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Race and voting in America

National

Laws restricting voting are less overt than in the days of segregation. But many impediments — some subtle, some blatant — remain for Americans of color.

The big picture: That's changing at this very moment — slowly, and very unevenly. 

Why it matters: Demographic tides are changing what America looks like. The more people vote, the more our public life will reflect those changes.

Some barriers are being lowered — partly in an effort to make voting safer in the pandemic and partly because of awareness brought about by this summer’s racial-justice demonstrations.

In some red states, though, officials are actually trying to restrict voting further.

Between the lines: Joe Biden has leaned into these trends — by naming the first woman of color as his running mate, by promising that his first choice for the Supreme Court will be the first Black woman to be nominated, and by making plans for the most diverse Cabinet in U.S. history.

Modern voter suppression is achieved through practices like polling place closures, vote-by-mail restrictions, erroneous voter roll purges and overly burdensome voter ID requirements.

Be smart: Here are the facts about voter fraud, mail-in and early voting, how racial politics still shape laws — and why voters of all races and partisan leanings should care. 

Actual instances of voter fraud are extremely rare.

President Trump's Election Integrity Commission found no evidence of voter fraud and disbanded.

FBI Director Christopher Wray testified last month that his agency had "not seen, historically, any kind of coordinated national voter fraud effort in a major election, whether it's by mail or otherwise."

Federal courts aren't buying it; judges have dismissed lawsuits in several states where the Trump campaign and the RNC have challenged mail-in ballots on grounds that voter fraud might occur. 

A 2017 Brennan Center report examined 42 jurisdictions in the 2016 election and found voter fraud “exceedingly rare.” Of 23.5 million votes examined, election officials found 30 incidents (0.0001% of votes cast).

Don't forget:  U.S. elections are run by states. That empowers some to push restrictions that disproportionately affect people of color, said Wilfred Codrington III, a Brooklyn Law School professor and Brennan Center fellow. So how much access you have to democracy is "totally dependent on where you live."

In several states — from Texas to Montana — judges have rejected voter restriction laws, finding they intentionally targeted Hispanics, Black Americans and Native Americans. 

Other states have linked criminal records to one's right to vote, disproportionately disenfranchising millions of Black men who have served their time. 

Historic barriers to voting are one reason why voter turnout among non-white Americans has historically been much lower than among white people, although recent elections may flip those trends. 

What's next: The pandemic has put a spotlight on these issues and made everyone, including affluent white voters, more aware of limitations around modern-day voting.

As the nation becomes more diverse, who constitutes the majority and who controls political power are changing. Laws that promote fairness and access to voting while protecting ballot security serve all Americans in the long run.

1. How racial politics still suppress the vote

The more people vote, the more our public life will reflect demographic changes.

Illustration of a hand casting a ballot and lines of voters. 

Photo illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Photos: Jeremy Hogan (SOPA Image), Noam Galai (WireImage)/Getty Images

Politics

Deep Dive: Hard Truths - Voting

2020 election

Latin America and Latinos

Laws restricting voting are less overt than in the days of segregation. But many impediments — some subtle, some blatant — remain for Americans of color.The big picture: That&#x27;s changing at this very moment — slowly, and very unevenly.

2024 will be an election year like no other, as President Biden seeks re-election amid economic uncertainty, two wars and questions about his age. His likely foe, former President Trump, faces felony charges and vows revenge on his political enemies. Meanwhile, Americans generally are dissatisfied with those choices and are divided over immigration, race, education and more.

Politics & Policy

Above: People in Atlanta wait to cast ballots on the first day of early voting for the general election, Oct. 12, 2020.

Below: Voters in cars line up at a drive-through mail ballot drop-off site on October 7, 2020 in Houston after Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott issued an executive order limiting each county to one mail ballot drop-off site.

Bonus images: The wait to vote

Above: People in Atlanta wait to cast ballots on the first day of early voting for the general election, Oct. 12, 2020.Below: Voters in cars line up at a drive-through mail ballot drop-off site on October 7, 2020 in Houston after Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott issued an executive order limiting each county to one mail ballot drop-off site.<figure><img alt="" height="3000" id="d465ec1d-6ea3-4566-9834-88ec3e9cd988" src="https://images.axios.com/Bq7etEIdQD2nmDAjnovU3R_4YzQ=/2020/10/17/1602957644619.jpg" width="4500"/><figcaption>Photo: Go Nakamura/Getty Images</figcaption></figure>

Graphic: Sarah Grillo, Naema Ahmed/Axios; Photos: Bettmann, Chicago History Museum/Getty Images

3. A history of voter exclusion

Photo Illustration: Sarah Grillo. Photos: Bettmann, Chicago History Museum/Getty Image

<div><figure><div id="av-2020-10-08-harder-truths-voting-timeline-gray-3P4ER" style="max-width:100%" data-vars-category="embed" data-vars-sub-category="axios-visual" data-vars-asset-id="av-2020-10-08-harder-truths-voting-timeline-gray-3P4ER" data-vars-iframe-src="https://graphics.axios.com/2020-10-08-harder-truths-voting-timeline-gray/2020-10-08-harder-truths-voting-timeline-gray.html" class="gtmView"><img class="axios-visual-newsletter-fallback-image" src="https://graphics.axios.com/2020-10-08-harder-truths-voting-timeline-gray/fallbacks/2020-10-08-harder-truths-voting-timeline-gray-fallback.png" width="1800" height="4920"/><img class="axios-visual-apple-fallback-image" src="https://graphics.axios.com/2020-10-08-harder-truths-voting-timeline-gray/fallbacks/2020-10-08-harder-truths-voting-timeline-gray-apple.png" width="1122" height="4920"/></div><figcaption>Graphic: Sarah Grillo, Naema Ahmed/Axios; Photos: Bettmann, Chicago History Museum/Getty Images</figcaption></figure></div>

From its start, the United States gave citizens the right to vote — as long as they were white men who owned property.  From counting a slave as 3/5 of a white man to the creation of the Electoral College, there's a through-line of barriers that extends to today based on racial politics. 

Why it matters: 150 years after the 15th Amendment — and 55 years after the passage of the Voting Rights Act — people of color still face systemic obstacles to voting. 

The state of play: The Supreme Court's 2013 ruling in Shelby County v. Holder gutted the enforcement provision of the Voting Rights Act, unleashing a slew of new state laws to make voting more difficult. 

Voter purges: New York, Florida, Virginia and North Carolina conducted illegal voter purges resulting in millions of registered voters being erroneously removed, per the Brennan Center.

Closed polling places: A 2016 examination of 381 counties in the South found 43% had reduced polling locations. A USA Today analysis found states closed thousands of polling places in 2016, the majority in Black or Hispanic communities. The Brennan Center reports that some Native Americans in South Dakota have to travel 150 miles to vote. 

Voter ID laws: Thirty-six states request or require voters to show a form of ID at the polls. North Carolina passed strict voter ID and other early-voting restrictions that in 2016 a federal appeals court found "target African Americans with almost surgical precision." In 2017, a federal judge ruled that a Texas voter ID law was passed with the intention of discriminating against the state's Hispanic and Black voters. 

Voting fees: In Florida, voters overwhelmingly passed a measure in 2018 to reinstate voting rights to felons who had served their time. State lawmakers then passed a law requiring such felons first to pay fines (averaging $1,000). A lower court ruled the fees amounted to a modern-day poll tax, but the law was upheld by a federal appeals court.

Language barriers: In 2014, a federal court ruled that Alaska broke the law by failing to provide ballots in appropriate languages to Alaska Native tribes. 

Elusive ballots: In Montana, a state court last month struck down a law that set arbitrary limits on the number of people who can collect ballots on tribal land, saying it was overly burdensome for the state's Native American voters.

The bottom line:  Requiring ID to vote or updating voter rolls aren't necessarily discriminatory. But implementation matters, and together they disproportionately affect non-white voters. 

4. Voter suppression then and now

Black Americans and minorities still face systemic obstacles at every step of voting.

Photo illustration of people at the ballot box, a hand with an empty card, and a vote or die lawn sign.

Photo illustration: Eniola Odetunde/Axios. Photo: Barry Lewis/Getty Images 

From its start, the United States gave citizens the right to vote — as long as they were white men who owned property. From counting a slave as 3/5 of a white man to the creation of the Electoral College, there&#x27;s <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="a through-line of barriers" data-vars-click-url="https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/electoral-colleges-racist-origins" data-vars-content-id="b7f14aa0-dc5a-4e32-9cd4-79b7dfbfa6b0" data-vars-headline="Voter suppression then and now" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/electoral-colleges-racist-origins" target="_blank">a through-line of barriers</a> that extends to today based on racial politics. Why it matters: 150 years after the 15th Amendment — and 55 years after the passage of the Voting Rights Act — people of color still face systemic obstacles to voting.

Data: The Sentencing Project; Map: Andrew Witherspoon/Axios

Mass incarceration has fueled Black voter disenfranchisement for decades in the U.S. 

Why it matters: More than 5 million Americans are unable to vote because of a felony record, and they are disproportionately Black. The fight to undo felon disenfranchisement laws is gaining ground and could radically shift the political landscape. But progress is also fueling opposition. 

By the numbers: Black, voting-age Americans are nearly four times as likely as other American adults to lose their voting rights because of a past felony conviction, according to The Sentencing Project. 

More than 1 in 7 Black adults in Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee, Virginia and Wyoming are unable to vote. 

"Because of the over-policing in African American communities, you're going to get a higher percentage of African Americans who are convicted of felony offenses and thus are disenfranchised."

Desmond Meade, president of the activist group Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, who was formerly incarcerated himself

Between the lines: Criminal disenfranchisement laws vary by state. Maine, Vermont and Washington, D.C., allow felons to vote even while incarcerated. 

After 2016, Florida, Kentucky and Iowa were the only states to still permanently disenfranchise anyone with a felony record. All three have restored voting rights for many. 

Ten other states and D.C. have expanded voting rights for formerly or currently incarcerated people since the last general election, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. 

There's been pushback, particularly in the critical swing state of Florida where 8% of the voting-age population is still disenfranchised despite reforms.

Go deeper: Florida voters passed Amendment 4 in 2018, returning voting rights to more than 1 million Floridians with felony records. 

But Republican lawmakers responded by passing a bill requiring all court-related fees, fines and restitution to first be paid — despite the state not having any central database with that information. 

A federal appeals court decision in September kept the fines and fees requirement intact, leaving a large percentage of former felons again ineligible to vote in Florida. One study found just 45,300 felons had registered to vote after Amendment 4, and 78% might owe fees, per ProPublica.

The complications and confusion will likely scare people with felonies away from voting — even if they're eligible. "Certainly, Florida has done everything they can to make that the case," Julie Ebenstein, ACLU's Voting Rights Project lead attorney for felon disenfranchisement issues told Axios. 

The big picture: Restoring voting rights will do more than shift political power from one party to another. "We have an ability now to significantly increase the voices of people who've been directly impacted by the criminal justice system in such a way that will shake up both sides of the aisle," Meade said. 

5. Restoring the vote to Americans with felony records

Black men are disproportionately disenfranchised because of felony convictions.

Mass incarceration has fueled Black voter disenfranchisement for decades in the U.S. Why it matters: More than 5 million Americans are unable to vote because of a felony record, and they are disproportionately Black. The fight to undo felon disenfranchisement laws is gaining ground and could radically shift the political landscape. But progress is also fueling opposition.

Data: Axios/Ipsos poll; Note: ±2.6% margin of error; Chart: Naema Ahmed/Axios

Fears that armed militias, police or COVID-19 await them at the polls are disproportionately shaping how Americans of color think about in-person voting, according to an Ipsos poll for Axios.

Why it matters: Participation by voters of color could decide whether President Trump or Joe Biden wins, and whether Democrats take control of both chambers of Congress.

82% of white Americans, 74% of Black Americans, 66% of Asian Americans and 53% of Hispanic Americans say they're either certain to vote or have already voted, with a little more than two weeks left in the election.

The big picture: This survey of U.S. adults shows the lasting effects of voter suppression and disenfranchisement — and why people of color crave expansions of mail-in ballots, same-day registration and restoration of voting rights.

32% of Black respondents and 30% of Hispanic Americans and Asian Americans — but only one in five white respondents — are concerned about physical violence or armed militias at their voting locations.

One third of Black respondents, 29% of Asian Americans and 24% of Hispanic Americans worry the government could use in-person voting to serve warrants or arrest people — compared with just 14% of white respondents.

29% of Black Americans said they're "very concerned" about voter suppression in their home states — roughly twice the rate of the other racial and ethnic groups.

By the numbers: Roughly four in 10 non-white respondents, but just three in 10 white respondents, are concerned about long wait times at the polls.

Black Americans are the most concerned (57%) about whether their own votes will be counted.

There's also a big difference in how voters perceive the threat of the coronavirus. 61% of Asian Americans, 59% of Black Americans and 51% of Hispanic respondents are concerned about getting coronavirus if they vote in person — compared with 39% of white respondents.

Between the lines: In reality, the "overall" views of white Americans gloss over big differences between two groups: white Republicans and white Democrats.

White Democrats are much more likely to align with people of color on many of the issues examined in the survey — from fears of clashes at the polls to favoring elections by national popular vote to restoring felons' voting rights.

There's a 20-percentage point gap between the share of white Democrats and white Republicans who say they're either "very" or "somewhat" concerned about voter suppression in their state.

What we're watching: Most Black respondents (82%), Hispanic Americans (77%), Asian Americans (63%) and white respondents (59%) say the president should be elected nationally by popular vote rather than by the Electoral College.

Two-thirds of all Americans say election day should be a national holiday.

About eight in 10 voters overall support requiring photo ID to vote in person, slightly less — 73%— for Black respondents.

Majorities of Black Americans (81%), white Americans (70%), Hispanic respondents (64%) and Asian Americans (63%) support restoring voting rights to convicted felons who have served their time.

Only Black Americans (52%) favor allowing convicted felons who are still in prison to vote.

Methodology: This Axios/Ipsos Race and Voting Poll was conducted Oct.8–15, 2020, by Ipsos’ KnowledgePanel®. This poll is based on a nationally representative probability sample of 2,052 general population adults age 18 or older.

The margin of sampling error is ± 2.6 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.

The study was conducted in both English and Spanish.

The data were weighted to adjust for gender by age, race/ethnicity, education, Census region, metropolitan status, household income, race/ethnicity by gender, race/ethnicity by age, race/ethnicity by education, race/ethnicity by region, and party identification.

6. Axios-Ipsos poll: Voters of color worry about militias, arrests

An Ipsos poll for Axios shows the lasting effects of voter suppression and disenfranchisement.

Race

Fears that armed militias, police or COVID-19 await them at the polls are disproportionately shaping how Americans of color think about in-person voting, according to an <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Ipsos poll for Axios" data-vars-click-url="https://www.ipsos.com/en-us/news-polls/axios-voting-and-race-2020" data-vars-content-id="e11dea2a-8e0d-4c04-8a9d-cdf20540a3bd" data-vars-headline="Axios-Ipsos poll: Voters of color worry about militias, arrests" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.ipsos.com/en-us/news-polls/axios-voting-and-race-2020" target="_blank">Ipsos poll for Axios</a>.Why it matters: Participation by voters of color could decide whether President Trump or Joe Biden wins, and whether Democrats take control of both chambers of Congress.

In this special Saturday episode, Axios kicks off Hard Truths, a project examining  systemic racism in our country. This will be a yearlong series covering a new topic each month — education, housing, technology and health care. With a bitter election just days away we start with voting, specifically voter suppression.

Guests: Axios' Sara Goo and Carol Anderson, historian at Emory University. 

Credits: "Axios Today" is produced in partnership with Pushkin Industries. The team includes Niala Boodhoo, Carol Wu, Cara Shillenn, Nuria Marquez Martinez, Dan Bobkoff, Sara Kehaulani Goo, Alex Sugiura and Naomi Shavin. Music is composed by Evan Viola. You can reach us at podcasts@axios.com.

Axios-Ipsos poll: Voters of color worry about militias, arrests

7. The Hard Truth of voter suppression

With a bitter election just days away, we look at the history voter suppression.

Voting rights

Axios Today

In this special Saturday episode, Axios kicks off Hard Truths, a project examining systemic racism in our country. This will be a yearlong series covering a new topic each month — education, housing, technology and health care. With a bitter election just days away we start with voting, specifically voter suppression.