As soon as a child is born in this country they should automatically be registered to vote in their 18th birthday. And Election Day should be a federal holiday. Campaigning should end at least 48 hours before the polls open. But none of this will ever happen as long as the filibuster is there for the republicans to block any chance of that ever happening. Just like republicans decide that a simple majority is enough to pass judges, Democrats should do the same when it comes to constitutional rights like voting. PERIOD.
We did that during the Vietnam War. People protested because the draft was sending 18 year olds to war without having the right to vote for the person sending them. Republicans now want to go back prior when you needed to be 21 to vote. And next it will be a literacy test only given to people of color and Democrats.
Old enough to fight, old enough to vote! I remember that slogan. It resulted in my being able to vote at age 19 in 1972. I voted for Shirley Chisolm in the primary.
Remember it well. Though I wasn’t able to vote till ‘76 I had an older brother of draft age and a few already drafted. I went to many protests walk-outs. Even in JHS my class walked out. But I remember so much of it like it just recently as a few years ago. Maybe I’m at that age where everything about the past was good. Compared to today I firmly believe it was.
Anything that moves the needle at all helps. Lots of little moves can turn into a leap. I hate when people use that excuse. Too many use it to justify not voting. If more Democratic voted in red states, many they’ll because purple in a few years and solidly blue in a few more after that. Optimism is the only thing that keeps me from totally disengaging.
I also was thinking about Australia. I lived there for 5 years, and moving back to the US after having experienced a nation with mandatory voting highlighted how repressive American voting is. I was aware of active disenfranchisement before, but wow. It’s been a full-on attack against voting rights this century.
The Republican ‘tough on crime’ policies starting with Reagan have been a strategic play with a goal to suppress the voting rights of Black and poor people. That however was somewhat subtle; the open assault by Secretaries of State simply purging rolls and eliminating voting places and reducing polling hours is another thing altogether. Which is why Republicans have strategically gone after as many Sec of State positions as they could, and were successful.
I don’t know why this doesn’t get the attention it deserves. If a party can’t win unless it rigs the game, it should be seen as illegitimate. Instead it’s given power. Thanks for writing about this.
I generally agree with the post; two minor quibbles. First, it may be relevant to note that people who vote in some but not all elections swung towards Trump last year (from the Catalist findings, "Compared to Biden’s 2020 coalition, the Harris / Walz ticket lost support among a key group of interconnected voters who are less likely to consistently turn out from election to election. These “irregular voters” swung significantly against Democrats in 2024 while the most consistent voters supported Harris. ")
Second, I'm not quite sure about the connection to neoliberalism. I understand the theoretical point but I'm not sure that, historically, neoliberal politics have correlated with supporting barriers to voting -- for example the Motor-voter law passed under Clinton, a fairly neoliberal administration
I will always bang the universal vote by mail drum. Oregon has done it right for years - ballots sent to house and then put back in the mail or dropped off at numerous drop boxes available. It doesn't solve the registration issue (motor-voter reg at DMV helps). Most of the barriers to voting are removed: no lines, two weeks or so to get the ballots in, can be done completely at home.
There's still the motivation factor and barring an Australian style mandate, the only thing that will change that is instilling the belief that voting actually matters. That's hard unless the consequences are quick, relevant, and obvious. Often vote outcomes are long term and abstract.
I'm trying to grasp this "blame for not voting" idea.
I did not see examples in today's essay.
You explained it can be difficult. I get that.
And I've heard on the internets, when one says they didn't vote but everything is messed up, others will say that's why they needed to vote.
Maybe if you titled the essay "it's freaking hard for some folks to vote" I would have slapped the Like button.
Meanwhile I'm pondering a walk in the park on Saturday for No Kings. And if I need to contact my sister to ask her to come collect my belongings if I die.
These are really good points, Noah. If I didn’t follow politics, everything would seem like a nonstop scandal. That undoubtedly makes people want to tune out too.
As soon as a child is born in this country they should automatically be registered to vote in their 18th birthday. And Election Day should be a federal holiday. Campaigning should end at least 48 hours before the polls open. But none of this will ever happen as long as the filibuster is there for the republicans to block any chance of that ever happening. Just like republicans decide that a simple majority is enough to pass judges, Democrats should do the same when it comes to constitutional rights like voting. PERIOD.
Holiday voting doesn’t move the needle that much, believe it or not. I would like them to lower the voting age!
We did that during the Vietnam War. People protested because the draft was sending 18 year olds to war without having the right to vote for the person sending them. Republicans now want to go back prior when you needed to be 21 to vote. And next it will be a literacy test only given to people of color and Democrats.
Old enough to fight, old enough to vote! I remember that slogan. It resulted in my being able to vote at age 19 in 1972. I voted for Shirley Chisolm in the primary.
Remember it well. Though I wasn’t able to vote till ‘76 I had an older brother of draft age and a few already drafted. I went to many protests walk-outs. Even in JHS my class walked out. But I remember so much of it like it just recently as a few years ago. Maybe I’m at that age where everything about the past was good. Compared to today I firmly believe it was.
Anything that moves the needle at all helps. Lots of little moves can turn into a leap. I hate when people use that excuse. Too many use it to justify not voting. If more Democratic voted in red states, many they’ll because purple in a few years and solidly blue in a few more after that. Optimism is the only thing that keeps me from totally disengaging.
First, make it both easy and mandatory to vote. In Australia, non-voters are charged$$ (like a speeding violation) - and it works!
I also was thinking about Australia. I lived there for 5 years, and moving back to the US after having experienced a nation with mandatory voting highlighted how repressive American voting is. I was aware of active disenfranchisement before, but wow. It’s been a full-on attack against voting rights this century.
The Republican ‘tough on crime’ policies starting with Reagan have been a strategic play with a goal to suppress the voting rights of Black and poor people. That however was somewhat subtle; the open assault by Secretaries of State simply purging rolls and eliminating voting places and reducing polling hours is another thing altogether. Which is why Republicans have strategically gone after as many Sec of State positions as they could, and were successful.
I don’t know why this doesn’t get the attention it deserves. If a party can’t win unless it rigs the game, it should be seen as illegitimate. Instead it’s given power. Thanks for writing about this.
I think it has been normalized by the lack of resolution of 400 years of slavery.
I generally agree with the post; two minor quibbles. First, it may be relevant to note that people who vote in some but not all elections swung towards Trump last year (from the Catalist findings, "Compared to Biden’s 2020 coalition, the Harris / Walz ticket lost support among a key group of interconnected voters who are less likely to consistently turn out from election to election. These “irregular voters” swung significantly against Democrats in 2024 while the most consistent voters supported Harris. ")
Second, I'm not quite sure about the connection to neoliberalism. I understand the theoretical point but I'm not sure that, historically, neoliberal politics have correlated with supporting barriers to voting -- for example the Motor-voter law passed under Clinton, a fairly neoliberal administration
I will always bang the universal vote by mail drum. Oregon has done it right for years - ballots sent to house and then put back in the mail or dropped off at numerous drop boxes available. It doesn't solve the registration issue (motor-voter reg at DMV helps). Most of the barriers to voting are removed: no lines, two weeks or so to get the ballots in, can be done completely at home.
There's still the motivation factor and barring an Australian style mandate, the only thing that will change that is instilling the belief that voting actually matters. That's hard unless the consequences are quick, relevant, and obvious. Often vote outcomes are long term and abstract.
I'm trying to grasp this "blame for not voting" idea.
I did not see examples in today's essay.
You explained it can be difficult. I get that.
And I've heard on the internets, when one says they didn't vote but everything is messed up, others will say that's why they needed to vote.
Maybe if you titled the essay "it's freaking hard for some folks to vote" I would have slapped the Like button.
Meanwhile I'm pondering a walk in the park on Saturday for No Kings. And if I need to contact my sister to ask her to come collect my belongings if I die.
We really need to make voting simple and the default for all adults, and to stop the voter suppression and hardening aspects.
These are really good points, Noah. If I didn’t follow politics, everything would seem like a nonstop scandal. That undoubtedly makes people want to tune out too.