This year marks America’s 250th anniversary. As government and civic organizations plan a year of patriotic festivities to mark the occasion, it is worth stepping back and acknowledging where we are in our ongoing struggle to protect the freedom to vote in this country, especially as the Trump administration and partisan actors have continued to undermine the federal voting rights act and strip away access to the ballot for the past several years.
The basis of so many of the Trump administration’s current attacks against voting is part of a centuries-old playbook of weaponizing citizenship in order to determine whose voice will be heard in our elections.
At the nation’s founding, only white, land-owning men were able to vote in elections. It took centuries of work to enfranchise Black Americans, Native Americans, and women, and we are still working to break down barriers for these groups, in addition to barriers for all communities of color and voters with disabilities.
When you see that much of this history is not that long ago, it’s easier to see the motive behind the push for unnecessary red tape and proof-of-citizenship laws from Trump and his allies: attempts to block people from voting in order to control our elections.
Let’s look at the SAVE Act and the Michigan ballot initiative that would try to make the same show-your-papers voting requirements state law by requiring voters to prove their citizenship before registering to vote, presenting either a birth certificate or a passport. While these bills and ballot initiatives rely on fear and misinformation about immigrants and voting to garner support, at their core, they are meant to keep eligible Americans from voting.
Think about it, how many people actually have easy access to birth certificates and passports? In Michigan alone, over 1.1 million people’s voter registrations could be affected by a lack of access to these documents; across the country, the total is staggering: 21 million.
So how do we respond when those in power try to restrict our right to vote? In Michigan, through the passage of popular ballot initiatives in 2018 and 2022, we made tremendous progress at removing barriers to voting, earning an A+ grade from the Institute for Responsive Governing and becoming a model for other states.
In recent months, nonpartisan organizations have continued this work by educating voters about the red tape and confusion that show-your-papers proposals would bring to Michigan’s elections.
As a result, municipalities and counties across Michigan, city councils and county commissions have been adopting resolutions opposing these show-your-papers laws because local leaders know how these laws will not only keep certain voters from voting, but also complicate election administration for local and county clerks who will be tasked with implementing these changes in their communities.
It’s all part of a competing American tradition of organizing through coalitions to break down barriers and reclaim the people’s power at the ballot box, ensuring we have a say in shaping the world we live in. As a movement, we draw inspiration from the intersectional coalitions who worked tirelessly to pass the Voting Rights Act of 1965, so we bring people of faith, naturalized citizens, young people, tribal communities, seniors, people with low-incomes, and people with disabilities together to build collective power to strengthen access to voting.
It’s that connection to the Civil Rights movement that is especially grounding in this moment. Just last month, people gathered from across the country in Selma, Alabama for the All Roads Lead to the South march to carry forward the work of the first civil rights movement in a new era of oppression kicked off by Trump and his allies’ partisan push to gerrymander districts to erase representation for Black voters across the South and cancelling votes in the process.
In the pro-democracy movement, we believe that pushing back against the rollback of our rights and freedoms is the best way to honor the promise of America. We must call out those among us who betray that promise and attack our voting rights. Instead, we must honor heroes of the past by demanding nothing less than free and democratic elections.
And if you haven’t gotten involved in this struggle to build a democracy for all of us, it’s not too late.
To truly honor America’s 250th anniversary, let’s work together to celebrate our progress, show up, speak out against injustice, and protect our vote to ensure the will of the people prevails.
Above all, to the powers that be that are trying to silence us: hands off our vote!