As the 2020 presidential elections are nearing, voter suppression is at its peak these days. The suppressors are trying to stop voters from casting their ballots to get an edge in the November 3 elections.
However, amid all the prevailing voter suppression techniques, some voting rights organizations are working hard to ensure that everyone exercises their fair right to vote in the Presidential elections. What are these organizations, how do they work, and how can you get their help if your voice is being suppressed? Let’s have a look.
Voting Rights Organization that are Suppressing the Suppressors to ensure your right to vote:
American Civil Liberties Union:
Most of the voting rights organizations focus on awareness campaigns; however, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has a primary focus on taking legal actions against the states who are pursuing voter suppression in one form or another.
They have already registered more than twenty lawsuits in states like New York, Alabama, Alaska, Minnesota, Michigan, and others. During the coronavirus crisis, they are also campaigning to promote mail-in voting and early voting, so that voter suppressors cannot oppress people on election day to get things in their favor.
Rock the Vote:
With the mission of uplifting the political power of young people, this is one of the most active voting rights organizations.
They understand the trends that motivate young people to vote and then make that information public so others can see the trends too. If you are a suppressed voter whose voice is being denied in the elections, you can exercise your vote with the help of this organization.
Close Up Foundation:
Those living in unprivileged neighborhoods are most prone to being suppressed while voting. This suppression can come in any form, including removing or flagging names from the voters’ lists, felony convictions, providing no awareness intentionally, etc.
The Close Up foundation drives its campaign mostly by educating people, especially young voters. They also equip teachers and students with resources that can help them in creating awareness for future generations of voters.
HeadCount:
Too much voter suppression can make people skeptical about the democratic process. This way, many people can negate the practice of voting, resulting in lower turnouts across the country, as people may think that their votes do not matter.
HeadCount is one of the few voting rights organizations that motivate voters in a rather different way. They arrange concerts for the awareness of voters to help them recognize different voter suppression techniques. In this time of the pandemic, when they are unable to hold concerts for awareness, they have come up with a unique idea where if people check their voter registration status, they can win prizes of varied nature.
League of Women Voters:
Voter suppression plays the worst role in the suppression of the female voters, many of whom are denied their right to vote for one reason or another.
Most of the women are oppressed in voting due to the verification of the voter identification that is required to be presented at the time of the vote.
This is because many women change their surnames after marriage and those who have been divorced more than one time change their names more often than others.
It results in the denial of verification of the voters’ identity, ultimately resulting in voter suppression of women.
The League of Women Voters has been working for more than one hundred years to ensure the voting rights of women. Females in America got the right to vote in 1920, but they are struggling on many fronts despite the passage of one hundred years.
The League of Women voters ensures that they educate the masses regarding the difficulties associated with the voting process so they can be aware of any potential challenges beforehand.
In the broader domain, they also create awareness for every American, irrespective of gender. This is one of the most efficient voting rights organizations for the protection of women’s suffrage.
Getting rid of voter suppression is not an easy thing to do, especially when most of it comes from the ranks of those in power.
These days, voter suppression is at its peak in various forms, including laws restricting the early voting efforts and verbal attacks on the transparency of the elections.
In some states, the courts are playing their part to boost these efforts of voters’ suppressions. With all of this happening, negating the concept of voter suppression is an extremely important thing, and this is where the role of voting rights organizations comes into play.
Although it is not possible to tackle all the tactics of the voter suppressors by the non-governmental organizations, they are definitely playing their part to make sure that your voice is being heard to elect your next president.
Read more about Voter Suppression: How Vote Suppressors are oppressing black people in the USA?
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.