FOSTERING AN INCLUSIVE DEMOCRACY A STRATEGIC VISION TO PROTECT & EXPAND VOTING RIGHTS
TRANSFORMATIVE JUSTICE COALITION Barbara Arnwine, President
In partnership with
W.K. KELLOGG FOUNDATION
August 2016
TABLE OF CONTENTS
FOSTERING AN INCLUSIVE DEMOCRACY ...... 6 Executive Summary ...... 6 Introduction ...... 9 Preserving Unfettered Access to the Ballot ...... 10 Powerful Rays of Hope ...... 12 Structure of the Report ...... 13 Section 2: Methodology ...... 13 Key Findings & Recommendations ...... 17 Section 3: Contrast of Centuries ...... 19 Enfranchisement and the 20th Century ...... 19 Racial Inclusion and Efforts to Federally Broaden the Franchise ...... 20 Women’s Suffrage 19th Amendment ...... 21 Civil Rights Movement of the Mid-Century...... 22 Language Minorities and People with Disabilities ...... 23 The Youth Vote ...... 23 The National Voter Registration Act of 1993 ...... 24 Shaw v. Reno Setback ...... 24 Summary ...... 24 Section 4: 21st Century Assault on the Right to Vote ...... 25 2000: Voting Crisis ...... 25 2002: Passage of the Help America Vote Act ...... 26 2008: Crawford v. Marion County Board of Elections ...... 27 2008: Election of Barack Obama as President of the United States ...... 28 2010: Mid-Terms Elections and the Massive Rise of Voter Suppression ...... 28 Deceptive Practices & Voter Intimidation ...... 28 Onerous Voter ID Laws ...... 29 Correct Precinct Laws ...... 29 Early Voting Restrictions ...... 30
2 Registration Restrictions ...... 30 Restrictions on Student Voting ...... 31 Purging ...... 31 Voter Caging ...... 32 Administrative Irregularities ...... 32 Citizens United ...... 33 Shelby County v. Holder ...... 33 Section 5: Spotlight on Native American Voting Rights Challenges ...... 39 Overview ...... 39 Citizenship and Voting Rights ...... 39 The Unique Challenges of Sovereignty ...... 39 Citizenship and Access to the Franchise ...... 40 Challenges at the Polls: Election Officials Apathy and Voter Suppression ...... 41 The Current State of Federal Protections ...... 42 Political Influence and Electoral Results ...... 43 National Coordination to Protect the Right to Vote ...... 43 Section 6: National Legislative Overview 2011-2015...... 47 2011 ...... 47 2012 ...... 48 2013 ...... 49 2014 ...... 50 2015 ...... 50 Summary ...... 51 Section 7: Strategies for Protecting the Vote ...... 52 Dismantling Voting Barriers...... 52 1. Establish a National Network for an Open and Inclusive Democracy ...... 52 2. Fix the Voting Rights Act ...... 53 3. Pass the Native American Voting Rights Act and Take Executive Action to Protect Native American Voters ...... 55 4. Support a National Legislative Campaign in the States to “Repeal, Replace, and Enact” ...... 56 5. Build Enhanced Litigation Capacity ...... 57 6. Create Stronger Monitoring System for Electoral Changes at Local Levels…. 58
3 7. Create Greater Assistance and Advocacy for Ex-Felon Re-Enfranchisement 59 8. Support State Laws on Equal Election Facilities, Poll Workers, and Equipment...... 60 9. Establish a Blue Ribbon Commission ...... 61 10. Formalize and Provide Support for the Native American Voting Rights Coalition ...... 61 11. Establish a Permanent Voter Information and Assistance Hotline ...... 62 Section 8: Promoting Civic Engagement ...... 63 1. Support Voter Registration Reforms ...... 64 2. Inaugurate a 10-Year Plan Civic Learning, Leadership, and Engagement Initiative ...... 66 3. Build More Robust and Sustainable State Tables ...... 67 4. Launch a Countdown to 2016 Campaign...... 67 5. Improve and Expand Voter Contact Strategies ...... 68 6. Advocate for a Public Education Investment in Civic Engagement ...... 69 7. Host Convenings ...... 69 8. Build More Candidate Development Programs ...... 70 9. Engage Faith Communities in Education ...... 70 10. Engage More Organizers ...... 70 11. Significantly Enhance Communications...... 71 12. Ensure Sustained Research...... 71 13. Address the Civil Rights Implications of Unlimited Money in Elections ...... 71 14. Maximize the Strength of Black, Latino, Asian, and Native American State Caucuses...... 72 Summary ...... 72 Conclusion ...... 72 Endnotes ...... 74
State of the City: 2015 Voting Rights Report on New Orleans………………………1a-13a State of the State: A Voting Rights Report on Mississippi…………………………….1b-13b State of the State: A 2015 Voting Rights Report on Michigan……………………….1c-12c State of the State: A Voting Rights Report on New Mexico ...... 1d Section 1: New Mexico Voting Rights Landscape ...... 4d 4
Section 2: New Mexico: Native American Voting Rights & Political Participation ...... 11d
Appendix A- National Interviewees...... 1e Appendix B- Research Team Credentials...... 3e Barbara Arnwine, Esq...... 3e Halimah Najieb-Locke...... 4e Aaron Tobias Polkey, JD...... 6e H. Alexander Satorie-Robinson, MBA...... 8e Andrew Street, JD...... 10e Lakelia Stemmons, JD, MBA...... 12e Acknowledgments...... 14e
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FOSTERING AN INCLUSIVE DEMOCRACY A REPORT ON THE 2015 LANDSCAPE OF CIVIC ENGAGEMENT BARRIERS, CHALLENGES, AND OPPORTUNITIES
Executive Summary
Renowned national voting rights expert, civil rights leader, and advocate, Attorney Barbara R. Arnwine led a team of attorneys, researchers and voting rights policy experts to develop a comprehensive analysis of the current state of voting rights in the United States. This report is a result of a comprehensive literature review, in-person interviews with state and national voting rights legal and policy experts and focus groups with voting rights organizers.
Fostering an Inclusive Democracy: A Strategic Vision to Protect and Expand Voting Rights provides an overview of our nation’s pioneering and history making model of democracy and our expansion and retrenchment from ensuring the franchise to all citizens. Drawing from the lesson from the past with our eye on the future Fostering an Inclusive Democracy provides a forward looking strategic vision. Our recommendations are designed to advance our nation’s lofty goal of securing the rights of full citizenship to all Americans by ensuring unfettered access to the vote.
In this report we seek to summarize the issues and challenges for equal voting rights and political participation faced by vulnerable communities, which included Native Americans, African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, women, youth, people with disabilities, formerly incarcerated persons, rural populations, and low income communities. However, we recognize that each of these populations faced complex and multifaceted challenges which this report, given its generalized approach, may not fully explore.
In addition to the national assessment, this report includes an on the ground assessment of the state of play of voting rights, including voter suppression efforts, in New Orleans, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, and New Mexico.
We detail a number of key findings and recommend the development, implementation or enhancement of 25 strategic interventions. Our voting rights recommendations are organized under two major categories: Dismantling Voting Barriers and Promoting Civic Engagement.
As the 20th century fight was for the expansion of the franchise, the opening decades of the 21st century have been characterized by a multi-front assault on voting principally targeting people of color, youth and students, persons of low income, language minorities, the elderly, and people with disabilities. Divorced women who have changed their last
6 name and transgendered individuals have also been negatively impacted by restrictive voting laws and procedures. Toward the goal of Dismantling Voting Barriers, we detail and recommend: