“Absentee Ballots” and “Mail-in ballots” or “Drop-Boxes” create problems for democracy. That is what the Supreme Court is grappling with today’s Republicans pushing massive voter suppression laws across the country. They admit that they cannot win without making it harder for Black and Brown Democrat leaning people to vote. And guess what? They are maybe Right! Let us not pretend that Mail-in voting did not create a unique situation in especially Black households where Black-men and many young people do not vote. But they live in households that do.
In 2016 Mrs. Hilary Clinton did not have the privilege of Mail-in ballots that would ensure that enough Black vote turned out on Election Day for her and the Democrats. That is the problem; Black and Brown Democratic leaning people do not usually get involved in the politics of voting. They are suspicious of political leaders and the system that have largely disenfranchised them. The conclusion for them is that nothing really changes in the society, regardless of who is in charge, does nothing to ultimately change their plight. The GOP made sure that this pessimism was cemented and fermented in the minds of Black and Brown voters.
We must remain resilient! Voting will become more cumbersome but the only way to stop attacks on our civil and voting rights is to vote. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris rode a brown wave to the White House. Republicans are trying to ensure that never happens again as more that 30 states are attempting to enact voter suppression laws.
Texas Republicans are targeting Houston’s efforts to expand voting access during the 2020 election with a series of measures that would limit early voting, make it harder to get and return absentee ballots, and more. GOP lawmakers introduced two dozen bills that would make it harder to vote in Texas. Those bills would bar counties from sending absentee ballot request forms to people who did not ask for them, limit counties’ authority to expand voting hours, require faster purges of voter rolls, make it easier to challenge signatures on absentee ballots and more. Gov. Greg Abbott and the Republican sponsors of two of those bills on identified the bogeyman that inspired the legislative pushes: Harris County, the state’s largest county and the home of Houston. Democrats have made major gains in recent elections in what was once a conservative-leaning area, helping the party narrow the GOP’s margins in statewide elections and giving Republicans incentive to seek to limit access to voting.
Voting is the only way that elected official will prioritize and promote issues supported by the overwhelming majority of African Americans. Issues like criminal justice reforms with an end to policies leading to mass incarceration, stronger enforcement of anti-discrimination measures in employment and housing, improved access to healthcare and a serious discussion of reparations. The rise in voter turnout among African Americans occurs when there is a decline in measures used to prevent access to voting. Since the enaction of the VRA conservatives have worked to weaken its effects. Election day is May 1st. We must vote in every election as if our lives depended on our participation.
