Voting Rights

Plain Language Fact Sheet

What is voting?

Voting is when people make a choice or decision by picking something or someone they want most. The choice with the most votes wins. In elections, people vote to choose leaders or decide on rules for their community. Voting is a way to make your voice heard and help make decisions.

White men above the age of 21 who owned land were the country’s first voters. It was up to the states who could qualify for voting, and those are the requirements most states decided on.

The Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution changed the law to say that all men would be able to vote, no matter what race they were. However, many states started getting creative on how to stop Black men from voting. They started using things like poll taxes or literacy tests to block POC votes.
The Voting Rights Act is a law to prevent racial discrimination in voting, making sure everyone has equal access to vote, especially in areas with a history of discrimination. It allowed the federal government to approve changes to voting rules in certain states to protect voters' rights.

Women had the right to vote in a few states, but the Nineteenth Amendment was passed in 1920 and gave women the right to vote nationwide.

Federal laws went in place to protect disabled people’s right to vote with the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990. However, barriers differ from state to state.
Section 208 of the Voting Rights Act allows voters who need help due to a disability to choose someone to help them when voting. This means they can bring a person they trust to help them cast their ballot, as long as it’s not their employer or labor union representative.

Labor Union: a group of workers who join together to make sure they are treated fairly at work. They work to get better pay, benefits, and safe working conditions by negotiating with their employers as a team.

A person convicted of a felony is someone who has been found guilty of committing a serious crime, like stealing a large amount of money or hurting someone very badly. These crimes are more serious than smaller ones, like breaking a rule at school or getting a traffic ticket.

More People with Disabilities Voted in 2020: 17.7 million people with disabilities voted in 2020, a significant increase from 2016.
Voting by Mail Helps: Voting by mail increased turnout for people with disabilities. In 2020, 53% of people with disabilities used mail-in voting, compared to 42% of people without disabilities.
Accessibility Has Improved: In 2012, 26% of people with disabilities had problems voting, but this dropped to 11% in 2020. But barriers still exist: Almost two million disabled people reported difficulties voting in 2020. This could include problems getting to polling places, trouble using voting machines, or lack of accessible information.
Lower Turnout in the South: The voter turnout gap between non-disabled and disabled people was generally larger in the South compared to other regions. For example, in Alabama, the turnout gap was -9.3%, meaning fewer disabled people voted compared to those without disabilities.

Southern states with strict mail-in voting rules or limited accessibility had lower turnout for people with disabilities. When states made voting easier, turnout increased.

Voting Gaps Vary by Disability Type: People with hearing impairments had the highest turnout, while people with mental or cognitive impairments had the lowest.
Disabled Voters Face Additional Challenges: Many people with disabilities do not vote because of health reasons, transportation difficulties, or not knowing where or how to register.

Voting suppression means making it harder for certain people to vote. This can include rules or actions that keep people from registering to vote, getting to polling places, or casting their ballots. It might look like fewer places to vote, strict rules about voter IDs, or making it difficult to vote by mail. These actions can make it harder for some groups, like disabled people, to have their voices heard in elections.

Ex: In 2016, Black voters in North Carolina were subject to strict new laws that stopped them from voting early. And this year, Alabama policy makers tried to make it a crime to help voters apply for absentee ballots.

In 2013, The Supreme Court struck down Shelby County v. Holder. This decision meant places with a history of racial discrimination in voting no longer needed to get federal approval before changing their voting rules.

This decision led to many voter suppression laws that are now in place or being considered.

Voting laws and requirements need to be examined and changed to make voting more accessible for all potential voters.
Voters need to put pressure on the policy makers serving them to write, support, and pass laws that protect the right to vote.

We need voting access now.