In the early days of the United States, the right to vote was considered sacrosanct. In a 1795 essay, Thomas Paine wrote that “To take away [the right to vote] is to reduce a man to slavery, for slavery consists in being subject to the will of another, and he that has not a vote in the election of representatives is in this case.” (It’s worth noting that unlike many of our Founding Fathers, Paine was, in fact, anti slavery.)
In those days, of course, most Americans were barred from voting. It was a privilege reserved for the elite. Extending that privilege to the whole country, those elite argued, would risk completely upending the existing power structure. But the people without the right to vote never stopped seeking it. So, since its very beginning, our country’s story has been about the ever-evolving fight to expand (and then re-limit) representation.
None of this is new. In her 2018 book One Person, No Vote, the historian Carol Anderson argued that in order to maintain power, the Republican Party has opted to disfranchise Black, Latino, and other minority voters, rather than attempt to truly serve their needs. With respect to the 2016 presidential election, she writes:
“Using a series of voter suppression tactics, the GOP harassed, obstructed, frustrated, and purged American citizens from having a say in their own democracy. The devices the Republicans used are variations on a theme going back more than 150 years. They target the socioeconomic characteristics of a people (poverty, lack of mobility, illiteracy, etc.) and then soak the new laws in ‘racially neutral justifications—such as administrative efficiency’ or ‘fiscal responsibility’—to cover the discriminatory intent. Republican lawmakers then act aggrieved, shocked, and wounded that anyone would question their stated purpose for excluding millions of American citizens from the ballot box.”
The next set of local elections is just two months away. Many believe those elections will serve as a window into how the American public really feels about Trump’s time in office so far. It’s notable, then, that the Trump administration is engaging in tactics that have historically been used to reduce voter turnout. Then again, many Democrats have failed to find platforms that their would-be supporters find inspiring enough to show up for. That will likely be reflected in November’s elections, too. Which means that even people who have the right to vote and the ability to do so may consider themselves among the disenfranchised.
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-Leah Donnella, senior editor
Written by Leah Donnella and editedby Dalia Mortada
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