By Lynn Kellogg
We just passed the 60th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. This law protects the right to vote and ensures the government will fight efforts to suppress it. Originally aimed to rid the country of rules designed to block voting by Black Americans, for many minorities it signaled the beginning of a true American democracy.
Enter today. Many states, including Michigan, ran extensive studies and/or commissioned election oversight committees to examine the security of their voting systems following claims of fraud after the 2020 election. Michigan fared well, and nationwide evidence of fraud by non-citizens or otherwise was found to be rare; inconsequential to results.
Nevertheless, hype continues to attack our voting system.
The Supreme Court is set to decide whether Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act can be eliminated. This section requires election voting districts to be drawn acknowledging significant populations of minorities. Without it, districts can cut through minority population areas, perpetuating minority status and reducing chance of minority representation in office.
The SAVE Act, not enacted as yet, would amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA) by introducing a requirement for individuals to provide proof of U.S. citizenship. This adds a new citizenship documentation requirement for a law that has existed for decades – the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 which explicitly prohibits noncitizens from voting in federal elections.
Per the Bi-Partisan Policy Center, the NVRA already “requires states to use a common voter registration form, which includes an attestation under penalty of perjury that the applicant is a U.S. citizen. Illegal registration and voting attempts by noncitizens are routinely investigated and prosecuted by the appropriate state authorities, and there is no evidence that attempts at voting by noncitizens have been significant enough to impact any election’s outcome.”
There is real concern that the new requirement is duplicative of existing law, unnecessarily costly, and will be a barrier to voting for established citizens. The Policy Center cites research from five sources concluding “more than 9 percent of American citizens of voting age, or 21.3 million people, don’t have proof of citizenship readily available.”
A comment by a congressional representative from our region that people without a passport shouldn’t be allowed to vote is ridiculous. Many can’t afford a passport and/or have no interest in traveling. They shouldn’t be charged extra for a basic right of citizenship.
If further documentation is truly desired, sharing of data from implementation of the Real ID system, which required proof of citizenship and took effect nationally last May, should be explored.
Lastly, the ongoing questioning of absentee and mail-in voting is disturbing. These options were created to enhance and assure citizen access to the ballot and are a godsend to many.
Absentee voting involves a stated reason for an early ballot that can be mailed in or dropped off. Mail-in voting is offered to the general population or a subgroup. Both options accommodate common barriers such as travel away from home on election day, lack of transport to a poll site, work, caregiving, general disability or hardship, infirmity, government service and so on.
Michigan allows absentee voting to any registered voter on request. Wise choice.
For the older population this is essential. Michigan has a long history of supporting its older voters with more than 1.7 million people aged 65 and over. The United Health Foundation tracks the percentage of voters aged 65 and older voting in congressional elections by state and ranks Michigan 9th highest in the nation with 74.1 percent of the age 65-plus electorate voting. Very impressive.
Voting is a sacred right of our democracy. Significant review of the sanctity of our systems has been undertaken in recent years. All efforts should focus on ensuring access, not creating barriers.
Lynn Kellogg is former CEO of Region IV Area Agency on Aging in Southwest Michigan. Questions on age or independence services? Call the Info-Line for Aging & Disability at 800-654-2810 or visit areaagencyonaging.org. The Generations column appears each weekend in The Herald-Palladium.