A Short History of Voting Rights & Present Day Voter Disenfranchisement
By Olivia Le Warn, Engagement Coordinator, Coalition for the Delaware River Watershed
Over the past year the Coalition for the Delaware River Watershed (CDRW) has seen major legislative wins both on the state and federal level. Most recently, we saw the Great American Outdoors Act signed into law in early August. We had another big federal win with the Delaware River Basin Restoration Program receiving $9.7 million in funding as a part of the 2020 Interior Appropriations bill. On the state level Delaware’s budget included $23 million dollars for clean water and conservation, even with the financial challenges presented by COVID-19.
Across the basin, having legislators that understand the importance of clean water, both at the state and federal level, is paramount to the success of the Coalition’s policy priorities. As we come up on the next election, CDRW is working alongside the Choose Clean Water Coalition and Healing Our Waters Coalition to help our membership share information about voting registration deadlines, polling locations, and options for absentee and mail-in ballots.
This year, 2020, also marks the anniversary of major voting rights legislation. About 150 years ago, the 15th amendment was ratified, granting African American men the right to vote, though in practice significant challenges were imposed to continue to disenfranchise African American men. 100 years ago, the 19th amendment was ratified giving 26 million American women the right to vote, mainly White women. The amendment failed to enfranchise most African American, Asian American, Hispanic American, and Native American women. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 abolished deterrents to voting based on race and continued to be amended, with the most recent amendment occurring as recently as 2006 to strengthen the Act.
Even with the passages of legislation like those above, significant challenges to voter enfranchisement persist to this day, which leads to the suppression of voters, primarily BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color), low income, and people with disabilities. Practices like inaccurate voter roll purges, felon disenfranchisement, and inaccessible voting locations lead to inequitable access to the right to vote. These practices lead to statistics such as:
1 in 13 Black Americans not being able to vote
1 in 3 voters with disabilities report difficulty voting
Only 40% of polling places being fully accessible to people with disabilities
Counties with larger minority populations having fewer polling sites and poll workers across the country
The ACLU provides a slate of resources to prepare voters for this year’s election, including what to do if a poll worker says a voter’s name is not on the list of registered voters or if someone is interfering with your right to vote, as well as overviews of rights for voters with disabilities, and information for voters that speak English “less than well.”
However, many of us will be voting by mail this election due to COVID-19. Voting by mail has long been regarded as an accessible alternative to in-person voting for people with various disabilities but does not meet the needs of every person with a disability. Coupled with the uncertainty of the USPS’s capacity to handle the increased demand for mail-in ballots due to COVID-19 it is important for voters in this year’s election to know not only their rights, but options for voting.
We have seen the power that legislators who understand the importance of clean water and a healthy environment can have within the Delaware River Watershed. With the upcoming election growing closer, there are many actions that our member organizations can take to address civic engagement while preserving their 501(c)(3) status. For more information about how you and your organization can spread the word about the November elections, visit our #VoteForCleanWater Civic Engagment Tool-Kit!