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What Is Voter Suppression?

Voter suppression has taken many forms throughout U.S. history – from the poll taxes and literacy tests of the late 1800s and early 1900s, to the ID requirements, roll purges, and intentional misinformation of today.

After the Fifteenth Amendment granted African American men the right to vote, many state and city governments – particularly in the South – resorted to voter suppression tactics to keep Black people away from the polls. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 aimed to curb this suppression and increase the number of voters in areas of known discrimination. To achieve this goal, the act included provisions to outlaw literacy tests and other requirements intended to discriminate against a minority population. It also includes a provision (Section 5) that requires certain jurisdictions to receive pre-approval from the federal government before making any change related to voting in order to confirm that proposed changes do not have a discriminatory effect.

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 had a swift impact on voter turnout. By the 1968 presidential election, voter registration among African Americans had increased 67% in areas under the act’s jurisdiction. A 2019 study further demonstrated that the preclearance requirement maintained a 4-8% increase in long-term voter turnout over 40 years.

However, a U.S. Supreme Court decision in June 2013 weakened the protections of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, allowing states to once again set their own voting requirements without the need for advance federal approval. Almost immediately after the decision was passed, states that had required preclearance began making drastic changes that affect voting, including eliminating same-day voter registration, imposing stricter photo ID requirements, shortening early voting timelines, redistricting to favor white incumbents, and more.

Even Delaware, a reliably blue state since 1992, is not immune to efforts of voter suppression. The Delaware Republican Party has challenged the constitutionality of the bill which created an expanded vote-by-mail process in Delaware. They claim that the current pandemic is not enough of a reason to institute this change to the electoral system, and that mail-in ballots should not be counted. This tactic is being used by the GOP in multiple lawsuits across the country to disenfranchise voters who may not want to risk their health in order to vote in person during the COVID-19 pandemic. 


Despite the misinformation being spread about voting by mail, studies have repeatedly shown that voting by mail is not less secure than in-person voting; it does not increase voter fraud; and it does not benefit one political party over another. In fact, there are five states that hold their elections primarily through the mail with no fraud scandals having ever been reported. In the 2018 election 23% of votes were cast by mail and there was no outcry about fraud risk. The lawsuit brought by the Delaware GOP is a transparent effort to ensure that fewer people are allowed to vote because of a perceived benefit to their party. On Monday, September 28th, the judge in the case ruled that voting by mail was “necessary to protect public health and ensure the continuity of governmental operations during the coronavirus epidemic.” 


One real worry surrounding the reliance on vote-by-mail for the November election is that the recent actions taken by Postmaster General DeJoy have led to slowdowns at the postal service, and consequently many ballots may not arrive by Delaware’s 8pm election day deadline. The Delaware League of Women Voters and the Delaware ACLU have filed suit to help ensure that votes won’t be left uncounted. The suit asks “that the Department of Elections accept all ballots mailed by Election Day and received within 10 days of the election.”


Governor Carney has just recently stated that he supports expanding voting-by-mail for all future elections, citing the significant increase in voter participation in the September primaries across both parties. The League of Women Voters and Delaware ACLU have vocally supported HB 175 which would allow any voter in Delaware to vote by mail-in-ballot for primary, general, and special federal elections.   


What to do if you see or experience voter intimidation: 




For more information on voter intimidation and related topics: 

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