Even corporations oppose voter suppression

 

Bill Knight column for 4-15, 16 or 7, 2021

More than 100 leaders from airlines, manufacturers, the NFL and retailers on Saturday met online to discuss action to fight state bills they see as discriminatory. Corporations including Coca Cola, Delta Air Lines and UPS are considering delaying investments in states trying to suppress the voter or curtailing campaign contributions.

Recent struggles concerning the right to vote in free and fair elections – key to self-governance – include the U.S. Supreme Court on March 2 hearing arguments about an Arizona law limiting voting access; the House on March 3 passing the “For the People” Act (HR 1) protecting voting; and President Biden on March 7 signing an executive order to promote voting access.

Outside Washington, dozens of states are considering Republican proposals to limit voting, including Georgia, where lawmakers on March 25 enacted a law limiting mail ballots and early voting, adding ID requirements, prohibiting giving water and food to people in line at polling places, and giving the state more power over local election boards.

However, Illinois is defying the reactionary movement.

The state’s General Assembly approved a measure that runs counter to the national trend (and negative effects of other bills in Springfield). House Bill 1871 allows the use of ballot drop boxes, curbside voting, and the acceptance of ballots regardless of insufficient postage. Passing Illinois’ House March 18 with 70 Democrats voting yes and 41 Republicans voting no, it was OK’d by the state Senate 48-7 on March 25, with all no votes from GOP Senators. Gov. Pritzker signed it April 2 – in time for this month’s elections.

Likewise, the federal HR 1 would lower barriers to voting through automatic, online or same-day registration, making Election Day a federal holiday, establishing a 15-day minimum for early voting for federal elections, expanding ways to vote by mail, and ensuring paper-ballot records. Of course, Senate passage is unlikely.

GOP opponents complain that counting mail-in ballots arriving after Election Day – even those cast on time – would lead to uncertainty about results on election night. (So? It’s more vital to count all the votes, regardless of delays beyond voters’ control, than to oblige impatient viewers.)

Other foes, such as Rep. Darin LaHood (R-Peoria), voted against H.R. 1 because it infringed on states’ rights (which for years was the excuse for discriminations like segregated schools).

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court could uphold Arizona laws banning out-of-precinct voting and restricting collection of early ballots despite the 9th Court of Appeals saying that violates Sec. 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA), which prohibits procedures that discriminate, saying, “Racial discrimination was a motivating factor in enacting” Arizona’s rules.

The high Court in 2013’s “Shelby v. Holder” voted 5-4 to weaken another provision of the VRA, Sec. 5, which required federal approval for voting changes by states with a history of voter discrimination. That let states seek new restrictions on voting. Now, the Court isn’t ruling against voter suppression, but what kinds violate what’s left of the VRA, and what kinds of voter suppression are OK!

Oddly, in inadvertent honesty before the Court, GOP lawyer Michael A. Carvin admitted that easier voting makes winning harder on Republicans. Striking down Arizona’s restrictions, he said, would put “us at a competitive disadvantage.” Also, Arizona State Rep. John Kavanaugh told CNN, “Everybody shouldn’t be voting.”

Kenneth Mayer, a University of Wisconsin voting expert, told the New York Times, “The typical response by a losing party in a functioning democracy is that they alter their platform to make it more appealing. Here, the response is to try to keep people from voting.”

Elsewhere, the non-partisan Brennan Center for Justice says that Republicans in 24 states have introduced some 55 bills to restrict voting, adding, “In a backlash to historic voter turnout in the 2020 general election – and grounded in a rash of baseless allegations of voter fraud and election irregularities – legislators have introduced three times the number of bills to restrict voting access as compared to last year.”

In Illinois’ House of Representatives, nine Republican lawmakers unsuccessfully introduced 16 bills affecting access to the polls.

The GOP tries to justify this by embracing false claims of a “stolen election” and old, phony claims of widespread voter fraud – longtime Republican Christopher Krebs, U.S. Cybersecurity chief, said 2020’s election was “the most secure in American history,” and election officials from EVERY STATE said there was no proof of voter fraud when contacted by the New York Times.

Issuing his executive order commemorating the 56th anniversary of the Selma-to-Montgomery marches for civil rights, Biden said, “Every eligible voter should be able to vote and have that vote counted. If you have the best ideas, you have nothing to hide. Let the people vote.”