Select an issue concerning voting rights or practices and tell us your thoughts about it.
The greatest issue facing the United States today is the lack of voter engagement. It’s much easier to close your eyes and pretend as though societal problems aren’t there, which far too many Americans do. Enormous challenges confront our community on many fronts, and with political polarization, none of these issues are effectively approached.
260 million Americans are over 18, and therefore eligible to vote. Consistently, less than half of these citizens vote. Compared to other wealthy countries, the United States pales compared to the rest. According to an article from Pew Research, the US comes in 31st place for voter turnout. While over 90% of registered voters turn out, only 62% of eligible voters turn out.
When the US Supreme Court ruled in the Citizens United v. FEC, that the election spending was a form of free speech, it inadvertently said that certain people have more say than others. Fast forward 14 years and 2024 saw the most spending in a presidential election ever, with over $10 billion spent in advertisements alone. While the candidate with the most money doesn’t always win, it goes a long way in influencing the minds of voters and overstepping individual efforts. Billionaires are allowed to prop up candidates, and super PACs funnel money into house elections if they dislike a candidate. The personal relationship between candidates and communities have disappeared nearly entirely. With the appearance that politicians care only about donations, as they drool in endless campaign ads. The Suffrage and Civil Rights movements went a long way in ensuring that all people regardless of sex or race were free and equal under the constitution, but voting disparity continues. While not to the same extent, white male voters continue to vote far more frequently than historically disadvantaged citizens. Furthermore, older white men continue to be disproportionately more affluent and financially secure than disadvantaged voters. This deepens the divide between those with a say and those without.
There’s a reason that the United States is the oldest living democracy in the world, if everything needed to be upended it would’ve been a long time ago and our fragile experiment would’ve come to an end. As times have changed so have the laws and governance of the US. The definition of personhood has changed, as well as the extension of who is guaranteed equal and protected rights under the US Constitution. The reason that the US has survived as long as it has is because it allows itself to change with the times. Checks and balances have allowed for this. The Dred Scott decision was ruled by the Supreme Court and eventually superseded by the passage of the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments. Systems that have been in place for over 2 centuries do not need to be fully upended, but they do need to ebb and flow as needed. It is pertinent to the future of voting rights equality that all voices be heard equally. Billionaires and middle class citizens should be heard no differently.
