What’s at Stake
Trust That Democracy (Still) Works
The rise of extreme partisan gerrymandering and the renewal of aggressive acts of voter suppression alone might not be sufficient to put our democracy at risk. Voter suppression, after all, is nothing new, and gerrymandering has been an accepted practice for two hundred years. But put them together with other actions by elected officials that reflect a disregard for the Constitution (not holding a hearing to consider the nomination of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court) and for the law (ignoring Congressional subpoenas and firing the FBI Director because he persisted with an investigation), and there is deep cause for concern.
Republics can and do fail. History over the last 100 years is instructive on this point. It cannot be overstated: any act, constraint, or legacy of our system that undermines the engagement of all citizens in the political process is a threat to our right to govern ourselves and preserve the freedoms we have. The act of voting is the most basic level of engagement, and it is under attack.
- When the act of voting becomes onerous, a choice between feeding your family or taking time off from your low paying, hourly wage job to make the long trek to the polling center and/or to stand online for hours, it ceases to be a choice for many people.
- When candidates run unopposed or in a district that was created along partisan lines so that the outcome is predetermined, voters have less incentive to pay attention to the issues or the candidates. When that happens, they don’t vote.
- When presidential candidates win a majority of the popular vote but still lose the election, everyone who believes that democracy reflects the will of the people also loses.
We can’t ignore those who, unintentionally and otherwise, attack our right and ability to vote, nor can we allow bureaucratic inertia and technical vulnerabilities to degrade the electoral process and diminish the power of our votes.
Contributors: George Linzer, Michael Deal, Kyle Mullins
Reviewed by: Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress
Published: December 5, 2019
Updated: March 15, 2021; March 5, 2020
Related Pages
Expansion of Voting Rights Storyline
The right to vote in America is a fundamental democratic liberty – it is one of those rights that we fight wars to defend. Yet, when the nation was founded, voting was almost exclusively reserved for propertied white men. Since then, voting rights have slowly grown more inclusive, expanding to an ever broader cross-section of the American public, but this progress has almost always been hard won.
Progress Updates
California Passes Prop 17, Restoring Voting Rights to Parolees
Estimates suggest that Prop 17, which amends the California state constitution, will restore voting rights for 50,000 eligible parolees.
2020 Ballot Initiatives Strengthen Elections
Americans demonstrated their democratic resolve in this year’s elections, supporting electoral changes that promise more choice, more competitive races, more inclusion, and more direct say in who represents them.
Georgia Organizers Raise Bar in Battle Against Voter Suppression
Fair Fight, New Georgia Project, Black Voters Matter, and others worked overtime to increase access for marginalized voters in the 2020 general election.
