As elections face increased scrutiny and opposition, more pieces of legislation have been introduced to expand or restrict voting access.Video above: Get the Facts: Critical infrastructure and election security According to the Brennan Center for Justice, the period between Jan. 1, 2021, and Sept. 16, 2024, has seen a significant push for legislation affecting the electoral system.At least 30 states put 78 restrictive voting laws into effectAt least 41 states and Washington, D.C., put 168 expansive voting laws into effectSince 2020, a record number of restrictive voting laws have been enacted, nearly doubling the total passed between 2013 and 2020.This is despite voter and election fraud being extremely rare. It’s defined as the “illegal interference with an election to manipulate the outcome,” according to Hearst Television’s National Investigative Unit.While accusations have been raised in local and state elections, as well as the 2020 presidential election, Hearst’s NIU has only identified 410 instances where voter or election fraud led to conviction or action in court since 2016. Only 47 cases concerned noncitizens, suggesting there may be less foreign interference occurring at the ballot box than what may be believed.Restrictive laws enacted since 2020 are in effect for the 2024 general election and seek to set up barriers to limit accessibility to voting. These barriers include shortening the windows to apply for a mail-in ballot and return it, restricting assistance in returning ballots and mail-in ballot applications, limiting drop-box availability, adding more restrictive ID requirements, and increasing the difficulty of registering to vote, among others.These restrictive voting laws follow the 2013 Supreme Court decision in Shelby County v. Holder. In the case, the court ruled that the formula used to define which states were covered by Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act was unconstitutional. This allowed those jurisdictions — which previously had to receive federal approval due to their histories of racial discrimination — to change voting rules without preclearance.Now, the gap in participation between white voters and voters of color is growing twice as fast in those jurisdictions than in the rest of the U.S., according to research by the Brennan Center. Restrictive voter ID laws widen this turnout gap, along with longer wait times on Election Day (often caused by restrictions to alternative voting methods), removals from mail voting lists and other voter suppression laws to be in effect this November.Other forms of voter restrictionsVoting rights continue to be challenged by the mass purging of eligible voters from the voter rolls. In recent years, some states have passed laws that erroneously disenfranchise eligible voters. According to the Voting Rights Lab, “32 states have introduced at least 148 bills that would have a restrictive impact on list maintenance” since 2021. Of these bills, 11 have been enacted.In Georgia, unfounded challenges to voter registrations can erroneously deactivate the voter statuses of eligible citizens. This follows a 2021 law, Senate Bill 189, which “lowers the barrier for making biased and baseless voter challenges around the state,” according to the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia. For the 2022 midterms, 1.4% of registrations were challenged. While this may seem like an insignificant amount, a similar result in the 2024 presidential election could have a massive impact. In the 2020 election, President Joe Biden won the state by 12,670 votes, a margin of only 0.26%, according to CNN. Voter restriction doesn’t end in the legislature. Groups such as the Proud Boys, classified as an “extremist group with ties to white nationalism” by the FBI in 2018, can intimidate voters, dissuading them from casting their ballots.The group is well-known for its participation in violent events.According to the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, as of Dec. 31, 2021, “83 Proud Boys members and sympathizers have allegedly carried out ideologically motivated crimes in the United States. This number includes 54 Proud Boys defendants who participated in the Capitol breach on January 6, 2021.”In 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice determined that the Proud Boys had a pivotal role in the Capitol riot, and Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, national chairman of the organization, was sentenced to 22 years in prison for “conspiring to oppose by force the lawful transfer of presidential power,” said the Office of Public Affairs. At the trial, a Proud Boy described the group as “foot soldiers of the right,” and some members now say the organization is getting ready to reemerge “as a physical force for Trump,” according to Reuters.While the existence of a group with this history can already dissuade voters from appearing at voting sites, their past involvement in poll watching could indicate continued attempts at voter intimidation during this election.Poll watchingPoll watchers, or election observers, are individuals allowed to observe the election process. In 2020, white nationalist groups, including the Proud Boys, sought to gather supporters to join the Army for Trump — the Trump campaign’s initiative to get individuals to sign up as poll watchers. This was spurred by former President Donald Trump’s calls to “go into the polls and watch very carefully” during the first debate in the last presidential election. Trump has echoed this sentiment for this election cycle, having told supporters to “guard the vote” in 2023.While poll watching is meant to promote transparency and raise the public’s trust in the election process, incidents in 2020 and 2022 exhibited election observers harassing voters and election officials.The Brennan Center says that poll watchers have been reported for accusing voters of being noncitizens, trying to view private data, following election officials while armed and standing in the way of voting machines. Poll watchers abusing the role can intimidate voters into leaving the site and obstruct the process, causing delays and election workers to quit.Similar attempts at intimidation have been seen at ballot drop boxes. In Arizona, during the 2022 midterms, individuals have been accused of loitering near drop boxes and taking photos and videos of voters and their license plates.Incidents to suppress voter participation undermine citizens’ right to vote and compromise the idea that the U.S. holds truly fair and free elections.However, while many leaders and individuals have pushed for barriers, many have sought to break them down. Between January 2021 and Sept. 16, 2024, laws enacted to increase voter accessibility in the U.S. have far exceeded those passed to restrict it, according to the Brennan Center. For the 2024 general election, 156 new laws to expand voter access across 41 states will be in effect.To counter many states’ push to restrict mail-in voting access, 30 states and Washington, D.C., have passed 76 laws to expand mail and absentee voting, and all but three will be in effect for the 2024 general election, according to the Brennan Center. Other laws aim to enact no-excuse absentee voting, establish longer deadlines for ballot curing and submitting registration forms, expand access to drop boxes, pass state Voting Rights Acts to fight suppression against voters of color, and make it harder to discount a ballot for technical errors, as well as others. The Trump-Vance ticketSince 2020, little has changed regarding Trump’s perspective on election security. He continues to propagate the narrative that the previous election was stolen, recently telling supporters, “It was a rigged election.”Trump has denied responsibility for the riot at the Capitol, saying at the September debate, “I had nothing to do with that other than they asked me to make a speech. I showed up for a speech.” Still, he has said he would pardon the Jan. 6 rioters if elected, calling them “patriots” and “hostages.”Video above: Trump calls out Pennsylvania counties over alleged voter registration fraudThe Republican vice presidential candidate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, has echoed Trump’s views. Vance has said if he were in former Vice President Mike Pence’s place in 2020, he would not have certified the results, citing concerns with tech companies “censoring Americans at a mass scale.”At the debate on Oct. 1, when Democratic vice presidential candidate Gov. Tim Walz asked if Trump lost the 2020 election, Vance avoided the question, saying instead, “I’m focused on the future” — a response Walz called a “damning nonanswer.”An unsealed court filing concerning Trump’s actions during the 2020 election quotes the former president telling his wife, daughter and son-in-law, “It doesn’t matter if you won or lost the election. You still have to fight like hell.” The statement suggests that Trump may have been aware that his presidential bid was unsuccessful but sought alternative methods to retain his position in office anyway.The Harris-Walz ticketWhen Biden dropped out of the presidential race on July 21, Vice President Kamala Harris quickly claimed the role of the Democratic presidential candidate, formally securing the nomination just over two weeks later on Aug. 5.During her time as vice president, Harris was assigned to lead the Biden administration’s efforts to advance voting rights legislation and pass the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, according to the Brennan Center.The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act seeks to continue the 1965 Voting Rights Act’s efforts to prevent discriminatory voting restrictions. The act aims to provide a new formula to replace that which was invalidated by the 2013 Supreme Court ruling in Shelby County v. Holder, requiring states with a history of voter discrimination to need preclearance for voting law changes. The act would also make preclearance a requirement nationwide for certain types of voting law changes, largely in an effort to expand voting access in areas with significant minority populations, according to the Brennan Center.Video above: Vice President Kamala Harris prepares for Trump’s potential election challengesWhile the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act passed the House on party lines in 2021, its companion bill in the Senate has yet to find the same success. According to Congress.gov, the latest action on the bill was in February 2024, when it had been “referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.”Harris was also tasked with passing the For the People Act, which, according to an analysis by the Brennan Center, aims to fight corruption by banning partisan gerrymandering (redrawing congressional maps in favor of one party) and modifying campaign finance laws.The bill has made similar progress as the John Lewis Act, having passed the House in 2021, but stalled in the Senate. The most recent action on the For the People Act in the Senate was in August 2021, when it was put on the “Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders,” according to Congress.gov.Harris’ campaign website details her and Walz’s commitment to continuing the effort to pass expansive voting laws, saying the candidates “will fight to ensure that Americans have the opportunity to participate in our democracy by passing the John Lewis Voting Rights and the Freedom to Vote Acts.”The Brennan Center reports that The Freedom to Vote Act is “compromise legislation” to garner support from critics of the For the People Act. It retains the majority of provisions outlined in the For the People Act while adding new safeguards against voter suppression, installing the provision to make Election Day a legal public holiday and expanding other protections for voting rights. However, the Freedom to Vote Act also concedes on some points to the Republican and Democratic opponents of the For the People Act, in part by adding more flexibility to the implementation of certain measures and omitting others.While it’s difficult to find common ground between the two presidential hopefuls, both candidates appear to have agreed on one key idea: the 2024 election is a continuation of the fight from four years ago — the fight for democracy itself.ImpactThe suppression of voting rights, the efforts of election interference and the fear of losing democracy all contribute to a loss of trust in the integrity of U.S. elections. And its impact is felt across the country already.According to research by States United Action, 172 current members of Congress believe the 2020 election was rigged and/or stolen by the Democratic Party. That means almost one-third of Congress is made up of election deniers. The organization also tallies 180 election deniers who are currently running for Congress in November, the vast majority of whom are seeking reelection.A large number of citizens reflect their stances. A 2023 CNN poll found that, at the time, 69% of Republicans and those who leaned to the right believe Biden’s win in 2020 was illegitimate. However, this does not mean that the people have given up on the electoral system. According to the Pew Research Center, around two-thirds (66%) of the voting-eligible population participated in the 2020 presidential election, marking the highest rate in turnout for “any national election since 1900.”While participation doesn’t ensure a fair and free election — and it certainly does not mean efforts of election subversion and voter suppression aren’t real and pressing threats — it can demonstrate trust in democracy. While the electoral process has seen new elements in recent years, the desire to fight for representation remains consistent throughout the country’s history.The American people appear intent on retaining their faith in democracy, even when under threat and even if they lose faith in all else.
As elections face increased scrutiny and opposition, more pieces of legislation have been introduced to expand or restrict voting access.
Video above: Get the Facts: Critical infrastructure and election security
According to the Brennan Center for Justice, the period between Jan. 1, 2021, and Sept. 16, 2024, has seen a significant push for legislation affecting the electoral system.
- At least 30 states put 78 restrictive voting laws into effect
- At least 41 states and Washington, D.C., put 168 expansive voting laws into effect
Since 2020, a record number of restrictive voting laws have been enacted, nearly doubling the total passed between 2013 and 2020.
This is despite voter and election fraud being extremely rare. It’s defined as the “illegal interference with an election to manipulate the outcome,” according to Hearst Television’s National Investigative Unit.
While accusations have been raised in local and state elections, as well as the 2020 presidential election, Hearst’s NIU has only identified 410 instances where voter or election fraud led to conviction or action in court since 2016. Only 47 cases concerned noncitizens, suggesting there may be less foreign interference occurring at the ballot box than what may be believed.
Restrictive laws enacted since 2020 are in effect for the 2024 general election and seek to set up barriers to limit accessibility to voting. These barriers include shortening the windows to apply for a mail-in ballot and return it, restricting assistance in returning ballots and mail-in ballot applications, limiting drop-box availability, adding more restrictive ID requirements, and increasing the difficulty of registering to vote, among others.
These restrictive voting laws follow the 2013 Supreme Court decision in Shelby County v. Holder. In the case, the court ruled that the formula used to define which states were covered by Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act was unconstitutional. This allowed those jurisdictions — which previously had to receive federal approval due to their histories of racial discrimination — to change voting rules without preclearance.
Now, the gap in participation between white voters and voters of color is growing twice as fast in those jurisdictions than in the rest of the U.S., according to research by the Brennan Center. Restrictive voter ID laws widen this turnout gap, along with longer wait times on Election Day (often caused by restrictions to alternative voting methods), removals from mail voting lists and other voter suppression laws to be in effect this November.
Other forms of voter restrictions
Voting rights continue to be challenged by the mass purging of eligible voters from the voter rolls. In recent years, some states have passed laws that erroneously disenfranchise eligible voters. According to the Voting Rights Lab, “32 states have introduced at least 148 bills that would have a restrictive impact on list maintenance” since 2021. Of these bills, 11 have been enacted.
In Georgia, unfounded challenges to voter registrations can erroneously deactivate the voter statuses of eligible citizens. This follows a 2021 law, Senate Bill 189, which “lowers the barrier for making biased and baseless voter challenges around the state,” according to the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia. For the 2022 midterms, 1.4% of registrations were challenged. While this may seem like an insignificant amount, a similar result in the 2024 presidential election could have a massive impact. In the 2020 election, President Joe Biden won the state by 12,670 votes, a margin of only 0.26%, according to CNN.
Voter restriction doesn’t end in the legislature. Groups such as the Proud Boys, classified as an “extremist group with ties to white nationalism” by the FBI in 2018, can intimidate voters, dissuading them from casting their ballots.
The group is well-known for its participation in violent events.
According to the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, as of Dec. 31, 2021, “83 Proud Boys members and sympathizers have allegedly carried out ideologically motivated crimes in the United States. This number includes 54 Proud Boys defendants who participated in the Capitol breach on January 6, 2021.”
In 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice determined that the Proud Boys had a pivotal role in the Capitol riot, and Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, national chairman of the organization, was sentenced to 22 years in prison for “conspiring to oppose by force the lawful transfer of presidential power,” said the Office of Public Affairs. At the trial, a Proud Boy described the group as “foot soldiers of the right,” and some members now say the organization is getting ready to reemerge “as a physical force for Trump,” according to Reuters.
While the existence of a group with this history can already dissuade voters from appearing at voting sites, their past involvement in poll watching could indicate continued attempts at voter intimidation during this election.
Poll watching
Poll watchers, or election observers, are individuals allowed to observe the election process. In 2020, white nationalist groups, including the Proud Boys, sought to gather supporters to join the Army for Trump — the Trump campaign’s initiative to get individuals to sign up as poll watchers. This was spurred by former President Donald Trump’s calls to “go into the polls and watch very carefully” during the first debate in the last presidential election. Trump has echoed this sentiment for this election cycle, having told supporters to “guard the vote” in 2023.
While poll watching is meant to promote transparency and raise the public’s trust in the election process, incidents in 2020 and 2022 exhibited election observers harassing voters and election officials.
The Brennan Center says that poll watchers have been reported for accusing voters of being noncitizens, trying to view private data, following election officials while armed and standing in the way of voting machines. Poll watchers abusing the role can intimidate voters into leaving the site and obstruct the process, causing delays and election workers to quit.
Similar attempts at intimidation have been seen at ballot drop boxes. In Arizona, during the 2022 midterms, individuals have been accused of loitering near drop boxes and taking photos and videos of voters and their license plates.
Incidents to suppress voter participation undermine citizens’ right to vote and compromise the idea that the U.S. holds truly fair and free elections.
However, while many leaders and individuals have pushed for barriers, many have sought to break them down. Between January 2021 and Sept. 16, 2024, laws enacted to increase voter accessibility in the U.S. have far exceeded those passed to restrict it, according to the Brennan Center. For the 2024 general election, 156 new laws to expand voter access across 41 states will be in effect.
To counter many states’ push to restrict mail-in voting access, 30 states and Washington, D.C., have passed 76 laws to expand mail and absentee voting, and all but three will be in effect for the 2024 general election, according to the Brennan Center. Other laws aim to enact no-excuse absentee voting, establish longer deadlines for ballot curing and submitting registration forms, expand access to drop boxes, pass state Voting Rights Acts to fight suppression against voters of color, and make it harder to discount a ballot for technical errors, as well as others.
The Trump-Vance ticket
Since 2020, little has changed regarding Trump’s perspective on election security. He continues to propagate the narrative that the previous election was stolen, recently telling supporters, “It was a rigged election.”
Trump has denied responsibility for the riot at the Capitol, saying at the September debate, “I had nothing to do with that other than they asked me to make a speech. I showed up for a speech.” Still, he has said he would pardon the Jan. 6 rioters if elected, calling them “patriots” and “hostages.”
Video above: Trump calls out Pennsylvania counties over alleged voter registration fraud
The Republican vice presidential candidate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, has echoed Trump’s views. Vance has said if he were in former Vice President Mike Pence’s place in 2020, he would not have certified the results, citing concerns with tech companies “censoring Americans at a mass scale.”
At the debate on Oct. 1, when Democratic vice presidential candidate Gov. Tim Walz asked if Trump lost the 2020 election, Vance avoided the question, saying instead, “I’m focused on the future” — a response Walz called a “damning nonanswer.”
An unsealed court filing concerning Trump’s actions during the 2020 election quotes the former president telling his wife, daughter and son-in-law, “It doesn’t matter if you won or lost the election. You still have to fight like hell.” The statement suggests that Trump may have been aware that his presidential bid was unsuccessful but sought alternative methods to retain his position in office anyway.
The Harris-Walz ticket
When Biden dropped out of the presidential race on July 21, Vice President Kamala Harris quickly claimed the role of the Democratic presidential candidate, formally securing the nomination just over two weeks later on Aug. 5.
During her time as vice president, Harris was assigned to lead the Biden administration’s efforts to advance voting rights legislation and pass the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, according to the Brennan Center.
The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act seeks to continue the 1965 Voting Rights Act’s efforts to prevent discriminatory voting restrictions. The act aims to provide a new formula to replace that which was invalidated by the 2013 Supreme Court ruling in Shelby County v. Holder, requiring states with a history of voter discrimination to need preclearance for voting law changes. The act would also make preclearance a requirement nationwide for certain types of voting law changes, largely in an effort to expand voting access in areas with significant minority populations, according to the Brennan Center.
Video above: Vice President Kamala Harris prepares for Trump’s potential election challenges
While the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act passed the House on party lines in 2021, its companion bill in the Senate has yet to find the same success. According to Congress.gov, the latest action on the bill was in February 2024, when it had been “referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.”
Harris was also tasked with passing the For the People Act, which, according to an analysis by the Brennan Center, aims to fight corruption by banning partisan gerrymandering (redrawing congressional maps in favor of one party) and modifying campaign finance laws.
The bill has made similar progress as the John Lewis Act, having passed the House in 2021, but stalled in the Senate. The most recent action on the For the People Act in the Senate was in August 2021, when it was put on the “Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders,” according to Congress.gov.
Harris’ campaign website details her and Walz’s commitment to continuing the effort to pass expansive voting laws, saying the candidates “will fight to ensure that Americans have the opportunity to participate in our democracy by passing the John Lewis Voting Rights and the Freedom to Vote Acts.”
The Brennan Center reports that The Freedom to Vote Act is “compromise legislation” to garner support from critics of the For the People Act. It retains the majority of provisions outlined in the For the People Act while adding new safeguards against voter suppression, installing the provision to make Election Day a legal public holiday and expanding other protections for voting rights. However, the Freedom to Vote Act also concedes on some points to the Republican and Democratic opponents of the For the People Act, in part by adding more flexibility to the implementation of certain measures and omitting others.
While it’s difficult to find common ground between the two presidential hopefuls, both candidates appear to have agreed on one key idea: the 2024 election is a continuation of the fight from four years ago — the fight for democracy itself.
Impact
The suppression of voting rights, the efforts of election interference and the fear of losing democracy all contribute to a loss of trust in the integrity of U.S. elections. And its impact is felt across the country already.
According to research by States United Action, 172 current members of Congress believe the 2020 election was rigged and/or stolen by the Democratic Party. That means almost one-third of Congress is made up of election deniers. The organization also tallies 180 election deniers who are currently running for Congress in November, the vast majority of whom are seeking reelection.
A large number of citizens reflect their stances. A 2023 CNN poll found that, at the time, 69% of Republicans and those who leaned to the right believe Biden’s win in 2020 was illegitimate.
However, this does not mean that the people have given up on the electoral system. According to the Pew Research Center, around two-thirds (66%) of the voting-eligible population participated in the 2020 presidential election, marking the highest rate in turnout for “any national election since 1900.”
While participation doesn’t ensure a fair and free election — and it certainly does not mean efforts of election subversion and voter suppression aren’t real and pressing threats — it can demonstrate trust in democracy. While the electoral process has seen new elements in recent years, the desire to fight for representation remains consistent throughout the country’s history.
The American people appear intent on retaining their faith in democracy, even when under threat and even if they lose faith in all else.
