Voter access: a call for reform
LONDON—On Super Tuesday, a rainy day here in London, hundreds of American expats gathered to cast their ballots for the Democratic Party nominee for president of the United States of America.
Through the Democrats Abroad Global Presidential Primary (GPP), U.S. citizens came together in a Westminster community center, just as Americans in thousands of community centers, churches, and gymnasiums around the United States did, to fulfill their constitutional right and duty, to have their voices heard.
People arrived with big smiles, happy to participate in American democracy, see fellow Americans, and take part in something bigger than themselves. Moms turned up with their babies dressed in red, white, and blue and took pictures of them wearing their “I voted” stickers on their way out. Parents beamed with pride as they watched their kids vote in their first U.S. election. And, in keeping with the location, there were even multiple dogs-at-polling-stations photo-op moments, reminiscent of the very British Twitter trend during December’s UK general election.
A graduate student in London, I was among those expats that day, volunteering at the event in the hopes of contributing to our nation’s future in my own insignificant way. Watching Americans who had lived abroad for years take part in the primaries, I was filled with the hope of our democracy. Those people were working to effect change in even the smallest of ways. Those people still believed that their ballot, however trivial it may seem amid millions of others, still mattered. And mainly, I was filled with hope, because after 3½ years of chaos in American leadership, those people still believed in a better future.
However, being at the GPP, I was also reminded of my experience helping a friend during the 2018 midterm election, and remembered how we continue to come up short in expanding the hope of our democracy to everyone.
A few weeks before the 2018 midterms, I pestered my politically disengaged friends to vote. One assured me he registered when he turned 18, but asked for help on what to do on election day, since he had never voted before.
While helping him find his polling location, I noticed he was not registered. In fact, the Arkansas Secretary of State’s website showed that he had previously been registered, but was removed from the voter rolls. To make matters worse, because election day was in a few weeks and the registration deadline to be eligible to vote in Arkansas is 30 days before election day, it was too late to re-register.
Amendment 51, § 11 in the Arkansas Constitution addresses voter registration cancellation. Under its rules, there are a number of valid reasons for the state to cancel someone’s registration, including death or movement outside of the county. However, this amendment also includes a provision that states anyone who fails to respond to an address confirmation letter and does not vote in either of the last two federal elections should have their registration canceled.
My friend fit that criteria, and although he fully intended to vote, he was purged from the voting rolls and unable to do so. A government policy limited his right to vote.
The Arkansas policy of canceling voter registrations for people who miss two elections is not an isolated incident of limiting voter participation. If we as a society collectively agree on the importance of voting as not only a right but in fact as a duty, then we must acknowledge that certain government policies systematically restrict voters’ access to that right. We must do better.
The last day to register to vote in Arkansas is 30 days before the election. This is far before most people are even thinking about voting or checking their registration. A total of 21 states and the District of Columbia have enacted same-day voter registration, proving 30 days is an unnecessarily early date to require registration. Arkansas could implement a similar policy with verification such as proof of residency requirements, provisional ballots, sworn affidavits, and criminal penalties in order to ensure the security of same-day voter registration.
Along similar lines, Arkansas should follow the lead of 18 states and the District of Columbia in implementing automatic voter registration policies when people interact with government agencies or turn 18. Instead of making people opt-in to voter registration, whenever they file paperwork with an Arkansas agency they should be automatically registered to vote, or their registration should be automatically updated. This would simplify the registration process, leading to greater registration, while also improving upkeep. The opt-out procedures would still allow for people to decline registration if they wish.
Arkansas should also utilize existing technology to simplify the process of registering and requesting absentee ballots. Currently, if one wants to register to vote in Arkansas, they either have to do so in person or through the mail. While this does not sound like a major inhibitor, in today’s technologically advanced world, most people do not own printers or regularly send mail.
Currently, 38 states and the District of Columbia have implemented online registration, and Oklahoma is in the process of doing so. Not only would this remove an additional barrier to voter registration, but a Pew Research study conducted alongside Make Voting Work showed that online voter registration saves states money due to printing and administration cost reductions.
Like most states, Arkansas allows absentee voting, which is great for expanding access to voters who are unable to vote in person for any number of reasons. However, voters must request their absentee ballot by printing and mailing in a form. They then must wait to receive their ballot in the mail before completing it and mailing it back to the county clerk.
As with voter registration, the state of Arkansas can utilize existing technology to allow for online requests and scanned submissions of absentee ballots to further remove voting barriers.
Finally, who we allow to vote in our elections shows our values as a society. In Arkansas, people who are criminally convicted cannot participate in Arkansas elections until they have completed their sentence, including prison time, probation, and parole.
While Arkansas is not as bad as some states when it comes to voter criminal disenfranchisement, we could do better. If we want rehabilitation to be the main goal of our criminal justice system, we should not treat criminals as less than citizens by preventing them from voting years after they have left the criminal justice system.
It is not lost on me that these measures alone will not solve the low levels of voter participation that we see in the United States. My age demographic consistently has the lowest levels of voter turnout. Election after election, less than half of 18- to 29-yearolds participate. Implementing these policies will help expand participation in our democracy to more and more eligible people.
These voting reforms will not happen overnight, and will not happen while we have elected officials who may see a benefit from lower participation. With the deterioration of the Voting Rights Act in recent years, it is up to voters to choose leaders who push to remove barriers in voting and look to expand access anywhere that they can.
In the meantime, we can look to the expats in London on Super Tuesday for hope in what our democracy can be, and work to change it from the ground up. Check your registration. Call friends and have them check theirs. And then go vote. Our elections are too important not to.