Samuel Studer
[email protected]
All across the United States, voting is under scrutiny. According to CNN, in 2000, only 14 states had voter-ID requirements. Today, 33 states have such laws, which have been shown to hurt young people and people of color.
It has been harder to just cast a vote, and some areas have made it difficult by removing polling sites. Lines are crazy busy, especially in the current presidential-nomination season, with voters waiting for hours and hours just to have their voices heard. We must ask ourselves: How has our nation gotten to this point? Why is this state of affairs acceptable?
Primaries occur all over the country. That’s why we must remember how important our right to vote is; it helps to hold our leaders accountable and make sure our democracy can function properly.
But some of these recent voting actions are intended to suppress voter turnout. Even in big states such as New York, voter turnout is the worst in the country. According to CNN, In the 2012 presidential election, only 58 percent of registered voters in New York City cast ballots.
There is an explanation for why these numbers are so horribly low. You must provide a Department of Motor Vehicles number or other ID number, there is no early voting, and in order to secure an absentee ballot, you must have a valid reason.
Some New York residents are trying hard to change the stereotype in the community; they have been working on a campaign called Barriers to Ballots. The change would begin with registering younger voters. The biggest problem that cities face is trying to get people registered.
Polling sites also need to be conveniently located. Many voters have busy lives, and it is hard to find the time to vote. If getting to where you need to vote is easier, then people are more likely to vote. Barriers to Ballots is also working on trying to expand the number of voting sites. The locations need to be open to all so everyone gets a change to vote, and sites also need to have up-to-date and accurate voting technology so as to not confuse or disenfranchise voters. Sites must be accessible to voters with disabilities and voters who speak languages other than English.
The voting process also needs to be more streamlined. It needs to be easy and simple. Nobody wants to go through a complicated process in order to cast a ballot. Streamlining the process would also help to save taxpayers money. By complicating the voting process, we waste money, time, and resources.
In the presidential-nomination campaign so far, we have seen many new voters participate and take a stance because of controversial candidates. We need to make sure that this momentum increases. Every area needs help; because not just New York that faces these challenges. Every state needs to think about these procedures in the coming months. We must fight for the right that we have been guaranteed as U.S. citizens, and now is the time make sure that we can maintain the right before the November election.