The Threat Voter Purges and Voter ID Laws Pose on Our Right to Vote

In 1962, Fannie Lou Hamer entered a polling place intending to cast her vote for president, only to be immediately turned away. "No coloreds allowed!" they shouted at her. In 2017, Taylor McClark walked into her local polling station to vote for senator and was similarly turned away shortly after entering. "Photo ID required!" they yelled at her. Although more than fifty years separated these events, both women—African Americans—were denied their fundamental right to vote. Hamer was barred by discriminatory practices despite the 19th Amendment, which had extended voting rights predominantly to white women, while McClark was prevented from voting due to Alabama legislation mandating photo identification. Elections, whether local or national, profoundly impact the livelihoods of countless individuals. Thus, ensuring voting accessibility for all eligible voters is essential for upholding our nation's core values and protecting citizens' welfare. Consequently, voting rights and election integrity remain among the most pressing legal issues in the United States today, just as they were over half a century ago.

Since the Supreme Court's decision in Shelby County v. Holder (2012), more than half of U.S. states have enacted laws imposing strict voter ID requirements, restricting access to early voting, and purging voter rolls—actions that disproportionately affect marginalized communities. Substantial evidence highlights the discriminatory impact of strict voter ID laws on voters of color. For instance, a 2021 study by Phoebe Henninger, Marc Meredith, and Michael Morse examined affidavits from randomly selected precincts during the 2016 presidential election, revealing that approximately 0.45 percent of voters lacked proper identification. More significantly, minority voters were about five times more likely than white voters to lack access to acceptable IDs.

Similarly, in Texas, Bernard L. Fraga and Michael G. Miller analyzed approximately 16,000 "Reasonable Impediment Declarations" (RIDs) filed by voters without IDs during the 2016 election. Their research found that voters filing RIDs were disproportionately Black and Latino compared to those voting with standard IDs. Furthermore, socioeconomic hardship was among the most commonly cited barriers to obtaining identification. These findings clearly demonstrate that strict voter ID laws unjustly prevent many minority voters, who are otherwise eligible and willing, from exercising their right to vote. Therefore, proactive measures must be taken to address and correct these voter-suppression policies.

Furthermore, mass voter purges significantly contribute to the systematic disenfranchisement of citizens. Although initially intended to responsibly maintain voter rolls, these purges are increasingly used by states as tools of mass disenfranchisement. Removing eligible voters from rolls due to inaccurate data or unjustified reasons is unethical and violates citizens' rights. Often, these purges occur without adequate notice, leaving voters unaware until Election Day, when there is insufficient time to correct the issue.

Election administrators, responsible for updating voter rolls by removing deceased, relocated, or otherwise ineligible voters, frequently execute these purges. Unfortunately, flawed processes, inaccurate data, and improper targeting—such as purging voters with felony convictions without following federally mandated safeguards—often lead to wrongful disenfranchisement. For example, in 2016, a data error by the Arkansas Secretary of State's office resulted in the removal of numerous eligible voters. Over 4,000 individuals without felony convictions, along with ex-felons who had regained their voting rights, were mistakenly flagged as ineligible by the Arkansas Crime Information Center. Deeper analysis of such incidents reveals further systematic disenfranchisement, as Black Americans disproportionately represent the ex-felon population.

While voter suppression affecting communities of color may seem straightforward to address by overturning recent restrictive laws, the problem is systemic and requires significant and sustained action. Nevertheless, meaningful steps can be taken to counteract these inequalities and implement federal protections. For instance, in 2011, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach promoted a law requiring Kansans to provide "proof of citizenship" documents, such as passports or birth certificates, to register to vote. Since most Americans do not regularly carry these documents, the law prevented more than 30,000 Kansans from registering. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) challenged and successfully overturned this law in 2018, a ruling upheld in 2020 by both the Supreme Court and the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.

These examples illustrate effective actions to ensure equitable voting access and provide guidance for addressing ongoing voter suppression. However, combating voter suppression is not solely the responsibility of national organizations—citizens at all levels can and should become involved. One crucial step eligible voters can take is urging Congress to pass the Voting Rights Advancement Act (VRAA), which would restore essential protections weakened by the Supreme Court's 2013 decision to dismantle parts of the Voting Rights Act.

Voter fraud is frequently cited to justify restrictive voter ID laws that disproportionately disenfranchise socially and economically disadvantaged voters. In reality, voter fraud consists of isolated incidents, representing only a tiny fraction of total votes cast, and research consistently demonstrates that voter fraud has never significantly impacted the outcome of an election. Nevertheless, repeated false claims of widespread voter fraud result in policies that unjustly impede millions of eligible citizens from voting.

It is essential that we move beyond restrictive voter ID laws and pursue election-security measures that also increase voter participation, including secure automatic voter registration, consistent and transparent election audits, reliable voter-roll maintenance with strong safeguards against wrongful purging, and accessible, cost-free voter identification for all citizens. Ensuring fair, equal, and broad voter participation is fundamental to our democracy and our future, making voting rights perhaps the most pressing legal issue of our time.