decide who will represent us, but we get to vote directly on the issues that matter the most. The November 5th general election will prove to be critical for Missourians both locally and statewide as we will answer several questions on key issues, including a constitutional amendment that will end Missouri’s abortion ban and protect reproductive freedom.”
As we close in on election day in November, knowledge is power. The Brennan Center reports that over the last 20 years, states have put barriers in front of the ballot box — imposing strict voter ID laws, cutting voting times, restricting registration, and purging voter rolls. These efforts have kept significant numbers of eligible voters from the polls and “placed special burdens on racial minorities, poor people, and young and old voters.” That’s why they have put together resources to “fight fear with facts” surrounding the 2024 election, which they state, “More than just a contest between candidates or parties, the 2024 general election will decide the future direction of American democracy itself.”
While the Brennan Center is working up to and after Election Day to protect the institutions that sustain rule by the people, the League of Women Voters reminds us, “Elections affect every area of our lives, from health care to jobs to racial justice. When we choose our leaders by voting, we’re choosing the people who will make decisions that shape the direction of our country and our communities.”
This year – perhaps more than any other – it’s important that you get out, vote, and exercise the right that so many have fought for and continue to protect. It’s more than your right; it’s your responsibility—the responsibility of each one of us—to join in that fight and cherish and protect this most precious cornerstone of our democracy. Don’t let others decide your future. Vote!