Can Our Broken Election System Be Fixed?

What does it mean to be a democracy? America calls itself a democracy, but sometimes we seem to forget what that entails. Our Founding Fathers guaranteed certain inalienable rights to every American citizen. The right to participate in free and fair elections has been expanded through the Fifteenth, Seventeenth, Nineteenth, Twenty-fourth, and Twenty-sixth Amendments to the Constitution. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 further guaranteed access to the electoral right. But today, free and fair elections are not a guarantee in America.

Over the past few months, problems have arisen at the polls in Democratic and Republican primaries across multiple states, with some of the most egregious occurring in Arizona. Reports quickly surfaced during the Arizona primary of long lines and wait times for voters at many polling sites. Phoenix had 120 fewer polling stations than it did in the last presidential election, meaning that there was only one polling station for every 108,000 Phoenix residents. Residents of poorer areas in particular had to travel further and wait in longer lines. Far too often these areas are targeted for closures because election officials assume, in this case incorrectly, that they will have lower turnout.

How did this happen? Early voting and early ballot drop-off could have eased the pressure on polling sites on Election Day. But, at least in Phoenix, election officials did not seriously consider either measure in the decision to close polling stations. No resident of Phoenix or American citizen should accept longer lines because of fewer polling stations in their community. The right to vote gives citizens a say in their government, and allows them to hold politicians accountable for their promises. Any infraction of this right limits someone's voice and undermines the laws and amendments that have expanded the right to vote. While American democracy does not guarantee a government in which every voice is equal, it is essential that it strive to provide equal access to expressing one’s voice through voting. The reality is that our current election system does not provide equal access. Many of the problems seem to arise in how elections are funded.

In the United States, counties generally have to fund and operate their election services (i.e. polling machines, poll workers, etc.) themselves, with little to no assistance from the state and federal governments. Reports estimate the costs of a national election at more than three hundred million dollars, but we do not really have a good grasp of what the total price tag is. One of these reports, published by the National Association of County Recorders, notes that there are 3,141 counties in the United States and thousands more cities, townships and villages conducting elections, and that each jurisdiction has its own costs and liabilities. Some jurisdictions get more assistance from state funds than others, largely based on state laws. For example, California requires the state government to pay for any programs that it mandates (e.g. absentee ballots). Thirty-one states have state-funded mandate laws comparable to California’s. But in states without this type of assistance, counties often have to make tough decisions between election services like convenient polling locations and hours and day-to-day services like operating libraries, maintaining parks, and fixing roads. But this situation alone does not explain how many counties end up cutting voting services that unequally hurt those in poorer areas.

The 2016 primary was also the first election to be affected by Arizona’s new voter ID law. These laws became easier to enforce 2013, when the Supreme Court struck down the preclearance formula of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 in Shelby County v. Holder. The formula had given the federal government the power to veto voting laws in states, like Arizona, with a history of discriminatory voting practices. The Shelby County decision has encouraged the spread of state voter ID laws, which are now in place in thirty-three states. Many states have also closed polling stations, a practice that multiple policy research groups, including the Brennan Center for Justice, have found unfairly affects minorities and the poor.

With only a handful of state primaries left, these problems have already had a large effect on this year’s election cycle. But if we look at the evidence we can see what specifically about Shelby County caused these problems. When the Court struck down the preclearance clause of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, it effectively took away a second pair of eyes on states that had reviewed previous voting laws for discriminatory practices. The federal government had also acted as an independent and thorough investigator that prevented misguided policies from being implemented in the first place. The preclearance system was not perfect, but it provided some level of verification that no longer exists.

In the past our democracy has suffered from states instituting grandfather clauses, literacy tests, and other laws to make voting harder for certain groups. If we can learn from our past, then we can make a more fair and equitable future for all Americans. The Arizona primary is behind us, but there are real changes we can make to elections that will pay dividends in future ones.

You can hold your congressman and state representative accountable for voting on cuts to election services, and you can push for increased early voting, especially in states that do not currently have it, without cutting Election Day services. The federal government should help too. Polling machines in many states are outdated and need replacement parts that are no longer made. The Brennan Center has found that forty-three states had voting machines near the end of their life expectancies of ten years, including key swing states such as Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, and Virginia. When polling machines reach their life expectancy, they are likely to breakdown and are difficult to fix, fueling the long lines found in Phoenix. Fixing these machines and expanding early voting are not the only steps needed to restore elections, but this process starts with you, and together we can make a difference.

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