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Technorati88 Years Later: A Promise Unfulfilled for Millions of Disenfranchised Women Voters
All over America, there were plenty of reasons to celebrate women last month: August marked the 88th anniversary of the 19th Amendment's ratification, which gave women the right to vote. Women's Equality Day, which was on August 26, commemorated that victory. There are now more women in the U.S. Congress than ever (88) and 2008 was a year when a woman came within a hair's breadth of becoming a major ticket presidential nominee.
But this year, there's also a real threat to the voting rights of millions of low-income women, and it is in direct violation of Federal law.
Take, for instance, the story of Dionne O'Neal. Ms. O'Neal is a resident of St. Louis, Missouri, where she works part-time while pursuing her GED. Like millions of Americans, Ms. O'Neal receives Food Stamps and government health care benefits to help meet her basic needs. If anybody has a deep concern about the future of economic policy, she does. But her right to have a say in government and what it does is being thwarted because Missouri, like many other states, has long ignored federal voter registration requirements designed to reach low-income voters.
The most disadvantaged women in our society are the least likely to express their voice in the political process. Ms. O'Neal is just one of the 32.5 million women--31 percent of all eligible women--who were not registered to vote at their current address in 2006. Low-income women like Ms. O'Neal are disproportionately represented in that number. In 2006, only 63 percent of women in households making $25,000 or less were registered to vote compared to 81 percent of women in households making $75,000 or more.
There is, though, a federal law on the books to help reverse this trend.
Congress passed the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) in 1993 to increase the number of eligible citizens registering to vote in federal elections. Recognizing that an unrepresentative electorate is one of the greatest threats to a fair democratic system, the NVRA was drafted specifically to ensure equal access to voter registration. One of the law's provisions, Section 7, requires public assistance agencies to offer voter registration services to clients.
But many people eligible to register under Section 7 don't know it, because too many states aren't properly implementing the law.
While over 2.6 million voters registered at public assistance agencies in the first few years of the law's implementation, agency-based registration has declined significantly over the past 10 years even though more and more people are receiving public benefits such as Food Stamps. Field investigations conducted by Demos and our partners have revealed violations of the law in states across the country.
Women comprise the vast majority of public assistance recipients and thus are the primary beneficiaries of Section 7. A staggering 90 percent of adult recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) are women. Nearly 8.8 million Food Stamp recipients are women. Sixty-nine percent of those receiving Medicaid are women.
And women are likely to be the primary caregivers for children and receive benefits on behalf of their dependents. Not surprisingly, according to the US Census, over three quarters of those who manage to register to vote at public assistance agencies are female.
Now more than ever, implementation and compliance with the too-long ignored National Voter Registration Act is a women's issue. The most disadvantaged members of society are least likely to participate in politics but arguably have the most to gain-low-income women lag behind in education, have less access to healthcare and affordable housing, have fewer assets, and experience more job insecurity.
The current economic downturn only makes matters worse for low income women, as single mothers have the highest unemployment rate among all men and women. Various policies, including enhanced educational opportunities and increased paid family leave, have been proposed to improve the lives of low-income women and their families. Unfortunately, politicians will not respond properly to the needs of these women if they do not exercise their political power.
There are increasing signs that states will no longer be able to ignore their responsibilities under the law. In a lawsuit brought by Ms. O'Neal, a federal judge in Missouri recently ruled that the state's Department of Social Services is in violation of the NVRA and ordered the state to comply.
Ensuring that voter registration is offered to the millions of women who participate in public assistance programs is an effective and efficient way to draw low-income women into the political process in unprecedented numbers, providing them with the voice they desperately need.
17 Comments so far
Show AllWhy do we wait for THEM to have conventions, meetings, gatherings, hidden caucus ’s. WE have street corners. We have front lawns. We have friendly and concerned storefronts.
We can have picnics and instant parades. We have many “privately owned areas to congregate where they cannot touch us. We then can communicate with the people. We bring signs, we speak of our concerns from the soapboxes and ladders as in the old days, and we answer questions and express the laws of the land. We inform and sign up the people to preserve and defend our democracy and everyone’s right to vote.
The waterfall starts with one drop of water.
I don't think voting matters anymore. Why don't we all sit back and let the republicans do whatever they are going to do to us, suck it up, suffer. . . and move on. They are the American Taliban. They are determined to subjugate women, to impose their religious intolerance and narrow-mindedness on all of us. They will continue to destroy our economy, while enriching the lucky few at the top of their pyramid. And then maybe, after civilization has been basically destroyed, perhaps a new, better civilization will arise. It will take a long time, eons. We won't see the new culture in our lifetimes. But it's over folks. let's just suck it up, enjoy what we can in each day, find happiness as best we can. . . and let them roll over us. They are going to, whether we like it or not so let's surrender and find what life we can for ourselves.
At least a third to half the Democrats always ensure the GOP their victories. The way things are going, this time it's crystal clear that there are virtually no differences between Mccain and Obama. Even on tax cuts for the wealthy elite, Obama flip-flopped. Even Gore and Kerry kept some ground on that issue !
http://www.nwaonline.net/articles/2008/09/10/columns/john_brummett/091108brummett.txt
A couple of years ago my wife and I applied for food stamps here in Missouri and the first question the caseworker asked was if we were registered to vote. I was but my wife wasn't so the caseworker handed her the card and a pen.
Maybe the do things differently in St. Louis (a heavily Democratic city) or they push voter registration more in my part of the state (very, very Republican).
I still think all this disenfranchisement conspiracy theories are mere distractions. Look, St Louis is more heavily populated than the rest so it's unlikely that there you will be able to find caseworkers who are dedicated. However, even there, I'm pretty sure that it's not as if it cannot be done. More people who would be Democrats, whether in rural or urban areas, would be motivated to register only if the party took the time to be pro-populist from campaigning to legislating and not pandering to the GOP rightwing or allowing their media allies to bully the Dems into submission on rightwing lies. Deep red states such as MT, WY, and KS have populist and popular Democratic governors. The more people are motivated to vote, the more they'll register. The GOP knows how to do it very well even if they don't deliver on the cultural issues but satisfy their actual base which is the economic elites. The Democrats, on the other hand, because they pandered to the GOP rightwing even when they had every right and even obligation not to do so find themselves unable to run an effective campaign since they threw just about all the issues, especially the important ones, off the table. From there, it gets even worse since their communications already impaired will be worsened by their anti-populist strategists and consultants. That I believe doesn't give voters the sense that voter registration is a high priority since there's nothing much to vote for anyway. Sorry if I wrote too much here. I'm just trying to connect the thinking and behavior dots to explain this mystery and perhaps dissolve that conspiracy theory.
On a related note, the GOP's voter suppression tactics for the upcoming November election took a weird turn here in Michigan yesterday. The story broke that the Macomb County republican poll challengers plan to use a new approach to slow up the lines and disenfranchise folks who come to the polls expecting to vote in certain Democratic-leaning precincts: a list of mortgage foreclosures.
The theory apparently is that if a search of courthouse records, or publication notices, or God knows what other documentation supposedly shows a homeowner or a piece of residential property has been "foreclosed upon", then your residence is no longer your residence, so your vote should not be cast. Go ahead. After waiting an hour in line, now prove to the election clerk that the foreclosure list is wrong or your payments really are up to date.
The disparate impact of this tactic upon lower income voters caught up in the subprime mortgage crash is likely to be challenged in court, but keep your eye out for this tactic in other battleground states. It's much like Florida's use of criminal history lists to "scrub" names from voter registration lists in 2000, and the Ohio Secretary of State's various transparent shennanigans in 2004 to make voting in selected inner city neighborhoods as contentious and time consuming as possible.
These guys have no shame.
Bill from Saginaw
Some poor people are hesitant to register and vote because they feel all the politicians are crooks. My mother felt that way - and although I believe her assessment is about right, and she was one of the smartest people I have ever met, she was wrong about that one. If more poor people got involved, especially on the local level, there would be better chances to elect true representatives.
Another reason for low registration is that people who get paid hourly are afraid of getting on a list for jury duty. It can be a real financial hardship and jeopardize their job. Jury duty pay should be increased to something reasonable and employers should be under great scrutiny if they penalize someone for serving. Or perhaps juries should be selected from lists other than voter registrations. (Court should be run more efficiently too. Sitting in a jury pool all day for 1.5 actual hours of testimony is frustrating.)
People also may imagine the process is harder than it really is. Or in some states, there may be obstacles or it may be intimidating for people with little time or who have trouble reading.
And I agree with FrederickJohnson that poor men are also highly under-represented. They have all the same reasons as poor women. One additional reason is that they are imprisoned out of proportion to their crimes. They are wary of giving information to the government. They do not know their rights to register and often assume they are ineligible due to prior conviction.
There should be people in every government agency who can explain registration and walk people through their questions. So I hope the lawsuit results in big changes. But while we wait....
I have personally registered a lot of people this year. You would be surprised how many are not registered through sheer carelessness or inertia. First I read the regulations and then laid them out in clear language and format. I wish I could somehow post the colorful flyer I did explaining how easy it is to register in New York. I give it out with a fold over mail-in registration form. But here is the content for New York City residents:
VOTE - SHOW THEM WHERE YOU STAND [art from internet]
REGISTER TO VOTE - IT'S AS EASY AS ABC.
A. You must be:
• A US citizen
• 18 years old by next November 4th
• A New York City Resident
• Not claiming a right to vote outside NY City
• Finished with any jail sentence or parole for a felony*
B. What to do:
1. Fill out this form in blue or black ink
2. Sign the bottom
3. Put on a 42 cent stamp
4. Fold it over, staple shut, drop in the mailbox
C. ID requirements:
--On form, write in Driver’s License Number
--or Last 4 Digits of Social Security Number
--or bring proof of name and address to the polls on Election Day, such as an electricity bill
*Individuals who have completed parole, or have served their maximum sentence, have their right to vote automatically restored once they register. Those convicted of misdemeanors, or currently on probation, never lose their right to vote.
Joe
2008 is also the year that a woman employed a major political party to act as her pimp... errr, a major political party employed a woman as their token.
She's a prostitute... she's a token.. a prostitute... a token... oh well, whatever.
I live in a very poor city neighborhood. We have the lowest voting in the whole city: 13%! I am one of only 3 people (out of 24) in my building who is even REGISTERED to vote. Voting - "democracy" - favors wealthier people. I simply don't blame poor people for not voting - they regard it (in part) as a waste of their time to vote for which wealthy elite to wreck their lives more than they are allready wrecked by dire poverty! I respect people NOT voting! It's better than voting for McCain or Obama, republicans or democrats!
Sadly, poverty disenfranchises poor people and generates apathy of participating in the political process. If poor people are not registered to vote then they are not constituents that the politicians need to listen to. The two major political parties ignore poor people and poverty. Just look at the status of the City of New Orleans and its uprooted citizens scattered all over the nation. The Repugs talk about tax cuts (for the upper class), and the Dems talk about the middle class. But no one talks about the poor. Poverty is the final frontier in this nation.
If you're a legal citizen of the U.S., you should automatically have the right to vote. You shouldn't have to register. You shouldn't have to go somewhere and wait in line.
But our elites don't want voting to be easy.
I mean, the Republicans will bus rich old white ladies to the polling stations. They get out there by hook or by crook because they know they're in the minority.
Is it too late to change and give Hillary the VP post before the debate with Palin? Change is after all, their slogan.
Old Biden doesn't stand much chance against a good looking woman with the gift of gab in this country of sheeple. Hillary might not be her equal in looks, but is in gab plus has much more experience.
A black man and a woman on the same ticket might be harder to beat.
"A black man and a woman on the same ticket might be harder to beat."
It's great to know that race and gender are the things most important to "progressives"
"Hillary might not be her equal in looks"
Might?
I think Hillary is better looking than Sarah Palin.
This article does not prove that it is only women who are more seriously affected. Yes, men do not produce children and are usually not the caregivers because they have to work for higher salaries and will be stressed out to the point of health dangers. However, this article provides no evidence that women are actually more disenfranchised than men when it comes to voting. Low income men are also disenfranchised. This article is a bit too gender dividing. Sorry.
I totally agree ! This is not a problem affecting only women.
To be honest, I don't quite understand the problem. When I was a broke and ignorant college student, I wanted to vote. I didn't know where to go, I asked for help. All a person needs to do is open up a phonebook and find some city numbers to call, go to the public library, ask ANYONE. They had 4 years to prepare for this upcoming election.
I'll tell you this also. There are crimson red states such as Wyoming, Kansas, and Montana (well, MT isn't too red these days) where the low income people are in the majority and yet they have strong pro-populist Democratic governors that actually listen to the people. Even if the GOP tried to use voter fraud, the strong populism of those Democrats is enough to force the GOP to back off. The party needs to learn from Brian Schweitzer of MT, Dave Freudenthal of WY, Kathleen Sebelius of KS, etc ... if they want any hope of winning elections. South Carolina, where I live, is in total poverty and yet everyone, regardless of race, gender, income, etc ... can still vote.
P.S.: My neighbor's son recently registered to vote and the form isn't all that complicated unlike before. Public libraries are a great source and the forms are there all the time and that's where he picked up the forms. Librarians are also helpful in assisting, well the English speaking ones at least.