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unhinged
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'the enforcement provision of the nineteenth amendment, which should have protected black women voters, was never used. neither were the enforcement articles of the fourteenth amendment, providing for loss of a state's congressional representation in proportion to the number citizens denied voting rights. to this day, congress has never utilized these constitutional powers to punish states for systemic voting rights violations. the federal government averted its eyes from the blatant and violent suppression of black voters for decades; it was not until the passage of the voting rights act of 1965 that black citizens had proper recourse for violations of their voting rights through the department of justice.
but in a familiar historical dynamic, those voting rights, once considered secure, continue to be threatened and eroded by states' imposition of barriers: restrictive registration requirements, onerous voter ID laws, limitation of flexible early voting opportunities, and inadequate polling place resources [a favorite tactic of the dnc during the 2016 primaries to ensure hillary's victory in some places] in black, hispanic, and other minority neighborhoods. pernicious and unfounded allegations of 'voter fraud' are used to justify such impediments.
the voting rights act itself was weakened by a 2013 ruling of the u.s. supreme court, which overturned the act's most effective enforcement tool, section 5, requiring jurisdictions with a history of racial discrimination to seek federal approval before making any changes to voting rules. voter suppression, not only in southern states, but in districts with minority populations within many other states all around the country [voter ID laws in WI disenfranchised 300k voters, mostly black, and donald trump won the state of WI by 30k votes] , remains a pressing problem. access to the vote is still manipulated for partisan political advantage, and true universal suffrage remains an elusive goal.' - elaine weiss
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180422
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