Widespread Suppression
Voter suppression has pervaded elections, both state and federal, for centuries, and this one was no exception. The GOP was particularly eager to suppress votes in this election because of how controversial Trump's presidency had been for the past four years. The country became increasingly divided as people developed extremely strong opinions on President Trump. Thus, it was more important than ever that the GOP work to disenfranchise voters in the face of strengthening opposition.
The first and probably most concerning example of voter suppression was in Trump's continuous claims of voter fraud leading up to the election. By facilitating a distrust in his supporters, Trump has encouraged them to challenge a fair election system. He has urged them to try and discount legally cast votes, which is certainly classifiable as voter suppression. These claims of fraud reached its crescendo on January 6, 2021 when his voters tried to overturn 80 million legally cast votes by storming the United States Capitol, hoping to stop Congress from certifying the legitimate results. These claims of fraud, however, have caused multiple other problems besides the storming of the Capitol. In the following CNBC clip of the 2020 presidential debate, Trump urges his supporters to watch the polls:
The first and probably most concerning example of voter suppression was in Trump's continuous claims of voter fraud leading up to the election. By facilitating a distrust in his supporters, Trump has encouraged them to challenge a fair election system. He has urged them to try and discount legally cast votes, which is certainly classifiable as voter suppression. These claims of fraud reached its crescendo on January 6, 2021 when his voters tried to overturn 80 million legally cast votes by storming the United States Capitol, hoping to stop Congress from certifying the legitimate results. These claims of fraud, however, have caused multiple other problems besides the storming of the Capitol. In the following CNBC clip of the 2020 presidential debate, Trump urges his supporters to watch the polls:
Naturally, Trump's supporters listened to what he said. In St. Petersburg Florida, armed men dressed as security guards stood outside a polling place, claiming they were hired by Trump's campaign (they were not). During the vote counting, Trump supporters gathered around vote-tabulation centers in Arizona and Pennsylvania, some wielding shotguns and semi-automatic rifles. These calls for action slowed down the election process and inspired distrust in a fair election system, which is very dangerous for the democratic process.
Along with the problems caused by claims of voter fraud were numerous state policies that 'coincidentally' disenfranchised a number of voters.
Along with the problems caused by claims of voter fraud were numerous state policies that 'coincidentally' disenfranchised a number of voters.
- In Texas, Governor Greg Abbott limited each county to one ballot drop box. This means that Harris County (Houston), had one box for its 4.7 million residents, 70% of which are non-white Democrats.
- In Georgia, election officials illegally purged 200,000 voters from the rolls, most of whom were young, Black, or low-income, using a 'third party vendor' in the months leading up to the election.
- In Wisconsin, Republicans tried to block votes that arrived after Election Day (despite being postmarked previously) from being counted.
- In Pennsylvania, Republicans successfully forced mail-in voters to use a second 'secrecy envelope,' without allowing voters to fix it if they forgot to include it. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court also approved a GOP measure to stop counting votes that arrived after Election Day before it was struck down by the United States Supreme Court.
- In Michigan, a judge struck down a policy banning open carry firearms in polling places.
- In Florida, Republicans forced felons to pay off all fines before being able to vote. This new policy disenfranchised 4/5 of 1.4 million Floridian felons who had been given the right to vote by Amendment IV to the Florida Constitution
- In 36 states there is some form of voter identification required
- In 32 states, signatures on ballots must match the signatures on past ballots or other government documents
Voting in the COVID-19 Pandemic
A highly contested election was further complicated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Given how contagious COVID-19 is, it was self-evident to many of the state governments that this would not be a normal year in terms of voting. In fact, the states had gotten a taste of what voting in the presidential election in November 2020 in the COVID-19 era would be like during the Democratic primaries earlier in 2020.
Voting during the pandemic required a number of changes. For one, traditional in-person voting centers needed to ration the amount of people allowed in at a time and had to regularly clean touch screen voting machines or writing utensils. With these precautions in place, backlog at voting centers caused lines that snaked around city blocks.
Along with the changes to in-person voting was the need for new voting options, which yielded drive-thru and mail-in voting given concerns about COVID-19 transmission. Drive-thru voting was pretty easy to institute, but the monumental increase in mail-in (absentee) voting was another story. Neither U.S. Postal Service nor election infrastructures could handle the influx of ballots. Most of the election systems around the country were able to consolidate their resources and get the job done, but it was not without challenges from the GOP.
Given how contagious COVID-19 is, it was self-evident to many of the state governments that this would not be a normal year in terms of voting. In fact, the states had gotten a taste of what voting in the presidential election in November 2020 in the COVID-19 era would be like during the Democratic primaries earlier in 2020.
Voting during the pandemic required a number of changes. For one, traditional in-person voting centers needed to ration the amount of people allowed in at a time and had to regularly clean touch screen voting machines or writing utensils. With these precautions in place, backlog at voting centers caused lines that snaked around city blocks.
Along with the changes to in-person voting was the need for new voting options, which yielded drive-thru and mail-in voting given concerns about COVID-19 transmission. Drive-thru voting was pretty easy to institute, but the monumental increase in mail-in (absentee) voting was another story. Neither U.S. Postal Service nor election infrastructures could handle the influx of ballots. Most of the election systems around the country were able to consolidate their resources and get the job done, but it was not without challenges from the GOP.
While the expanding voting accessibility is certainly a good thing in a democracy, it also provided an avenue through which the GOP could try and suppress votes. Furthermore, mail-in ballots were especially appealing targets for suppression because of the messages being spread by both parties.
Trump encouraged his supporters to vote in-person with no mask to maintain the 'integrity' of the election. Biden, on the other hand, told his supporters to vote by mail for the sake of their safety. In the end around 75% of all mail-in ballots recorded votes for Biden. Thus, it was a no brainer that suppressing mail-in ballots would largely benefit the GOP. Republican officials began instituting a number of questionable policies:
- Witness signatures (during a pandemic...)
- Shifting deadlines to apply for and submit absentee ballots
- Trying to disqualify ballots arriving after Election Day (despite being postmarked on or before Election Day)
- "Secrecy envelopes" (Pennsylvania)
Apart from being a means of voter suppression, the inception of mass mail-in ballots was an easy way for Trump to convince his base that the Democratic Party and foreign powers were committing voter fraud:
During the consolidation of election systems to accommodate the mail-in ballots, Trump began spreading falsehoods about how the Democratic Party and China, Russia, or other foreign powers were going to bring in absentee ballots to tabulation centers by the truckload. Trump's claims appeared true to his supporters during the counting period because Trump was able to capitalize on the fact that 3/4 of every mail-in ballot was for Biden. This ratio, however, was not a result of fraud, but simply because Trump had spent months telling his supporters to not vote by mail, while Biden told the opposite to his voters.
Trump was able to sow a substantial amount of doubt in the election system among his supporters, and that distrust culminated on the events of January 6, 2021.
As of this writing, the legacy of both mail-in voting and the distrust raised by Trump are both unclear. Perhaps if/when the United States reaches herd immunity (regarding COVID-19), voting will return to normal. It is impossible to predict if the doubt in our election system will remain a stain on the Republican Party for future elections.
Desensitization to Voter Suppression
The 2020 presidential election was historic by many standards: the United States had the greatest number of voter turnout ever in a hotly contested election between two famous candidates. As is the nature of elections, only one candidate emerged victorious. While Joe Biden's presidency has been and will continue to be remarkable, Trump was victorious in muddying the waters, splitting the Republican Party, and threatening democracy.
Trump's presidency and his 2020 campaign were unique. His greatest legacy, however, does not rest in any of his policies, but rather in how he, along with the rest of the GOP, desensitized Americans to voter suppression. While Trump himself has been forced to leave office, his campaign paved the way for many future Republican candidates (though their victory remains uncertain).
Amid the chaos around claims of voter fraud, Trump and the GOP instituted a number of suppressive policies. A great example of this is the GOP trying to discount ballots arriving after Election Day despite being postmarked beforehand. In retrospect, the idea of disqualifying ballots simply because of a slow UPS driver is absolutely ridiculous. There was no national backlash for these policies that were blatantly an attack on the Democratic vote.
Furthermore, Trump himself attempted to interfere with the election, and faced little to no repercussions despite the severity of his actions. One example is his call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger:
Trump's presidency and his 2020 campaign were unique. His greatest legacy, however, does not rest in any of his policies, but rather in how he, along with the rest of the GOP, desensitized Americans to voter suppression. While Trump himself has been forced to leave office, his campaign paved the way for many future Republican candidates (though their victory remains uncertain).
Amid the chaos around claims of voter fraud, Trump and the GOP instituted a number of suppressive policies. A great example of this is the GOP trying to discount ballots arriving after Election Day despite being postmarked beforehand. In retrospect, the idea of disqualifying ballots simply because of a slow UPS driver is absolutely ridiculous. There was no national backlash for these policies that were blatantly an attack on the Democratic vote.
Furthermore, Trump himself attempted to interfere with the election, and faced little to no repercussions despite the severity of his actions. One example is his call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger:
Trump asked Raffensperger for 12,000 votes because adding that number would narrowly give him the lead. In short, he hoped to discount 11,000+ Democratic votes, which is certainly the definition of voter suppression. Consider under what other president would this call be remotely acceptable. Trump asked a Secretary of State to illegally alter the vote count in a state after Trump himself had been spreading wild claims of voter fraud for months. The entire situation sounds like a political fairytale, yet Trump faced little to no backlash.
Trump was able to normalize the proliferation of voter suppression to the extent that Republicans no longer face backlash for a practice that is no less than an assault on American democracy. The general public, Democrats, and (ideally) Republicans, should be actively condemning these actions that disenfranchise any American voters. Voting has and always will be a cornerstone of American democracy. The fact that it is still alive and well as the United States approaches its 250th birthday is frankly disturbing.
It is, however, reassuring to see the Biden administration pursue H.R. 1 (a massive voting expansion bill) as a top priority.