Voter Suppression
Since the founding of the United States, there have always been disenfranchised populations. Denying people the right to vote is a common form of systemic oppression and political control. In some cases, disenfranchisement is codified in law, but there are many other ways to prevent groups from voting including closing polling locations, preventing accessibility, voter ID laws, or simply not guaranteeing the day off to vote. This webguide summarizes current forms of voter suppression.
Disenfranchisement (of groups of people)
Disabled People
In New Jersey, you cannot register to vote if a judge has determined that you lack the mental capacity to vote (source: https://www.lsnjlaw.org/Government-Aid-Services/Voting-in-New/Pages/Voting-in-NJ.aspx).
On Nov. 6, 2007, NJ voters approved constitutional amendment stating: "No person who has been adjudicated by a court of competent jurisdiction to lack the capacity to understand the act of voting shall enjoy the right of suffrage" (N.J. CONST. art 2, § 1, ¶ 6.). In other words, if you have been determined by a court of law to lack the ability to understand voting, you are denied the ability to vote. In current law, no one can be deprived of the right to vote based solely on their receiving treatment for a mental illness or cognitive disability.
In many states, some individuals with mental disabilities, including learning disabilities and mental illnesses, can be legally denied the right to vote
The Help America Vote Act (HAVA) requires that the voting process “be accessible for individuals with disabilities, including nonvisual accessibility for the blind and visually impaired, in a manner that provides the same opportunity for access and participation (including privacy and independence) as other voters.”
- HAVA can be enforced through private litigation or through the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Department, Voting Division, at 1-800-253-3931. The New Jersey Office of the Attorney General has a voting accessibility concern and complaint process and can be contacted at (609) 292-3760. On Election Day, Disability Rights New Jersey has a toll-free Hotline for people with disabilities who have voting questions or issues, at 1-800-922-7233.
- If you believe that you were improperly denied the right to vote on Election Day, you can apply to the New Jersey Superior Court in your county for relief. Each court has an emergent duty judge available on Election Day with authority to hear your complaint and to issue an order permitting you to vote. To find your local New Jersey Superior Court, see Local Courthouse Addresses (from New Jersey Courts) or call 1-877-NJVOTER for further information.
Incarcerated People
In New Jersey, you are not eligible to vote if you are serving a sentence of Incarceration as a result of a conviction of an indictable offense under the laws of this or another state or of the United States. (Source: https://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/assets/pdf/publications/voter-restore-handbook-2022-0824.pdf)
There are only two states--Maine and Vermont--where people never lose their right to vote due to incarceration. In all other states, people convicted of felonies are legally denied the right to vote while serving a sentence. In 11 states, people convicted of felonies are stripped of their voting rights forever. Felony Disenfranchisement is especially destructive due to racial disparities in incarceration.
As of March 2020, voting rights have been restored to people in NJ convicted of felonies who are on parole or probation. People convicted of felonies who are still incarcerated are still denied the right to vote.
NJ Voter Restoration Handbook
https://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/assets/pdf/publications/voter-restore-handbook-2022-0824.pdf
Did you know that in New Jersey, any person who is no longer in prison, or on parole or probation, can register to vote? Find out how to restore your voting rights.
Undocumented People
In New Jersey, you are not eligible to vote if you are undocumented or have been a resident of the state and county for under 30 days before the election (source: https://nj.gov/state/elections/voter-registration.shtml).
Despite undocumented people living within the area governed by the United States, paying taxes to our government, and being affected by legislative decisions, they do not have the right to vote in US Elections in any state.
Victims of Domestic Violence and Stalking
Most states allow public access to information about registered voters including their current address. This piece of information is vital to keep private for many survivors of domestic violence or stalking so that the perpetrator of that violence cannot find them. Many survivors choose not to register to vote to stay safe. While this is not a direct form of legal disenfranchisement, the requirement of an address and the public display of that address contribute to many people in this group of people being unable to safely participate in the electoral process.
Address Confidentiality Programs (ACPs) usually include preventing the sharing of their participants’ voter records to keep survivors’ addresses private. New Jersey is one of the states that does have an ACP.
New Jersey Address Confidentiality Program
Call to apply: 1 (877) 218-9133
The New Jersey Address Confidentiality Program (ACP) assists individuals who, as a result of domestic violence, have relocated for their safety. This program limits the access to personal information that would reveal the new location of an ACP participant. ACP provides eligible victims of domestic violence with a substitute address that has no connection to their actual location. This substitute mailing address may be used when creating a new record with state or local government agencies. First class mail is forwarded without charge. Survivors who are residents of New Jersey may apply for protection every four years.
Address Confidentiality Program
Department of Children and Families
PO Box 207
Trenton, NJ 08625
https://www.nj.gov/dcf/women/domestic/index.html
Young People
In New Jersey, you are not eligible to vote if you are under 18 years old, or register to vote if you are under 17 years old (source: https://nj.gov/state/elections/voter-registration.shtml)
Voter Suppression (other tactics)
Faithless Electors
In the United States, popular votes in federal elections do not actually determine the election of the President and Vice President. Instead, popular votes determine which electors (chosen by political parties) are on the Electoral College. The Electoral College submits the votes which actually determine the Presidency of the United States. (source: https://www.ncsl.org/elections-and-campaigns/the-electoral-college)
Ideally this would mean that if the majority of voters vote for the candidate running for "Party A" in a given state, then "Party A"'s electors for that state would vote for the same candidate that the majority of voters voted for. However, this is not always the case. To date there have been a total of 165 instances where electors have cast deviant votes of some sort (for either president or vice president or both). This means that the elector voted for a different President or Vice President candidate.
In the history of US elections: 75 were votes cast for the pledged Presidential candidate but for a different Vice Presidential candidate. 63 were votes cast for another Presidential candidate due to the death of the nominee. 24 were cast for another Presidential candidate without being due to the death of a nominee (3 of which were subsequently cancelled or retracted due to the operation of state law). One elector abstained from voting, one switched the presidential and vice presidential nominees in their vote, and one was regarded as an accident. One elector voted for their nominee’s opponent (source: https://fairvote.org/resources/presidential-elections).
There were 10 deviant votes by faithless electors in 2016, including electors selected by both Democrats and Republicans.
Gerrymandering
Each decade, states redraw district lines based on population data gathered in the census to allocate representation in Congress and state legislators. This process is called redistricting. However, politicians can easily use redistricting to manipulate the outcome of elections. Using redistricting for this purpose is called gerrymandering.
Prison Gerrymandering
The Census Bureau counts incarcerated people as residents of the towns where they are confined rather than as residents of their home towns. The population of areas plays a direct role in redistricting, which in turn influences the outcomes of elections. Areas with higher populations get more representatives in government. However, because incarcerated people are barred from voting in almost every state, this representative power brought in by keeping people in captivity is denied to the incarcerated people themselves, and instead is wielded by free people.
As explained by the Prison Policy Initiative, "Because prisons are disproportionately built in rural areas but most incarcerated people call urban areas home, counting prisoners in the wrong place results in a systematic transfer of population and political clout from urban to rural areas ... When districts with prisons receive enhanced representation, every other district in the state without a prison sees its votes diluted. And this vote dilution is even larger in the districts with the highest incarceration rates. The Census Bureau’s decision to count incarcerated people in the wrong place interferes with equal representation in virtually every state." (https://www.prisonersofthecensus.org/impact.html).
Post Office Directives
In 2020, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy told employees to leave mail behind at distribution centers if it delayed letter carriers from their routes, according to internal USPS documents obtained by The Washington Post and verified by the American Postal Workers Union (https://www.washingtonpost.com/context/internal-usps-document-tells-employees-to-leave-mail-at-distribution-centers/175dd1ae-e202-4777-877c-33442338d1cc/?itid=lk_interstitial_manual_14).
Voter ID Laws
If you're voting in New Jersey for the first time, registered to vote by mail, and didn't provide ID when you registered, be sure to bring a copy of your photo ID, or a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, or government document that shows your name and address when you vote. If you've voted in New Jersey before, registered in person, or provided ID at the time of registration, you don't need to show ID to vote (https://www.vote.org/voter-id-laws/)
As ACLU notes, "Over 21 million U.S. citizens do not have government-issued photo identification. That’s because ID cards aren’t always accessible for everyone. The ID itself can be costly, and even when IDs are free, applicants must incur other expenses to obtain the underlying documents that are needed to get an ID. This can be a significant burden on people in lower-income communities. Further, the travel required is an obstacle for people with disabilities, the elderly, and people living in rural areas" (https://www.aclu.org/news/civil-liberties/block-the-vote-voter-suppression-in-2020/).
Voter Purges
"Voter purges are the sometimes-flawed process by which election officials attempt to remove ineligible names from voter registration lists. When done correctly, purges ensure the voter rolls are accurate and up-to-date. When done incorrectly, purges disenfranchise legitimate voters (often when it is too close to an election to rectify the mistake), causing confusion and delay at the polls" (https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/purges-growing-threat-right-vote)
Voter Registration Restrictions
Voter Registration Restrictions are anything that reduces the accessibility of people to register to vote, including but not limited to requiring documents to prove citizenship or identification or limiting the window of time in which voters can register.
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