Voting Ought to Be Easy!

Voter suppression was all the rage in 19 states during the last presidential election, but thanks to Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, by election day every attempt to make voting more difficult for an estimated five million people was postponed or rejected.

The Voting Rights Act streamlines the voter registration process. It requires states to provide registration opportunities when seeking government services, such as getting a driver’s license. Its Section 5 requires that states and municipalities with a history of racial discrimination get pre-approval from the Department of Justice before making changes to their voting laws.

The U.S. League of Women Voters was a key player in the law’s passage, and has filed an amicus brief in the current challenge to the law.

Connecticut hasn’t faced such bold attempts to subvert the fundamental right to participate in our democracy.

But you may not be aware that the Connecticut League of Women Voters is continually advocating measures to make voting easier for all, and keeping an eye out for obstructions.

This month, for instance, the League testified against a bill that would reject any ballot in which a voter fills in more than one oval for the same cross-endorsed candidate. The League supported a bill that would require voting rights information to be disseminated to persons being released from prison. It backed a bill that would provide absentee ballots for any reason to an eligible voter. It endorsed a Constitutional Amendment that would allow passage of laws providing online and election-day registration. The League has analyzed and weighed in on numerous proposed bills this session alone.

Anyone legally entitled to vote should be able to do so, and easily. It’s as simple as that.

Join the Connecticut League of Women Voters in supporting same-day and online-registration and no-excuse absentee ballots.  And the U.S. League in protecting the Voting Rights Act.

And be a part of it all be joining the Canton League of Women Voters.