Jami Nakamura Lin Nicole Cardoza Jami Nakamura Lin Nicole Cardoza

Protect the polls.

It's Sunday! I've paused our weekly COVID-19 reporting to bring you more ways to take action this election. Last week, we discussed the importance of a diverse justice system. Today, Jami takes us into the racial bias that affects our polls.

For a more historical view on the importance of protecting the polls, I highly recommend you read our reporting on voter suppression and the legacy of Rep. John Lewis. In addition, last week's piece on the modern-day poll tax only emphasizes this issue. Let me know if you sign up to be a poll worker!

Thank you for your contributions. If you enjoy this newsletter, you can give one-time on our website, PayPal or Venmo (@nicoleacardoza), or subscribe for $5/mo on our Patreon.

– Nicole

TAKE ACTION

  1. Sign up to be a poll worker. Requirements differ from state to state, but positions are paid and usually require working on Election Day plus additional training. Go to workelections.com and select your state for more information. 

  2. Serve as a voting resource. Read up on voting rules and regulations in your county. Push out accurate information on early voting, absentee voting, etc. on social media. Make sure your friends know they can come to you with any questions! 

  3. Push for your workplace to make Election Day a paid holiday.

GET EDUCATED

By Jami Nakamura Lin (she/her)

We’re less than two months away from Tuesday, November 3rd— Election Day. In many states, we’re fast approaching the deadline to register to vote. We recommend checking out Slate’s comprehensive guide on the best way to vote in every state, which includes not only all deadlines and rules for voter registration and mail-in voting, but also recommendations on which method of voting will most ensure your vote will actually be counted. Unfortunately, as our past newsletters on voter suppression and Trump’s attacks on mail-in voting have shown, our government doesn’t make it easy for us to vote, or for those votes to be counted accurately. 

 

This year, the lack of poll workers will make it even more difficult for people to vote. During the pandemic, many poll workers—the bulk of whom are over 60 years old (U.S. Election Assistance Commission)—are staying away. Election officials are scrambling to find younger people to fill the gaps, as the lack of poll workers has already hindered many state’s primaries (NPR). On the April 7 primary in Milwaukee—a city that usually has 180 polling places— officials only had enough workers to staff five, leading to extremely long wait times (CNN). This disproportionately affected the city’s large Black population (Business Insider). Even in normal, non-pandemic years, Black and Latinx people wait almost 50% longer than white voters (Brennan Center). 

 

Without enough polling places, people with the least access are the most likely to be deterred from voting. It’s hard to vote if you don’t have a car, and this year, you have to go across town instead of walking a couple of blocks to your polling place. It’s hard to vote if you can’t get time off work, or if you have a kid, and this year you have to wait in line for two hours. This is why having enough poll workers so important—because the deficit disproportionately disadvantages low-income voters and voters of color (The Atlantic). 

 

Poll workers also individually can influence who actually gets to cast a ballot. Before, I didn’t realize that they had any authority; I thought that their duties were just administrative or clerical. But research shows that even though election workers don’t make the voting rules, they can influence how those rules are actually implemented. Poll workers, election officials, and county recorders often have discretion in what kind of minor errors in voter forms or registrations they can decide to let slide or not. Studies show that election workers enforce the rules unevenly, and the decisions often come down to racial bias (Michigan Journal of Race and Law). 

 

In Big Horn County, Montana, officials made the voter registration process more complicated and technical for Indigenous voters than for white voters. Election workers looked for minor errors to use as excuses to deny the Indigenous voters’ registrations (Windy Boy v. County of Big Horn). Another report from Arizona showed that Indigenous voters were often “placed… on ‘suspense lists’ (similar to inactive lists) when the recorder was not satisfied that an applicant sufficiently clarified his or her address. There are few guidelines on what should constitute an adequate address in Arizona; instead, it is left to the recorder’s discretion and may be influenced by implicit bias” (Michigan Journal of Race and Law).

 

Similarly, the ACLU discovered that “black and Latino voters in Florida were more than two times as likely to have their mail-in ballots rejected as white voters—because of a mix of voter error and how the state processes ballots” (The Atlantic). But blaming these rejections as “voter error” is a way officials can blame the voters themselves without taking into account the inequality in voter information access. Even when voters ask the right questions, they might not get the right answers depending on their race. 

 

In a study from before the 2012 election, researchers sent almost two thousand emails to legislators in 14 states, feigning to be constituents unsure if they could vote without a driver’s license. Half the emails were signed “Jacob Smith”; the other half were signed “Santiago Rodriguez.” None of the states actually required an ID, but legislators that supported voter ID laws responded to “Jacob Smith” much more than “Santiago Rodriguez.” Even legislators that didn’t support ID laws responded more frequently to the white-appearing name, though the difference was not as large (Legislative Studies Quarterly). These reports and studies show how people of color face barriers in voting – not only from our unjust voter suppression laws but also from clerical and administrative workers all throughout the voting process. 

 

Voting is a tactic and should just be one aspect in our fight for equity and justice, alongside protests, community organizing, and other types of activism. But if you are willing and able, you can apply to be a poll worker by going to workelections.com and clicking your state. I just sent in my application here in Illinois. Am I nervous about the coronavirus risk? Yes. But I’m more nervous about voter disenfranchisement, and I will take all the precautions I can. If you can’t be a poll worker, help other people vote. Study up on all the voting regulations in your county and serve as an information hub for your family, friends, and social media feed. And of course, make sure your registration is accurate and up-to-date. 

KEY TAKEAWAYS

  • At polling places, Black and Latinx voters wait in line almost 50% longer than voters (Brennan Center).

  • We don’t have enough poll workers this year because of coronavirus. A lack of poll workers disproportionately affects voting access for people of color. (You can sign up to be a poll worker via workelections.com!)

  • Research shows that officials are more likely to reject voter registrations and mail-in ballots from voters of color (Michigan Journal of Race and Law).

  • Voting is one tactic among many. No matter who wins, we cannot stop our fight for racial equity and justice.

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