Welcome to the June edition of The Lever — reaching you as summer heats up. Our democracy is strongest when methods for ballot verification are clearly understood.
This month’s Hot Policy Take is a deep dive into the process of ballot verification – the robust systems of checks and balances undertaken by election officials in each state to ensure all ballots are legitimate and counted accurately.
In this email, we’ll explore how policies requiring documentary proof of U.S. citizenship threaten to disenfranchise voters. We also take a look at a new law passed in Mississippi that would close a loophole preventing incarcerated people from voting – and how difficult its implementation is proving to be. Lastly, we provide a quick summary of some election legislation updates we’re watching.
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Our elections are built with a set of rigorous checks and balances, ensuring we have accurate, fair, and secure elections every step of the way. Despite the strength of our election system, we’ve seen a rise in attempts to sow distrust, division, and fear in the wake of the 2020 election – attempts that have fortunately been unsuccessful. As we head towards the 2024 election, it’s more important than ever to understand the existing systems and processes that ensure the validity of every voter and accuracy of every ballot cast.
In this month’s Hot Policy Take, learn about how officials in all 50 states and D.C. confirm each ballot cast.
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BY THE NUMBERS
1 in 10
That’s how many eligible voters in the United States report that they do not have ready access (with 24-hour notice) to documentation that can prove their citizenship. Documents in this category include a birth certificate, passport, naturalization certificate, or certificate of citizenship. Efforts to pass policies requiring proof of citizenship at the polls have been on the rise recently, imperiling access to the ballot box for 21.3 million eligible voters.
- NPR covered a recent study that generated these figures and found that there are significant disparities by race, ethnicity, and political affiliation in terms of which voters have easy access to their citizenship documents.
- As we first covered in 2022 and revisited this past March, policies requiring documentary proof of citizenship provide no additional security to our elections and threaten to disenfranchise otherwise-eligible voters. Vigorous federal and state safeguards already in place prevent non-citizens from voting and there is no evidence that significant unlawful non-citizen voting occurs.
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WHAT WE'RE READING
Earlier this year, Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves allowed House Bill 1406 to go into effect without his signature. This new law clarifies the conditions under which people incarcerated in the state may vote – but adds additional red tape.
- Before this new law, people convicted of felonies that fall into 22 broad categories were permanently disenfranchised.
- Guidance issued from the Attorney General’s office several years ago suggested that only people held outside of their counties of residence were eligible to cast absentee ballots while incarcerated – effectively disenfranchising people who may have never been convicted of a disenfranchising crime.
The new law closes this loophole, but “there is ample room for delays throughout this process.” According to The Marshall Project: “To cast an absentee ballot by mail, here’s the detailed process an incarcerated voter must go through:
- Request an absentee ballot application from the circuit clerk of the county where the voter is registered. This can be done in writing or by phone, but the applications cannot be accessed over the internet. They must be mailed by the circuit clerk to an eligible voter upon request.
- Once the application has been received, the voter must complete the application, have it notarized and mail the application back to the county circuit clerk. Voters with a legally recognized disability can use a witness instead of a notary.
If confirmed to be eligible, the clerk then mails an absentee ballot to the voter. The voter must complete the ballot, seal it, have the sealed ballot notarized and mail it back to the circuit clerk.”
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THE MARKUP
The Markup is Voting Rights Lab’s regular legislative update, powered by our Voting Rights Tracker. If you’d like to get these insights straight to your inbox, head here to sign up!
Here’s an excerpt of legislative news from last week:
- Louisiana enacts a unique proof of citizenship bill that likely violates federal law. Governor Jeff Landry signed S.B. 436 into law last week. This bill requires voter registration applicants to provide proof of U.S. citizenship, though it does not specify what types of proof would be accepted. The U.S. Supreme Court held in 2013, while striking down an Arizona law requiring documentary proof of citizenship, that states must accept completed federal voter registration forms – which include an affirmation of U.S. citizenship signed under penalty of perjury – as sufficient for voter registration. The Louisiana Constitution already prohibits noncitizens from registering to vote in the state. Governor Landry signed several other bills, including H.B. 763, which imposes strict new requirements on election officials with respect to federal election directives, guidance, and funding.
- Fulton County, Georgia, establishes processes to protect voters from baseless mass challenges. In Fulton County, which contains most of Atlanta, the Board of Registration and Elections adopted new rules that require individuals challenging voters' eligibility to provide additional detail and evidence. Since 2020, baseless mass challenges to voter registrations have become a significant burden on local boards that risk the improper removal of legitimate eligible voters. In 2022, out of nearly 100,000 challenges, 89% were submitted by just six individuals. S.B. 202 – enacted in 2021 – made explicit that individuals can file an unlimited number of challenges, and S.B. 189 – enacted earlier this year – further specified what may or may not form a basis for a successful challenge.
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