The election season starts early next month with primaries in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Rhode Island Public Radio Political Analyst Scott MacKay takes this opportunity to consider New England’s history of restricting who can cast ballots.
From the White House to your house, the election season is upon us. The politicians are knocking doors, attacking opponents and burnishing their images with television and YouTube spots. The rituals of campaigns don’t change all that much over the years.
But something old is unfortunately new again. A divided country is arguing over who is eligible to vote. Sometimes these debates seem esoteric, but they cut to the heart of our democracy. The lesson is that if you can rig the voter pool, a powerful minority can stanch majority rule. As usual, history is a guide.
In Rhode Island, natïve Protestant Yankees gripped power by erecting roadblocks to voting by Catholic newcomers and the poor. Immigrants couldn’t vote and even naturalized citizens had to own $134 in real estate, a lot of money in the 19th century, to qualify for a ballot. By 1840, just one-third of white male residents could vote. The state even had a violent uprising over voting, which was quickly put down, called the Dorr Rebellion.
The Yankees also held power by refusing to reapportion the General Assembly to reflect changes in population. In those days, every community had one state senator, meaning that the thousands of urban Providence voters had the same clout in the legislature as the several hundred in rural Jamestown. In the 1880s, Rhode Island finally eliminated the property qualification for naturalized citizens. This happened only when a new wave of immigration brought Protestants from Scandinavia, Scotland, England and Anglo-Canada to the state.
Now the battle is over restricting voting rights for Latino immigrants and black and younger voters seen as more likely to support Democrats. Across the nation, red states have enacted tough voter identification laws that discriminate against these groups. The red herring is that such restrictions are needed to crack down on fraud. Even President Donald Trump’s voter integrity commission found no evidence to support claims of widespread voter fraud.
Think about it. It’s a felony to impersonate a voter. What would motivate an undocumented immigrant –who nowadays likely fears any interaction with government –to cast an illegal ballot? Despite the chimera of fraud, ocean-blue Rhode Island several years ago enacted a voter ID law. It’s the nation’s least onerous because voters are allowed many forms of identification. Still, it still seems like a solution seeking a problem.
“This is always about immigration, fear of the stranger, the alien, the other,” says Scott Molloy, a retired University of Rhode Island professor and expert on Rhode Island history. “When people from other cultures come here in numbers, the people in power get nervous.”
What is needed now is a dedication to preserving the right to vote for everyone. The country’s voter turnout is far too low for what’s at stake. Rhode Island ought to codify early voting and promote it. That would mean opening city and town halls on, say, the weekend before the election to accommodate those who can’t make it to polls on election day. In an increasingly mobile society, same-day voter registration could also boost turnout.
Massachusetts last week made a stride when Gov. Charlie Baker signed into a measure that automatically registers eligible voters when they get driver’s licenses or state-sponsored health insurance. The state also offers early in-person voting for the general election.
At some point, the nation must come to grips with the unfairness of the Electoral College, a remnant of a horse and buggy society. Last week a group that included former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld and a Harvard law professor filed a long-shot federal lawsuit aimed at getting rid of the winner take-all system. That method has given the nation two presidents – George W. Bush and Donald Trump –who took office despite losing the popular vote.
Our national and state populations are changing. Our voting systems need to catch up with a society that is becoming even more diverse.
Scott MacKay’s commentary can be heard every Monday morning on Rhode Island Public Radio at 6:45 and 8:45, and at 5:44 in the afternoon. You can also follow his political reporting and analysis at our ‘On Politics” blog at RIPR.org.
