Voting Rights... And Voting Wrongs
Image Description: In the middle of the post are a red silhouette of Georgia, labeled “GA” in white text, and a blue silhouette of Virginia, labeled “VA” in white text. The colors symbolize which political party holds the majority in each state. The two states are against a white background, bordered by a minimalist frame. Black text at top and bottom reads, “A Tale of Two States: One country, two very different state legislatures.” Sister District NYC’s blue, red, and purple logo lies centered at the bottom of the graphic.
By Alec Appelbaum
Votes for state legislatures lead to voting rights...or wrongs.
In Virginia, Democrats nurtured leaders in diverse coastal cities with big military communities. They organized in the burgeoning suburbs right outside DC. And with Sister District’s support in 2017 and 2019, Democrats gained control of both houses of the state legislature. In many districts, they ran promising to upgrade constituents’ daily lives through tax reform and smart transportation policy. Now they’ve delivered on those promises- according to New Virginia Majority (link opens in new window), the Old Dominion has moved from the nation’s 49th slot in voter access to 12th. This past month, the legislature enacted stronger voter protections- just in time to slay a conservative lobbyist swamp-thing elsewhere in the region.
That swamp-thing arose in Georgia, where the contorted district lines suppress the say that urban and newcomer citizens can gain in state laws. Republicans saw those communities organize with enough force to flip the state in the presidential and Senatorial elections. As they often do, lacking ideas or appeal, they chose brute force. They passed a law limiting where people can vote, narrowing the calendar for early voting, and forbidding anyone to hand out water to folks on line to vote. (Water is a gateway drug, apparently.) It’s a vicious cycle: an unrepresentative state government, absent ideas for lifting citizens’ prospects for work or quality of life, wrenches policy to keep itself in place.
Once that hold breaks, though, a virtuous cycle can kick in- as it has in Virginia. Days after Georgia worked to silence its citizens, Virginia gave them more voice. It ushered in a voting rights act that gives groups the right to court hearings in disputes over ballot access or vote counting. This caps a run of voter-rights laws, including automatic registration for folks who get driver’s licenses and an end to laws that force residents to show ID when voting. (They can show water bottles, perhaps.) According to our partners in New Virginia Majority, the legislators were rowing with the tide. The state has risen to 12th in voter turnout from 49th in the past X. Making it the first state in the South to expand voting rights counts as listening to the electorate.
Note the difference- and the details. Both Georgia and Virginia house burgeoning immigrant communities, tech sectors, urbanizing suburbs and traditionalist small towns. Both could house an open, full-throated debate about issues of ballot access and other public goods. Only Virginia is doing so- and that’s because only Virginia drew the might and momentum that comes from many hands digging new paths around locked doors. Join Sister District this year to empower more Ds in Virginia- and bring more voting power to more places.