The Battle for the Vote
As Democrats seek to expand voting, Republicans prepare to expand restrictions.
It has been nearly a month since House Democrats passed HR 1, more commonly known as The People’s Act, and tensions around voting are no closer to improving. Whereas Democrats support expanding voting rights and federal protections for voters, Republicans are determined to expand voting and poll requirements. At the core of the debate is the very idea of what counts as a legitimate and fair election and who has the right to vote in America. Such questions are at the very heart of American Democracy, and who gets to have their voices heard.
The People’s Act, passed in early March, is a vast expansion on the protections of voting rights in America, touching on everything from gerrymandering, campaign finance, and online registration, along with numerous other aspects of voting. But more than that, it serves as a direct rebuke of Republican efforts to enact stricter requirements to vote on the state level, which is sure to provoke immense outrage amongst Republicans, who have continued to appeal to conspiracy theories surrounding voter fraud, which experts say is rare. Republican leaders have pushed back on the bill, arguing that it would give undue power to the Democratic party and its allies.
Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy denounced The People’s Act from the floor of the Senate, saying:
“Democrats want to use their razor-thin majority not to pass bills to earn voters’ trust, but to ensure they don’t lose more seats in the next election…”
This opposition is not merely a matter of public statements and outrage. Earlier this month, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed a bill that cuts early voting and closes the polls earlier, further restricting the time period in which people are allowed to vote. The law passed by the Iowa legislature would restrict early-day voting to 20 days instead of 29 and tighten the rules around when an absentee ballot can be sent in to be accepted. It also prohibits county auditors from setting up additional locations for early voting.
Iowa is not alone in this. After former President Donald Trump attempted to overturn election results in Arizona, Republicans in the legislature have begun their campaign to restrict voting. With 24 bills that would restrict voting in the state, one of which would allow state legislatures to overturn election results, Arizona has become a symbol of Republican efforts to restrict voting.
Critics of the proposed Arizona laws, such as state Rep. Athena Salman, a member of the House Government and Elections Committee, have argued that the restrictions are nothing more than attempts to hold onto political power in the absence of voter support, saying:
“They are trying to make it harder for everyone to vote based on the hope and desire that the people who it harms more and who it disenfranchises more are the people less likely to vote Republican…”
Pointing to recent losses by Republicans, Salman argued that:
“The only way that they can hold onto control is if they make it harder for people to vote so that they can get an unfair and potentially unconstitutional competitive advantage."
One bill, SB 1485, has already passed the Arizona senate, heading to the House for approval. If passed, the act would require that the state send letters to every person on the early voting rolls but has not participated in the last four elections, asking if they want to continue receiving ballots. Those who don’t answer would be removed irrespective of the desires of the voter.
In Georgia, similar restrictions are being enacted, restricting mail-in-voting, drop boxes, and, most infamously, criminalize giving food and water to those waiting in line to vote. In a state that has recently seen its senatorial representation switch from red to blue, the motivations are hardly mysterious. As of February of this year, 43 states have bills that would restrict voting rights. The conflict over voting could not be more impactful.
This conflict among partisans comes not just when Democrats want to show they can lead in the House and Senate before the midterms; it comes when many states are beginning their redistricting process, coveted drawing of congressional districts to address changes in the census. This process is critical, as some states have faced legal opposition to their attempts at gerrymandering of the election maps, as was North Carolina's case in 2019.
Still, with Republicans controlling a majority of state Houses and Senates, it is unlikely that Democrats can challenge these laws without federal action, and federal action is unlikely so long as the people’s act needs 2/3 of the senate to pass. In essence, voting rights are dependent upon the filibuster.