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72 Forms of Voter Suppression

by | Jun 17, 2022 | Transformer newsletter, Voter Suppression, Voting Rights | 0 comments

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD A PRINTABLE .PDF VERSION OF THE 72 FORMS OF VOTER SUPPRESSION
  1. Strict voter photo ID laws
  2. Closing of DMV’s in strict voter ID law states
  3. Failure to accept government-issued state university and college student ID’s
  4. No early voting
  5. Early voting cuts
  6. No Sunday Souls to the Polls Early Voting
  7. Harsh requirements/punishments for voter registration groups
  8. Tough Deputy Registrar Requirements
  9. Harsh voter registration Compliance Deadlines
  10. Failure to timely process voter registrations
  11. Cuts to Election Day (Same Day) registration
  12. Polling place reductions or consolidations
  13. Polling place relocations
  14. Inadequate or poorly trained staffing at polls
  15. Inadequate number of functioning machines, optical scanners or electronic polling books
  16. Running out of ballots at polling sites
  17. No paper ballots
  18. Failure to accept Native American tribal IDs.
  19. Barring Native American voters through residential address requirements for  Native American lands which have PO Boxes
  20. Failure to place polling sites on Native American lands
  21. Refusal to place polling sites on college campuses
  22. Lack of available public transportation to polling sites
  23. Excessive Voter purging
  24. Disparate racial treatment at polling sites
  25. Student voting restrictions
    • Residency
  26. Ex-felon disenfranchisement laws
  27. Requiring Payment of Fines or Fees As Condition of Vote Restoration
  28. Failure to Inform Formerly Incarcerated Persons of Their Voting Rights or Eligibility to Vote
  29. Excessive Use of Inactive voter lists
  30. No Public Outreach or Notification to Voters Placed on Inactive Lists
  31. Language discrimination
    • Failure to accommodate
  32. Lack of language-accessible materials
  33. Failure to accommodate voters with disabilities
  34. No disability accessibility
  35. No curbside Voting
  36. Not enough disability accessible voting equipment
  1. Barriers to assistance by family members or others for voters
  2. Deceptive practices
    • Flyers
    • Robocalls
  3. Voter intimidation
    • Impersonating law enforcement personnel or immigration officers
  4. Police at polling places
  5. Racial gerrymandering
  6. Creating polling place confusion by splitting Black precincts
  7. Partisan gerrymandering
  8. Barriers for homeless voters to voter registration
  9. Voter caging
    • Use of One-Time Post cards/Mailers
  10. Voter challengers at polls
  11. Voter challenges to voter registration lists
  12. Use of Suspense lists
  13. Absentee Ballot Short Return Deadlines
  14. Exact match requirements for signatures or other information
  15. Complicated Absentee Ballot Requirements
  16. Proof of Citizenship Laws
  17. Out-of-precinct = no vote counted requirement
  18. Failure to pre-register 17 year old
  19. Restrictions on straight-party voting
  20. Interstate voter registration Crosscheck system
  21. Jailed persons’ preconviction: denied right to register and/or vote
  22. DOJ demanding voter records
  23. Employers not providing time off or enough time
  24. Failure to assist or accommodate voters displaced by natural disasters
  25. Long lines
  26. Blocking Board of Elections from accepting grant money to improve efficiencies
  27. Criminalizing private citizens from giving food, water, and other assistance to voters in long lines
  28. State legislators taking over local election boards for partisan purposes
  29. Proposing or passing legislation to require fingerprints in order to vote
  30. Undermining citizen ballot initiatives for independent or less partisan redistricting
  31. Requiring formerly incarcerate persons whose rights have been restored in the state of their offense to now pay fines, fees and restitution prior to restoration of the right to vote in a new state to which they have moved (Jim Crow 2.0)
  32. Bans on dropbox / limiting the numbers of the dropboxes / limiting the hours of access to drop box locations to make them inaccessible before and after work
  33. Criminalizing and prohibiting private groups from giving out applications for absentee or vote by mail ballots
  34. Court sanctioned closure of polling locations without public note
  35. Election Boards refusing to certify elections due to “Stop the Steal” myths about dominion voting machines
  36. Foreign governments interfering with elections by spreading false information and racial conflicts and pretending to be African American voters to discourage voter participation

© 2022 Barbara Arnwine. All rights reserved.
By Barbara R. Arnwine
President & Founder
Transformative Justice Coalition
Author,  2022 Voting Rights Map of Shame