On Election Day, millions of voters will go to the polls in 17 states where they’ll face strict identification, early voting cutbacks, same-day registration elimination, proof of citizenship requirement, additional scrutiny (whatever that means), or some combination of them all.
Collectively, these 17 states are home to over 110 million people and will wield 189 of the 270 electoral votes necessary to win the presidency.
To be clear: that’s 70 percent of the overall number of electoral college votes needed to reach 270, and 34 percent of the states.
Voters who are turned away from the polls, may leave thinking there is nothing they can do to appeal the decision. They would be wrong. The first step, however, is to go to the polls prepared for the worst, even in states without any voting restrictions.
Knowledge is power; pull up a stool.
The following states have voter ID laws: Texas, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, North Carolina, North Dakota, Wisconsin, New Hampshire and Rhode Island. Kansas requires voters to provide proof of citizenship. In addition, there have been early voting cutbacks in Nebraska, Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, Ohio and Wisconsin. Arizona and Kansas have a duel registration system; Arizona places restrictions on mail-in ballots, and North Carolina and Ohio have eliminated same day registration.
Each state has different requirements when it comes to the ID necessary to vote; some will take a military ID, or a passport, but most prefer a state driver’s license or a state issue identification card. To find out what each your state requires, click here and scroll down until you see its name. Besides the ID information, the page will include what time the polls open, the date by which absentee ballots much be postmarked, etc. Just click on one of the tabs at the top.
Frustrated that you don’t live in a battleground state? No matter where you live, MoveOn has a great way for you to get involved where it matters most. Check it out!
If you are turned away, even in a state without voter ID laws (you may have registered to vote, for example, but for some reason your name didn’t make it onto the rolls), you are allowed to vote using a provisional ballot, as outlined by the Help America Vote Act of 2002.
Section 302 of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002 establishes the right for a voter to cast a provisional ballot if their name is not listed on the registration list or the voter’s eligibility is challenged by an election official. The ability to cast a provisional ballot is often referred to as “fail safe voting” in that it provides an opportunity for the voter to cast a provisional ballot without being turned away from voting, and allows election officials an opportunity to review each provisional voter’s information and determine eligibility following extensive research at the central election office.
Ask for one, and don’t take no for an answer. Poll workers aren’t always familiar with the laws.
This is the first presidential election in 50 years that will be held without the full protection of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, a law intended to protect African Americans from legal barriers meant to keep them away from the polls.
In 2013 the U.S. Supreme court struck down a key provision of the VRA which had previously enjoined nine southern states from changing their election laws without the approval of the federal government. But once that law was tossed, wouldn’t you know it, five of the original nine states started doing just that.
Texas, Arizona, Georgia, Mississippi and Alabama all adopted some form of restriction on voting and others joined right in. Quite a coincidence, huh?
Know the law and know your rights. And vote.