FairVote Feed: Right to Vote Amendment

FairVote's Leadership on Right to Vote

Mon, 20 May 2013 12:31:26 -0700

May has been a big month for FairVote's work advancing a right to vote in the Constitution. In Congress, representatives Mark Pocan and Keith Ellison introduced bill for a right to vote amendment along lines that we have recommended, featuring quotes from FairVote in their news release.

Locally, our hometown of Takoma Park (MD) became the first to pass a resolution in support of a constitutional right to vote and is making concrete commitments to expand suffrage and boost turnout. One significant change: Takoma Park will become the first city in the United States to extend voting rights to residents after they turn 16.

FairVote news release and Rep. Pocan press release on right to vote amendment
The Nation's John Nichols on amendment, with Rob Richie quote
Takoma Park's right to vote resolution and FairVote's Promote Our Vote project
Rob Richie's Huffington Post article on Takoma Park's voting rights advancements

Right to Vote in the Spotlight

Fri, 01 Mar 2013 10:36:34 -0800

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in an important case involving the Voting Rights Act, while FairVote is stepping up its campaign for Congress to uphold federal law and stop blocking commissioners to be seated on the Federal Election Commission. We're also excited about our new Promote Our Vote campaign designed to generate local actions to expand and protect suffrage. See:

FairVote's Promote Our Vote campaign

Overview of Shelby County case on Voting Rights Act

Put commissioners on the Election Assistance Commission

Shelby County's history with fair voting

Report on Voter ID laws fudged turnout data

The Daily Show skewers opponents of the Voting Rights Act

NEW: March 2013 articles call for constitutional right to vote in The Nation and Democracy

Not Helping America Vote: The Plight of the Un-filled Election Assistance Commission

Thu, 20 Dec 2012 13:29:45 -0800

We applaud President Barack Obama for shining a spotlight on election reform by using the State of the Union address to announce the creation of a bipartisan election commission. Although many people did not have to wait hours to vote, far too many did. The right to vote is too precious to leave to the administrative whims and resources of state and local election officials. Instead, we should promulgate national standards, developing and sharing best practices from each state to uphold the right to vote.

Captained by the top campaign lawyers for the presidential campaigns of Obama and his Republican challenger Mitt Romney, the commission has real promise to propose steps to improve the Election Day experience. But make no mistake, it should not be a substitute for upholding existing federal law. In response, we're calling on the President and Congress to allow the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) to do its job.

In 2002, Congress passed the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) to advance electoral reform in a number of ways, including creation of the EAC to oversee distribution of the first federal funds in history designed to help states and cities administer elections. The Commission was grounded in the notion that if best practices were shared throughout the nation, and standards were set and measured before and after elections, election officials nationwide would adopt similar procedures and practices, and elections would become more equal, fair and efficient over time. One issue on that list? Long lines.

HAVA mandates that Congress and the White House work together to recommend and nominate individuals, two from each party, to serve on the EAC. That partisan balance of course reflects the distrust both parties have about changes involving elections, but until we have united support for our Pledge to Stand with Voters, we unfortunately have to live with such calculation.

Establishing the EAC is one step in the essential process of allowing local and state government to make key decisions about voting, simultaneously seeding government accountability in the protection of our right to vote. Together with a staff and executive director, the EAC is tasked with studying elections, culling information from local and state levels, and analyzing reports in order to produce minimum standards for elections nationwide. It also creates national standards for voting equipment and software, and oversees testing of equipment to assist the majority of states that choose to abide by those standards.

But the EAC hasn't had even a single commissioner since December 2011. Since 2010, the commission hasn’t had a quorum, and since 2009, the commission has not been fully staffed. Its Executive Director stepped down in 2011. Without a full quorum of commissioners, EAC employees continue to work according to the policies and procedures adopted by the commission in previous years, but cannot make headway in setting new standards for our elections.

The EAC can continue to test, certify and decertify voting equipment, but only according to 2005 standards rather than newer ones reflecting new insights and upgrades in technologies. The EAC cannot determine new policies or guidelines including the Voluntary Voting Systems Guidelines, National Voter Registration Act regulations, the National Voter Registration form and issuance of EAC advisories among others. Furthermore, if its decisions on certification are contested, the Commission is at a standstill without the full set of commissioners to rule on an appeal.

For nearly three years, Congress has been unable and, in several cases, unwilling to put forward nominees, let alone confirm candidates. In November of 2012, Senator Barbara Boxer sent a letter to House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) urging the cooperation of House and Senate Republicans in appointing and confirming nominees to the EAC. Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, who played a lead role in passing HAVA, might be willing to comply and get the EAC up and running, but the primary culprits seem to be leaders in the House. Representatives seem intent on keeping the EAC off track and national support for election reform off the table. Neither of the leaders targeted by Sen. Boxer, nor the Republican Party, responded publicly to the letter, and at the close of the 112th session, the two pending nominations, both from the Democratic Party, were not confirmed by the Senate Committee on Rules. Political gaming seemed to outweigh meeting voters’ needs and upholding the law.

Just after President Obama's State of the Union address, for example, Congresswoman Candace Miller, chair of the House Administration Committee tasked with election law, said, "[I am] completely opposed to such a commission putting forward mandates to be imposed on states like Michigan that would disrupt our already well-run system of elections." In fact, despite Congresswoman Miller’s confidence, many Michigan voters reported reported frustration this past November.

National standards don’t offer a one-size fits all solution, but they do provide a base of uniform best practices for each state. And Michigan, like every other state, has unique voting policies and guidelines, the end result being inequity in access for voters nationwide. Local innovation and responsibility is great for the development of our electoral system, but we also need accountability and a national commitment to upholding voters’ rights .

The Election Assistance Commission of course is not the only step between a dysfunctional system and a strong electoral structure built with elements that improve access and participation while resulting in more accurate representation. For fair access, Congress should adopt legislation like the Voter Empowerment Act and back a constitutional right to vote. More broadly, we should establish independent redistricting commissions to create fair voting plans, and promote ranked choice voting and a national popular vote for president.

But creating an active EAC is a simple positive step – and one that happens to be the law. Reform should be about systemic, enduring solutions, not just shorter lines. #wehavetofixthat

Call on Congress and the White House now to make the Election Assistance Commission work.

Who Needs to Fix That? We Do.

Mon, 07 Jan 2013 06:49:26 -0800

When President Barack Obama paused in his victory speech, thanking voters for waiting in long lines to vote but noting 'we have to fix that', one might have assumed that reform would come from the top. Within a few weeks, Representative George Miller (D-CA7) introduced the SIMPLE Voting Act to ease ballot access and increase turnout. Mirroring his proposal was Senator Christopher Coons (D-DE) with the FAST Voting Act (S. 3635) intended to provide incentives for States to invest in practices and technology to expedite voting at the polls and simplify registration. Both bills were immediately referred to their respective House and Senate committees where they stayed until they became null and void with this week’s swearing in of the 113th Congress.

While I’m happy to see Federal law makers introducing electoral reform legislation clearly written to help voters, policies expanding registration and easing ballot access, unfortunately do not rank high on Congress’ agenda. In fact, as this presidential election has shown, interested parties seem inclined to take advantage of the decentralized and disorganized system for partisan gain. Little is done at the national level to curb such behavior, and affected voters have weak legal foundation to right these wrongs. We can’t even get Congress to confirm nominees to the Election Assistance Commission, which hasn’t had a full commission in years.

Voting rights and rules are in fact largely determined at the state and local level, and national legislation tends only to suggest change and provide appropriate incentives. A national affirmative commitment to the right to vote would lay the foundation for consistent voting rules nationwide. While this change is necessary and important for ensuring the protection of the right to vote, it will take time.

What's a frustrated voter to do?

In fact, the inertia at the federal level as well as the absence of overarching electoral rules is actually an opportunity for electoral reform now, in the places where it is most needed. Since electoral rules are set by states, counties and cities – and with the latter on the front lines of engagement with voters -- we have the ability to propose changes to their city councils or state legislators in ways that truly benefit voters. Resolutions at the local level can extend early voting, increase polling places, call for pre-registration for 17-year-olds, and push the boundaries of current legislation. Between November 2012 and the next national election in November 2014, hundreds of local elections will take place, giving localities plenty of opportunities to experiment with new, progressive and positive electoral rules, all the while working to increase turnout in all elections.

With PromoteOurVote.com, FairVote has developed three proactive campaigns designed to fulfill the President's mandate of 'we need to fix that', starting with local grassroots action.

1) Local City and County Resolutions

Passing a local right to vote resolution, complete with steps to improve voter turnout, protect voters, and expand knowledge about voting procedure and policies, corrects the ineptitudes of current electoral rules while bringing attention to the importance of passing an affirmative right to vote amendment at the national level. Our local right to vote resolutions are designed for local government bodies: city councils, county commissions or school boards. The resolutions pledge to examine local electoral rules, as well as revise and expand the language to better reflect voter needs.

2) Local Campus Resolutions

Political actors often stress the importance of the youth voter, yet little is done to redress the difficulties facing college voters. Local resolutions committing to concrete actions to ease registration, clarify absentee ballot use and increase polling locations would certainly result in increased voter turnout on campuses.

3) Organization Resolutions

Community organizations are often the force behind societal and political change. Currently in development, this resolution commits local organizations and chapters such as church groups or rotary clubs to participate in similar activities as the city and campus resolutions.

With these resolutions beginning at the local level and designed for voters to experience free, fair and accessible elections, voters can respond to voter disenfranchisement and election-day obstacles with, "Yes Mr. President, we certainly can fix that." At the very least, attention will be brought to the highly decentralized nature of our electoral system, and voters can make changes that positively affect their voting experiences. Through the efforts of Americans nation-wide, we can also highlight the need for a stronger foundation for America's most basic and important form of civic engagement: voting.

We are sure that FairVote supporters and volunteers will recognize the importance of this movement and realize the idea by generating action nationwide to fix our electoral system for all eligible voters.

Find out more and download a free toolkit at PromoteOurVote.com and FairVoteAction.org

New Commitment to Our Most Basic Right

Thu, 13 Dec 2012 08:52:25 -0800

In a speech at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library on December 11, Attorney General Eric Holder told listeners, “no force in our history has been more powerful than the continued expansion of what’s been called the lifeblood of our representative democracy, the cornerstone of our system of government, and the “most basic” right of American citizenship: the right to vote.”

He’s absolutely right in underscoring the centrality of the right to vote in a representative democracy. One of our clearest challenges, though, is a lack of an affirmative right to vote in the Constitution. Grounded in our belief that everyone should have the right to vote in free and fair elections regardless of who they are or where they live, FairVote has launched Promote Our Vote. Promote Our Vote seeks 100% voter participation through a combination of a national call for enshrining an affirmative right to vote in the U.S. Constitution and state and local commitments to protecting and promoting participation -- see our model resolution that we propose cities adopt.

Amending the Constitution to include an affirmative right to vote is important because it makes fixing our electoral system easier. The long lines and incorrectly administered provisional ballots of the November 6 election are examples of problems that could be more easily remedied if the fundamental right to vote was protected affirmatively in the Constitution. FairVote is currently working on a Right to Vote Amendment that would give Congress the authority to protect the individual right to vote and oversee voting policies and procedures to ensure that elections are fair, accurate and efficient.

FairVote was pleased to see one specific call to action in Attorney General Holder’s speech: the modernization of voter registration so that eligible voters are automatically added to the voter rolls. This is a vision that FairVote led the democracy community in touting a decade ago in the wake of the troubled 2000 election. Attorney General Holder called for creation of “a system of automatic, portable registration … in which government officials use existing databases, with appropriate privacy protections, to automatically register every eligible voter in America and enable their registration to move when they do.” Complete and accurate voter rolls are essential to the integrity of the electoral process and the legitimacy of results, and automatic, portable voter registration would ensure that eligible voters have access to the polls.

One disappointment in Holder’s speech is his suggestion that “fair redistricting” can promote “fair and effective representation for all” while not being “abused to protect incumbents and undercut electoral competition.” Independent redistricting commissions can only achieve these objectives if accompanied by multi-seat district systems with fair voting forms of proportional representation, as detailed in FairVote’s reports linked from our interactive map at FairVoting.US.

Attorney General Holder has observed that, “too many citizens have reason to fear that their right to vote, their access to the ballot – and their ability to have their votes counted – is under threat.” We can combat this threat, though, through reform of the systemic problems that plague our electoral process. Ultimately, we need to think and act nationally; but now is the time for all of us to get involved in that effort in our cities and states.

Pledge to Stand with Voters: A New FairVote Initiative

Thu, 08 Nov 2012 13:00:39 -0800

The 2012 elections underscored the stark partisanship that governs U.S. politics and divides Americans. Two-thirds of our states now have what we call "monopoly politics" : one party holds a majority of the state legislature, holds the governor's seat and won the state's presidential vote. At the same time, the national vote is very closely divided, fostering extreme competition. In such a competitive environment, politicians jockey for every advantage they can get.

Partisan pundits and politicians blame redistricting, the media, campaign spending and one another for political polarization and gridlock. They are quick to point fingers and shout foul at every turn, claiming the other side for manipulating the system to win races unfairly. But they too easily overlook their own roles in prioritizing partisan outcomes over democratic principles.

It's time to focus on those who are hurt most by partisan bickering and static politics -- the voters and the many Americans who have turned away from politics in disgust. This year alone, two in five eligible voters did not vote, many citing their frustration.

With our "Pledge to Stand with Voters', FairVote asserts that it's time to fight for democratic principle over partisan politicking. Promoting and protecting our representative democracy is far more important than seeking short-term advantage in electoral rules.

Here's our pledge. We ask that you read it, sign it and share it with your friends. Thank you!

Pledge to Stand with Voters

Voters come first. Not politicians, not pundits, not PACs. Voters.

Democracy means a level playing field. We are tired of our leaders weighing election laws and reforms by what the advantages or disadvantages they offer a specific party or incumbent. When it comes to democracy, America is better than that.

Reforming democracy is what Americans do. Our founders left us with a republican framework which we have regularly reviewed and enhanced to strengthen democracy. Every generation has taken steps to improve elections and increase participation.

Now, it’s our turn.

As an American who believes in truly representative democracy, I pledge to:

Support actions to increase voter turnout and voter education
Oppose tactics to game elections through manipulation of voting rights and election laws
Evaluate reforms based on whether they promote a level playing field for all, not whether they hurt or help my party
Support laws that allow for voter choice and oppose laws that suppress it
Open my mind new ideas that might strengthen democracy

SIGN BY CLICKING HERE.

From the Mouth of the President to the Ears of the People: We Have to Fix That

Thu, 08 Nov 2012 08:40:17 -0800

As was expected, problems at the polls abounded on November 6, nationwide. While glitches were reported across the country, voter-rights watchers paid particular attention to the swing states, where obstacles to ballot access in the form of registration ambiguities, voting-day misinformation, voter suppression tactics, and long, exhausting (and cold!) lines had potential to lower turnout and affect outcomes.

Long lines drew particular attention, with some people waiting in line to vote many hours after the polls had officially closed, from voting after midnight in Montana down to lines of more than five hours in Orlando, Palm Beach County, Miami-Dade and Hernando County in Florida. President Barack Obama in his acceptance speech Tuesday night, thanked people for waiting in those lines --- and then added, “By the way, we have to fix that.”

The president is right. And the difficulties faced by voters on election day do not end with long lines. Many voters in Pinellas County (FL) received robocalls on Election Day from their county elections officials informing them wrongly that polling stations would be open “tomorrow." Colorado and Pennsylvania voters complained of voter machines that automatically switched votes from the voter’s choice. Ohio and Pennsylvania voters were among many who reported registration issues; an inordinate number of provisional ballots being handed out to voters whose names did not appear on registration rolls. Plenty of people never received their requested absentee ballots.

Even with these troubles, voter turnout is likely to be comparable to 2008– just over 60% of the eligible population when all the ballots are counted. Turnout was higher in swing states than the rest of the nation– about 8%, according to FairVote projections – but it wasn’t so high as to catch election officials by surprise..

There are a variety of actions we can take to ease ballot access and increase voter turnout, but the most obvious one is to remove obstacles to civic involvement that consistently deter and deny voters from the most basic form of civic engagement in American democracy. Voters are just playing by the rules; we should make sure those rules are fair and make elections equal for everyone. Some argue that increasing the number of available polling stations or invigorating voter education efforts are far too expensive, but we should never run democracy on the cheap.

To right this wrong, thereby increasing voter turnout and ensuring enfranchisement for eligible voters, we don’t have to wait for Congress to “fix that.” Change can begin at the local level. If campuses, cities and states take the initiative to pass local resolutions affirming their commitment to a constitutional right to vote, with the promise to promote and protect voter rights and participation locally, we can begin to take on the current barriers voters face on Election Day – and do more to draw new voters to the polls for all elections. Built on the notion that citizens have a responsibility to participate and the government has a reciprocal responsibility to ease participation, local resolutions deepen the tie between government and its citizens.

FairVote's Promote Our Vote project offers the tools needed to create and pass 'right to vote' resolutions. We identified the need to take action by “thinking globally and acting locally” on campuses and in communities across the nation to protect this right. We agree with the president that “we have to fix that” – and that it’s time for all of us to do our share. Read through our sample local resolutions and use our toolkit for action at PromoteOurVote.org.

New Report Highlights Our Primary Turnout Problem

Fri, 05 Oct 2012 07:44:51 -0700

Curtis Gans of the Committee for the Study of the American Electorate has issued his latest report on voter turnout in the United States. There are those who disagree with Gans on some of the finer points of his methodology and on his analyses of proposed electoral reforms, but there's no question that Gans has made a valuable contribution to our discourse and understanding of voter participation for decades. His latest report is no exception.

Looking at turnout in primary elections, both this year and over time, points to one of the particularly disturbing realities of participation in the United States. Although turnout has generally increased or stayed constant in general elections for president and Congress, it has plunged in elections that have an immense impact on our representation in government and in policy decisions. Gans has fingered the problem of sinking turnout in primary elections for years, and this report shows how fewer than one in five voting-age Americans participated in a statewide primary this year -- despite a number of highly competitive primaries in the Republican presidential race in its early months and despite several significant primaries for U.S. Senate and other offices that will shape Congress in the years to come.

This is consistent with FairVote's findings on turnout in city elections. Turnout in elections for mayor in major cities today is remarkably low. Last November, San Francisco pundits were concerned that turnout in its mayoral race has been only 42.5% of registered voters. We took a look at turnout in the last election for mayor in our 22 largest population cities and discovered that San Francisco's turnout in fact led the pack. Having Rahm Emmanuel contesting for an open seat in Chicago still left nearly 60% of registered voters on the sideline, for example. Six cities had had more than 85% of registered voters skip the race - including single digit turnout in San Antonio and El Paso.

Such low turnout is disturbing for another reason: it is not equal across traditional definitions of class. While turnout disparities based on income and education level are significant in our federal elections, they can be simply shocking in local races. As one specific example, the city of Greenbelt, Maryland in 2011 moved its city elections to November and expanded its number of seats as a means to try to boost turnout and expand opportunities for racial minorities to win on a previously all-white city council. While racial minorities ended up being elected, turnout among registered voters ranged from 20% in some precincts to just 2% another. Our exit survey this summer in a Takoma Park city election found that of the 15% of registered voters who came to the polls, 56% had graduate or professional degrees - as opposed to only 14% of residents of the ward.

As a reformer, I like to look to solutions. There's clearly a broader problem of disengagement, cynicism and lack of awareness that goes beyond any single fix or, in fact, any single set of change to voting rules (short of the unlikely step of compulsory voting for such low profile elections). Voting is a communitarian act, and if people don't feel connected to their community or to groups within it involved in elections, they are unlikely to participate. There are, however, some obvious changes to consider. I'll provide three examples of many possible steps:

Consolidate election dates:If local elections were generally held on one day within a state and if statewide primaries for congressional offices were hold on one day around the nation (the first Tuesday in June, for example), there would be more publicity and voter awareness.
Voter education and better preparation:We typically run democracy on the cheap in the United States, but some states pay to mail out guides to voters about what's on their ballot and information about the mechanics of voting. That speaks to the value of acting as if we expect participation, rather than be surprised by it. Doing so means making sure every eligible voter is registered to vote through sensible uses of our databases and perhaps a unique national identifier. It means having a thread of learning about government and elections that runs through K-12 schools so no one leaves our schools unprepared to participate. And once people go to the polls, they should have an orderly and efficient experience.
Reduce the importance of primaries by expanding voter choice:One of the biggest problems of low-turnout in primaries is that they are often decisive for who wins the general election. Most of our legislative elections take place in districts that lean toward one party - not primarily because of redistricting, but because of the underlying partisan landscape of the country. That means the primary winner of the majority party can walk into office. But even in competitive races, it's rare that anyone but one of the major party nominees will win, with the "lesser of two evils" being a familiar refrain.

We could do much more to accommodate and encourage voter choice in the United States. We should replace plurality voting with majority voting systems like instant runoff voting and should replace winner-take-all legislative elections with "fair voting" forms of proportional representation that provide ongoing choice both between and among parties in the general election. Our new report on congressional elections demonstrates the impact of fair voting in a particularly powerful way, showing how every voter would be likely to have meaningful choices in every election while ending up with balanced representation of their district's left, middle and right - a change we can do by statute and grounded in our own electoral traditions.

Such changes and the broader goal of encouraging participation will take a national commitment to voter participation that has been lacking -- particularly in non-November elections like primaries and city elections. We've had enoujgh attention to the problem to know that it's time to take action.

Right to Vote Advocates Give Testimonies to US Senate Judiciary Committee

Thu, 08 Sep 2011 14:07:08 -0700

Today, September 8, 2011, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on state voting laws, in particular, laws that could be seen as suppressing voter turnout. It is great to have this hearing, and we applaud the many organizations who provided testimony to the Senate in hopes of protecting voters' rights.

Our Constitution currently reads as a document that disallows government from denying its citizens the ability to vote on the basis of race, gender and age. But government is not required to go out of its way to make sure that those who do want to vote, be supplied the means or education in order to meet the requirements to participate in the electoral process. This is why a right to vote is so necessary, and not simply amendments that prevent voters from discrimination. A uniform understanding of the federal electoral process should be established, as in H.J.R.28, a proposed constitutional amendment for the right to vote, instead of having 50 different sets of voting rules and regulations. Variations in state electoral laws often leave communities confused about voters' rights, while impacting the United States' already considerably low voter turnout.

-Here is what top advocacy organizations are telling the Senate about the right to vote:

“The right to vote is fundamental to the attainment and preservation of all these rights. It is essential to our democracy. Indeed, it is the language of our democracy. Thankfully, in securing the right to vote, the days of poll taxes, literacy tests, and brutal physical intimidation are behind us. But today’s efforts at disfranchisement, while more subtle, are no less pernicious. Rhetoric like that of Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval that ‘the right to vote is a privilege’ – a contradiction in terms if I have ever heard one – cannot be tolerated in a democracy founded on equality.”
- The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights

“Although the right to vote is widely recognized as a constitutionally-protected,
fundamental right, barriers to political participation, such as those discussed in my
testimony today, threaten to render that right meaningless. No one should have to choose between feeding one’s family and exercising the most fundamental right of our democracy. Moreover, LDF urges Congress to prioritize those efforts that are aimed at ensuring equal and full participation for all voters.”
-NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund

“Organizations, individuals and policymakers in Congress and in state legislatures must continue the fight to prevent more states from enacting these voter disfranchisement measures. This era must not go down in history as one in which the right to vote in this country took huge strides backward toward discrimination and exclusion.”
-Dēmos

“The Lawyers’ Committee will continue to aggressively protect the right to vote for ALL voters and work to ensure the enforcement of our nation‘s voting rights laws.”
-Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law

“Systematically making it more difficult for everyone to vote is profoundly harmful to our democracy and should be of concern to all citizens, including this Subcommittee.”
-Fair Elections Legal Network

“The right to vote is the most basic of all political rights. Over the last several years, the
American public has become aware of the many inconsistencies that exist in voting systems throughout the country and which compromise the integrity of the election process.”
-AARP

“Instead of creating unnecessary and discriminatory barriers to the ballot box, state governments must re-direct their resources to ensuring the right to vote for all. No right is more fundamental than the right to vote. State laws that impose new restrictions on voting, however, undermine our strong democracy by impeding access to the polls and reducing the number of Americans who vote and whose votes are counted. In order for the United States to continue as one of the world’s leading democracies, it must ensure all eligible citizens are able to register and cast their ballots. Elected officials should be seeking ways to encourage more voters, not inventing baseless excuses to deny voters the ability to cast their ballots.”
-American Civil Liberties Union

"The right to vote, particularly for racial minorities, young voters, senior citizens, the working poor
and people with disabilities, is under assault. The country has not seen this level of attempted suppression since the
days of poll taxes and literacy tests."
- Advancement Project

Bill H.J.RES.28, which seeks to establish a constitutional amendment for the right to vote, has been introduced to Congress and was referred to the House Subcommittee on the Constitution on February 28, 2011. It currently has 35 cosponsors.

Tell your Congressperson to support H.J.R. 28.

Continue to track this legislation.

The Next Generation of Reformers: Reasons for Young People to Get Involved in the Electoral Reform Movement

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:01:17 -0700

According to The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, an estimated 24% of all eligible young people ages 18-29 voted in the 2010 midterms – in contrast to 51% of eligible voters over 30. Historically, we’re a group that gets ignored a lot by political campaigns and pollsters. The chicken or egg question of youth voter turnout is usually: Do young people not vote because campaigns ignore us, or do campaigns ignore us because we don’t vote?

The 2008 election seemed to prove that young people do vote if we see a reason to participate and are reached out to. The same is true for young people in nonpartisan movements like the environmental movement and organizations like Invisible Children that deal with international conflicts. Young people, especially of the millennial generation, will get excited and involved in elections and organizations if we are specifically targeted.

A lot of the people advocating for structural changes do so because we have problems with the established political culture. The group of people that is 18-29 right now has a lot of reasons to want deep systemic change soon. Because of this, I think that over the next decade we will see groups that are focused on young people intensify their advocacy efforts for election reform issues. Here’s why:

Millennials are more likely not to identify strongly with either party, which means we will want to take advantage of reforms like Ranked Choice Voting. Ranked Choice Voting means that voters don’t have to worry about a “spoiler effect” if they vote for a candidate who’s not polling in the top two spots. It also makes for less divisive campaigning.

We’re very transient, so we benefit from policies like Same Day Registration and Universal Voter Registration. If you move to a state that has different election laws or have to move suddenly, you might miss the deadline to register. These policies mean that no one will be disenfranchised because of a location change.

We’re the most diverse generation ever in America, so we want policies that will treat everyone equally, and are more willing to see the reality of inequality in our country. That could lead to interest in proportional voting systems that elect representatives who better reflect voters.

A lot of us are going to be in debt for the majority of our lives, so any policies that simulate a poll tax like photo ID laws is something that won’t fly with us -- especially when such policies make it more difficult for students to vote.

We’re used to having to figure out new technologies quickly and are used to adapting to the newest model, so registering to vote online and having better voting machines is not something we would shy away from. But we also know the limits of technology, so we will be supportive of checks on election systems, like paper ballots and election audits.

Being smart is cool- not only can we be a more informed electorate, we can be more informed about the system’s current deficiencies. Efforts to improve civic education can heighten awareness.

For instance, these organizations that focus on young people have recently advocated for voting rights and other structural changes:

In 2010, The Bus Project in Portland, OR campaigned against the repeal of the local municipal public-option campaign financing law. The Bus Project’s main objective is to get young people more involved in politics.

League of Young Voters in Portland, ME is crusading against the repeal of Election Day Registration in Maine as we speak. Young people are one of the biggest demographics that Election Day Registration helps, although certainly not the only. Last year the League of Young Voters was involved in advocating for an elected Mayor in Portland and Ranked Choice Voting, both of which are being implemented for the first time this fall, and pushed hard for a nearly successful effort to allow residents who are legal immigrants to vote in city elections.

Young people are also defending their rights at a time when many citizens’ rights are under attack. In New Hampshire, there was a recent attempt to disenfranchise students in the form of an unconstitutional bill in the legislature that sought to bar students originally from out of state from voting in New Hampshire. Students from different colleges in New Hampshire went to the mattresses, and defended the rights of students to vote through protest, testifying in the State Legislature, and reaching out to media.

Students at Yale advocated for National Popular Vote in Connecticut and testified before the Election Laws Committee. Students all over the country are advocating for NPV and making an impact.

Voter pre-registration is a policy that is most effectively advocated for by the people it affects- young people ages 16 and 17, or people that were recently high school age. The Rhode Island Young Democrats successfully advocated for voter pre-registration in their state, which has been in effect since early 2010.

Groups like this mean that the next generation of election reformers is already active. But if we want to capitalize on all the reasons why this particular group should be calling for reforms like Ranked Choice Voting, Right to Vote, Pre-registration, and more, we need to make sure our message is reaching them.