It's generally believed that if you're over 18 and a US citizen, you have the inalienable
right to vote in the United States.
No one can stop you.
Which is a great idea in theory, but sadly - it's not even close to being true.
Some states, mainly in the south and midwest, are gaming the system in order to legally
prevent US citizens from voting.
And I'm not just talking about disenfranchising felons or the homeless, although that is happening.
I'm talking about disenfranchising you.
The average American.
But how are they doing this?
Well, it's pretty simple.
They're making the voting process more difficult, so that fewer Americans will vote.
And they do this in a number of ways.
Some states are cutting or reducing early voting, which is the process that lets people
vote early - either by mail, or at a polling station.
The entire purpose behind it, is to ease congestion at the polls and increase voter turnout.
So taking it away does pretty much the opposite - it creates congestion and decreases voter
turnout.
Laws like that tend to have the largest impact on poorer populations with fewer resources,
who can't afford to lose hours at work, or are unable to get to the polls for other economic
reasons.
Other states are curbing or limiting register drives, which are designed to register as
many new voters as possible, and are typically organized by a political party or non-profit
group.
Shutting down these programs doesn't just stop new people from registering to vote.
It also tends to keep incumbents in office, and it makes the voting population a poor
reflection of the population as a whole.
Some states are also making it more difficult to register in time.
They're eliminating programs that allow people to register and vote on the same day, which
prevents new people from registering and causes the same demographic problems I talked about
earlier.
Finally, many states now require proof of citizenship, ID, or a photo ID, when someone
either votes or registers to vote.
This hurts both poor people and new voters, so it's basically a win-win for vote-manipulating
incumbents.
Those are just some of the ways states are trying to prevent you from voting, and as
of now - they're all perfectly legal.
To find out what your state's laws are, just go to its official website.
The law is different in each location, and it's up to you to figure out your own state's
laws.
Yet another way they are subtly discouraging new voters.
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