Voter Suppression and Disenfranchisement

James A. Beckman is Professor of Legal Studies at the University of Central Florida, USA.

• How to Use This Book1. Foundational Issues Pertaining to Voter Suppression or DisenfranchisementQ1: Has there always been universal suffrage and the right to vote in America?Q2: Does the Fifteenth Amendment guarantee the right to vote regardless of race? Q3: Have women always enjoyed the right to vote?Q4: Can examples of significant voter fraud be found in US history?Q5: Was the Voting Rights Act of 1965 passed to combat voter disenfranchisement and voter suppression? Q6: What was the impact of the Supreme Court’s Shelby County v. Holder (2013) decision on voting rights and voter suppression? Q7: Which states passed restrictive voting suppression laws after Shelby County v. Holder? Q8: How often has voter fraud taken place in modern national elections, and does the level of fraud justify preventive measures that burden the right to vote ? 2. Links between Institutional Structures and Process and Voter Disenfranchisement Q9: Does gerrymandering and districting diminish equal or proportional representation or disenfranchise voters?Q10: Does the operation of the Electoral College disenfranchise voters in presidential elections?Q11: Has the federal government enacted legislation making it easier to register to vote and/or preventing states from voter registration purges?Q12: Has election infrastructure been modernized and improved to help protect against voter disenfranchisement?Q13: What actions regarding voter identification have state governments taken in response to the 2002 passage of the Help America Vote Act? 3. Disenfranchised Groups Based upon StatusQ14: Does felony disenfranchisement adversely impact particular demographic groups? Q15: Could a person be disenfranchised because of a judicial determination of “mental incompetency” or being classified by the state as an “idiot”?Q16: Are college students at greater risk of disenfranchisement?Q17: Are the voting rights of military members and their families impacted by virtue of military service?Q18: Are unhoused individuals at greater risk of disenfranchisement?4. Voter Registration and Voting Registration Poll PurgesQ19: What are the legal requirements of state voter registration purges?Q20: What are the chief reasons why voters are removed from voter registration lists? Q21: Did the Interstate Crosscheck Program improve voting access and protect against voter fraud, or did it suppress the vote? Q22: Do any centralized federal databases currently exist to verify voter registration?Q23: Have states utilized other database-related matching programs that suppress the vote? Q24: Do state election police forces exist to investigate and protect against voter fraud? 5. Mail-in Ballots, Ballot Drop Boxes, Voter Identification Requirements, and Early Voting Q25: How do restrictions on voting by mail or absentee voting impact voter participation? Q26: Are ballot drop boxes secure and fraud resistant? Q27: What is the status of universal voter identification laws? Q28: How commonplace is the practice of early voting, and how does it impact voter turnout? 6. Impacts of Restrictions and Conditions of Polling Places on VotingQ29: Which states have closed polling places, and how has this suppressed the vote? Q30: Are there longer waits and lines in urban polling stations than in small towns and suburban areas?Q31: What disparities exist between voting resources at polling places in affluent and poor communities? 7. Security and Maintenance of Peace and Security at Polling PlacesQ32: Are partisan poll watchers needed in elections, or do they contribute to voter suppression? Q33: Is it permissible to station police at polling locations? Q34: Are voters protected by law from intimidation, threats, coercions, and/or violence at the polling place? Q35: Are election workers adequately protected from intimidation and violence?Index