Suffrage, or the right to vote, has played a vital role in shaping the American historical narrative. Throughout recent past, voting has given birth to some of the most catastrophic and controversial moments in history.
In recent news, the state of Georgia is not the only state that is undergoing voter reconstruction, the Lone Star state in not too far behind.
Writer Alexa Ura, in her 2021 article for the Texas Tribune, “Texas Senate advances bill limiting how and when voters can cast ballots, receive mail-in voting applications”, writes, “in an overnight vote after more than seven hours of debate, the Texas Senate signed off on Senate Bill 7, which would limit extended early voting hours, prohibit drive-thru voting and make it illegal for local election officials to proactively send applications to vote by mail to voters, even if they qualify.”
In the wake of poor transportation infrastructure, pandemic resource inequality, and strategic voter station placement, this presents a challenge for citizens who relied on mail-in ballots, drive thru voting and early voting hours in the past 2020 elections. Texas is one of the few states that allows people eligible to vote by mail based on a disability to request a ballot for an individual election or apply once in every election in a calendar year.
What is the deep-rooted issue in voter suppression and what does this mean in the 21st Century, in an era of supposed post-racial common ground and color blindness? This is not about resource management or policy management. This is about disenfranchisement and an explicit attempt at extinguishing the voice of the American people.
The United States election system is no stranger to environmental racism, gerrymandering, and voter inequity. This should also not come as a surprise that these events are transpiring amid the trial of Derek Chauvin, the police officer who murdered 46-year-old African American man George Floyd Jr. These series of unfortunate events mirror something of a historical retrograde.
Voter suppression will continue to take shape in many ways than one that will unpack the perpetual underbelly of a past that exudes racial hatred; a past that still holds true today.
