Today I want to talk about modern voter suppression and the importance of staying vigilant.
Shortly ahead of the 2016 presidential election a friend in St. Louis had her voter registration purged, despite having never missed an election. Until this point, it hadn’t occurred toma me that someone like me, who carries the privileges of birthright citizenship, a masters degree, and zero interactions with the criminal justice system, could be disenfranchised. I started checking my registration regularly – sort of like I check my credit report.
Fast forward to 2023: I had just moved. I updated my drivers license with my current address and checked “update my voter registration” on both the drivers license form and on my change of address with the post office. I thought I was covered. I missed one odd primary in 2021 due to COVID (request those mail in ballots early!), but I had voted in elections big and small before and after. Imagine my surprise when I went out to the Iowa Secretary of State’s site to find my polling place and received an error message that my voter registration could not be found.
I felt angry and indignant. I quickly gathered the materials I needed to re-register online, which was basically just my drivers license. I re-registered in less than five minutes and I received my new registration card by end of week. I voted early at my county elections office. However, for a person without a government issued ID or a home computer with internet, the process would have absolutely been more cumbersome, if the person caught it at all. I was lucky.
As luck would have it, my friend, Chris Espersen, was writing a column about voter suppression in Iowa for the Cedar Rapids Gazette. I encourage everyone to check it out here
I think its pretty safe to say they picked the wrong person to purge. Or maybe they picked the right person? The truth is that anyone can have their voter registration purged. As the nation’s courts continue to strip away key provisions of LBJ’s 1965 Voting Rights act, it is critical that we stay vigilant.
