In 2013, the Supreme Court struck down the preclearance requirement of the Civil Rights Act which required some states to get prior approval before changing their election laws in order to protect voting rights of minority groups. Since then, the issue of voting rights in recent election cycles has been entangled with concerns of election security. Republican politicians cite the need for secure elections when passing laws, such as the controversial voter ID laws, restricting early voting, or laws requiring citizenship verification. Democrats claim that this type of legislation interferes with the rights of Americans to vote and have proposed legislation to protect the right to vote for all Americans.

President Biden and Voting Rights

President Biden has been vocal in his opposition of Republican claims that legislation is necessary to protect our elections. Biden has emphasized the importance of ones right to vote and has pursued legislation aimed at protecting that right for all Americans. When such legislation failed to make it through Congress President Biden called for an end to the requirement of a 60 vote minimum to pass voting rights bills. Despite the lack of success in Congress, President Biden has taken executive action “directing an all-of-government effort to promote access to voting.”

Quotes:

“You know, for the right to vote and to have that vote counted is democracy’s threshold liberty.  Without it, nothing is possible, but with it, anything is possible.”

“This fundamental right remains under assault. The conservative Supreme Court has gutted the Voting Rights Act over the years. Since the 2020 election, a wave of states and dozens and dozens of anti-voting laws fueled by the ‘Big Lie’ and the election deniers now elected to office.”

“But as an institutionalist, I believe the threat to our democracy is so grave that we must find a way to pass these voting rights bills. Debate them, vote, let the majority prevail. And if that bare minimum is blocked, we have no option but to change the Senate rules, including getting rid of the filibuster for this.”

Donald Trump and Voting Rights

While in office former President Trump put together a commission to investigate election integrity due to his ongoing belief that there is widespread election fraud. Donald Trump is a vocal supporter of requiring identification in order to vote. In fact, many of the proposals which are perceived as violating voting rights can be traced back to former President Trump and his repeated claims of widespread fraud in U.S. elections. 

Quotes:

“It’s also time for Democrats to join with us to protect the sacred integrity of our elections by supporting voter ID.”

On mail in voting: “I will, but those ballots get lost also… You know, they send them in, and all of a sudden, they’re gone.”

“No debate on Election Security should go forward without first agreeing that Voter ID (Identification) must play a very strong part in any final agreement. Without Voter ID, it is all so meaningless!”

“I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally.”

“This is a fraud on the American public. This is an embarrassment to our country. We were getting ready to win this election. Frankly, we did win this election…We want all voting to stop.”

Marianne Williamson and Voting Rights

Marianne Williamson believes that claims of voter fraud are not credible, but rather used as a political tool to tighten election laws. Marianne Williamson proposes the elimination of some requirements to vote, such as voter ID laws, automatic voter registration, prepaid vote by mail for all elections, lower the voting age to 16, and securing voting systems from all threats. Williamson would make election day a national holiday and expand polling locations and hours to allow ease of voting. Marianne Williamson is also a proponent of ensuring that people convicted of felonies have their right to vote restored. 

Quotes:

“Voter fraud is not a problem in the U.S., and is a distraction intended to draw attention away from the real problem. The real problem is NOT people voting who should not (which is virtually non-existent), but rather efforts to suppress the vote by knocking qualified voters off the voter rolls and limiting voting locations and hours. We must stop voter suppression and make it easier, not harder, to vote.”

“There is NOT equal access to voting in the U.S. Equal access was guaranteed by the Voting Rights Act of 1965, but after the Supreme Court gutted major provisions in 2013, voting access has become increasingly restricted. We should restore the protections of the Voting Rights Act…”

“An attack on our voting system is core to this anti-democratic assault. Voter suppression laws are being passed throughout the country.”

Cornel West and Voting Rights

Cornel West has promised to make election day a national holiday, promote ranked choice voting and institute automatic voter registration. While Cornel West is an advocate for economic justice he focuses on the need to provide an alternative to the two-party system and he aims to attract people who are disillusioned by the electoral system in the United States. 

Quotes:

“One of the problems of the two party system is what Margaret Thatcher used to call ‘Tina’… there is no alternative.”

“But I happen to be focusing on the 40% that don’t vote at all, and I happen to be pulling from the 62% of folk who do vote but who would never vote for the two parties. So, if there is some taking from both parties, it’s going to be very, very small.”

Jill Stein and Voting Rights

Jill Stein has not taken a vocal stance on voting rights or election fraud in the 2024 election cycle. Instead Stein emphasizes that there is no real democracy without real choice, which means having an alternative to the two party system, a gap she means to fill. In 2016, Stein did have concerns about election security and called for vote recounts in states where Trump narrowly won against Clinton. 

Quotes:

“The political system is widely perceived as being bought and paid for, by wall street, by the military industrial complex… People really feel like they are at the end of their rope and very much under attack by our political system and that we really don’t have a democracy.”

“63% of Americans now actually say they want another party that serves the people because the two that we have done such a bad job of serving ordinary working people so I think it’s anti-democratic to say that democracy is supposed to serve the political elites rather than serve everyday working people and voters that’s who the system is for.”

“I think it’s really anti-democratic to suggest that voters don’t have a right to choose. Voters do have a right to choose who to vote for.”

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Voting Rights

            Robert F. Kennedy Jr. believes the American electoral system is rigged due to the duopoly the Republicans and Democrats possess. Like Jill Stein, Robert F. Kennedy has not directly remarked on restricting voting laws, voting rights, and has not spoken about election fraud since 2004. 

Quotes:

“Democracy has become sort of a film set. We have all these little things that tell us we’re a democracy, elections, and things. But none of us really feel like we have any impact about what the government does.”

“The Democrats are frightened that I’m gonna spoil the election for President Biden and the Republicans are frightened that I’m gonna spoil it for President Trump. The truth is, they’re both right: My intention is to spoil it for both of them.”

“I think that I have an opportunity to actually break that [partisan] logjam because right now, any issue that comes before Congress is siloed into the Republican or Democratic camps, and the other side can’t vote for it”