Sec. 2. Findings
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Congress finds the following: The right to vote is the foundation of American democracy. Voting provides the citizenry with a vital check on their elected officials and grants people the political power necessary to exercise and defend the rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution. The Elections Clause of the United States Constitution gives Congress sweeping power to regulate the time, place, and manner of Federal elections (Article I, section 4 of the Constitution of the United States; see also Arizona v.
Inter Tribal Council of Arizona, Inc., 570 U.S. 1 (2013)). Congress also has enforcement power under the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments of the Constitution of the United States. As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. explained in a speech delivered on May 17, 1957, So long as I do not firmly and irrevocably possess the right to vote I do not possess myself. I cannot make up my mind—it is made up for me. I cannot live as a democratic citizen, observing the laws I have helped to enact—I can only submit to the edict of others. .
The right to vote was not guaranteed to all Americans at our Nation’s founding. The ratification of the Fifteenth and Nineteenth Amendments, the civil rights movement’s struggle for justice and equality, and the enactment of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and its subsequent amendments succeeded in expanding access to the franchise. Unfortunately, the barriers faced by voters who have historically experienced the greatest obstacles to voting are exacerbated by the coronavirus (COVID–19) pandemic.
Strategies to mitigate the spread of COVID–19 include social distancing , a practice that requires individuals to maintain a distance between themselves and other people in order to avoid acquiring or transmitting the virus. The need to embrace such precautions will require States to quickly modify voting processes to minimize person-to-person contact. Voting by mail is a critical part of the solution and must be expanded as quickly as possible, not simply as a means of ensuring access during public health emergencies, but also as a means of expanding access to the franchise to those whose work, health, or ability to access the ballot may be limited.
However, safe and secure in-person voting remains vitally important for large groups of voters, including voters with disabilities, language minority voters, American Indian and Alaska Native voters, and African-American voters. The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 ( 42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.) and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 ( 29 U.S.C. 701 et seq.) require that individuals with disabilities have equal access to every aspect of the voting process. Vote-by-mail poses various accessibility challenges for voters with disabilities, including blind, low-vision, or other print-disabled voters who may require in-person voting or assistive technology in order to privately and independently mark their ballots.
Remedies for voters with disabilities require an investment of resources to ensure State and local election websites, online voter registration portals, and vote-by-mail systems are accessible; that in-person voting locations permit a safe, dignified, and accessible voting experience; and that the right of voters with disabilities to a secret ballot is not sacrificed due to the pandemic. Language minority voters face unique barriers to voting that require additional resources and support to ensure full and equal access, including additional resources to ensure local compliance with the language minority voting protections in section 203 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 ( 52 U.S.C. 10503 ) and greater language assistance services, including additional bilingual or multilingual poll workers and election workers.
American Indian and Alaska Native voters face unique obstacles in a vote-by-mail system. Tribal communities in rural areas often do not have traditional residential mailing addresses and have limited access to transportation. Tribal members have distant rural post offices, slow mail routes, limited numbers of post office operation, and too few post office boxes. As a result, rural Tribal communities require distinct voting accommodations to ensure participation in a vote-by-mail system.
Finally, in-person voting holds great significance for African-American voters, for whom the right to vote was hard won. African Americans have been excluded from the franchise through State and local laws, poll taxes, voting literacy tests, physical violence, and lynchings. For many African-American voters today, casting a ballot at one’s polling place is a solemn ritual that honors those who sacrificed their safety and their lives in order to secure the right to vote. However, COVID–19 poses substantial risks to the African-American population and has infected and killed African Americans in the United States at disproportionately high rates, highlighting longstanding inequalities in resources and access to health care.
Social distancing designed to curb the COVID–19 pandemic will also greatly impact in-person voter registration efforts, including voter registration drives and voter registration services required by the National Voter Registration Act. Many government offices, like State departments of motor vehicles, are currently closed to in-person traffic and are likely to remain closed for an indefinite period of time in 2020. Therefore, it is appropriate for Congress to expand no-excuse absentee vote-by-mail while also ensuring the safety and accessibility of in-person voting and voter registration during exigent circumstances, including the current pandemic.
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- 570 U.S. 1
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