The fifteenth and nineteenth amendments to the United States Constitution gave a right to vote to African Americans and women, respectively.
No one knew back then that Voter suppression in US elections would happen again after these amendments. With the COVID-infected president and a record-breaking number of people doing mail-in voting this time, the tensions are surging regarding the November 3 polls.
One of these problems is the increasing efforts of voter suppressors in US elections, led by the anti-democratic elements that endanger the democratic process of election.
The tactics of the voter suppressors vary from urging voters to go into the polling stations to verbal attacks on the voting process to the refusal of a transfer of power.
Recently, the Texas court allowed the governor to reduce the number of drop-off locations for early voters to just one station in each county. This will ultimately affect the voting plans of the masses, resulting in Voter suppression in US elections.
Prominent examples of voter suppression in US elections of 2020 and their implications
Texas voter suppression
Recently, Texas broke records for early voting, which worries the conservatives a lot. A solid Republican state which was last won by the Democrats in 1976 has 38 crucial electoral college votes. However, voter suppression is at a peak in this state.
For instance, the court ruled that the state can reduce the ballot drop-off point to just one per county. This can have severe consequences for democracy as the state-breaking the records of early voting will now have fewer stations to drop the ballots.
Instead of extending the scope of the mail-in voting due to the surging pandemic, the court ruled to limit the votes. The decision makes little sense as it is detrimental to democracy.
This barrier to voting by the GOP is evidence of the dirty tactics played by the Trump administration to win such a huge state by rigging.
However, experts believe that this restriction can help people gain awareness against the vote suppressors to come out in even larger numbers to beat those suppressors. Democrats have already labeled it as a suppression tactic to stop voters.
Voter suppression in US elections: Trump’s invitation to voters to “watch-out” the things in Pennsylvania:
Trump’s obsession with Pennsylvania was evident in the first presidential debate when he said that “bad things happen in Philadelphia, bad things.” While describing the situation, he said that the poll workers were “thrown out” and “were not allowed to watch” the elections.
The question arises here over who gives authority to these poll watchers to observe the voting and come face to face with the law enforcement agencies? The answer is simple. No one.
However, Trump’s tactics to suppress the voters are forcing him to invite more and more people toward his cause so that he can win the White House again.
Efforts to remove voters from the lists in Wisconsin
The voter suppression in US elections is mostly done by Republicans in Wisconsin, and it is not a hidden thing anymore. In 2019, Republicans tried to force Wisconsin’s election commission to remove the names of almost 200,000 people from the voters’ lists.
Republican legislatures in Wisconsin also attempted to stop the efforts of Democrats to send mail-in ballots to the people of the state during the pandemic, which suggests that they are trying to sabotage the efforts to increase the turnout in the November 3 elections.
Florida: The worst example of racist voters suppression
In Florida, the racist voter suppression techniques are at its peak these days. A state-led by a Republican governor is not allowing the formerly incarcerated people to vote in the November 3 elections.
Like the whole country, the people of color are always subjected to more detentions in Florida too. In the aftermath of what happened with George Floyd, these people were expected to vote against Republicans. However, they have no voice in electing the president of the country in which they are living, which is a clear violation of the fifteenth amendment.
Trump’s refusal to the transfer of power to sabotage vote:
Refusal of the peaceful transfer of power is a clear way to abuse the vote. By saying that he will not give the power to the new president, Trump directly attacked the voice of the average American, who might now think that his vote is of no importance amid this situation.
Not only this, but he also said that the elections would end up in the court, which suggests that he is portraying a possibility to ignore the power of the vote to suppress as many votes as possible.
While talking about the mail-in voting, Donald Trump said, “Republicans should fight very hard when it comes to statewide mail-in voting. Democrats are clamoring for it.
Tremendous potential for voter fraud, and for whatever reason, doesn’t work out well for Republicans.” The tweet itself depicts a violent invitation to suppress votes, which is exactly what is happening in the county right now.
With fewer people in the polling stations, Republicans are likely to win as they mostly lose elections with higher turnouts. How much will this voter suppression in US elections sabotage the election results on November 3 night? Only time will tell.
Read more about voter Suppression in US elections: Everything you need to know about suppression of votes
Eli is a Political Data Scientist with over thirty years of experience in Data Engineering, Analytics, and Digital Marketing. Eli uses his expertise to give the latest information and distinctive analysis on US Political News, US Foreign Affairs, Human Rights, and Racial Justice equipping readers with the inequivalent knowledge.