Fight voter suppression with America Votes Act

Most Americans would probably agree that voting is a right, not a privilege. So there shouldn’t be a test or cost associated with exercising that right. But in state after state, obstacles exists, with more being proposed, to keep people from voting or making doing so more difficult.

The proposed America Votes Act, with its origins in Washington state, would remove just one barrier to voting for millions of Americans.

Just this year, at least 150 restrictive voting bills had been introduced in 32 states by Jan. 25, according to The Brennan Center for Justice. Fifty-one bills in 22 states have been introduced that either require voter ID or proof of citizenship.

At least 32 of these bills would require voters to present a photo ID to vote at the polls.

Modeled after Washington state’s voting system, America Votes Act would remove the requirement in all federal elections for voters to show identification in order to vote. It would not require them to vote so-called provisional ballots — those ballots that sit in a pile and may or may not eventually be counted.

Democratically controlled states are moving to make voting more inclusive and convenient while some Republican-controlled states such as Florida are making voting more difficult and exclusionary.

Still there are those in Congress who would rather have lawmakers pick their voters instead of voters picking their lawmakers. With gerrymandering gone amok and moves by state legislatures to restrict access to the ballot for Black and college-age voters, transgender voters, the elderly and those with disabilities, the America Votes Act is needed.

Ever since the 2020 general election, some candidates who lost and their supporters have cried voter fraud, while universities, nonpartisan political research organizations and state and federal courts have found no such widespread fraud.

Sponsored by U.S. Reps. Rick Larsen of Washington and Marc Veasey of Texas, both Democrats, the act would amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002. That law provided resources to states to help update and improve voting systems.

With Republicans now in charge of the U.S. House, it’s unlikely the America Votes Act will be approved in that chamber. But its reintroduction points the nation to the possibility of addressing voter suppression in the future. The nation will thank Washington state for laying the blueprint for that victory.