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KEDNESDH, OCTOBER 31,2018 | PAGE 9
Don’t take your right to vote for granted
STAFF EDITORIAL
HOW WE SEE IT
With midterm elections around the
corner, use your privilege to vote.
Voting is a key part of our democ
racy. According to the Pew Research
Center, college students are historical
ly less likely to participate in midterm
elections even though we make up a
majority of voters. But who is to say
that voter turnout will be different this
year?
If anything, the results of the 2016
US. presidential election prove that
our votes matter. Also, considering the
cultural shift toward political polariza
tion, your vote these midterm elec
tions takes precedence over any other
election.
As races for midterm elections heat
up, recognize the power you have to
shape decision-making in the U.S.
government. Those of us who make
up the electorate are privileged, and
we should understand this privilege,
especially because we are in close
proximity to people who face obstacles
when registering to vote.
This past September, North Caroli
na’s state elections board unanimously
voted to end a subpoena from the
U.S. attorney and Immigration and
Customs Enforcement for the dis
closure of confidential voter records.
Though the collection deadline was
pushed to January 2019, there are still
great concerns about the reach of the
government to collect confidential
information that can potentially disen
franchise voters.
The overstepping of governmental
power for one constitutional right
could affect other freedoms, such as
the right to a free press. If one right is
compromised, there could be serious
repercussions for other freedoms.
EMMA MCCABE IDESIGKER
This is why citizens need to vote in
these upcoming midterm elections in
order to be a part of this discussion.
In August 2018, Dean of the School
of Communications at Elon University
Rochelle Ford wrote an opinions arti
cle on the importance of the free press
in the U.S. democracy. In her writing.
Ford says that recent attacks on news
media are troubling, and she affirms
the necessity of news reporting to bet
ter this country’s political process.
“Good news reporting should not
tell people what opinion to hold.
Instead good news reporting shares
verifiable, attributed information
ideally from multiple sources so that
people understand the facts necessary
to make an informed decision,” Ford
writes.
Elon News Network stands with
Ford. We support a free press that is
devoid of political leanings — a news
room that seeks the truth and supports
an open exchange of ideas.
We, as a newsroom, strive to report
accurate, fair news in service to our
Elon community, but the electorate
must participate, too. Exercise your
freedom to vote this November.
Whether you are submitting an
absentee ballot or traveling directly to
the polls, remember the significance
of your vote to elect officials who will
represent your values in state and
federal governments. Don’t be easily
swayed by media bias, and trust that
we will continue to work toward bi
as-free reporting.
As student journalists, we strive to
report information to hold our Elon
community accountable. We hope
that, with your vote, you will do the
same for the federal offices represent
ing our country.
The Issue not enough Americans talk about
Michael Asch
Columnist
@elonnewsiietwork
After the Civil War, the
U.S. passed the 13th, 14th
and 15th Amendments to
ensure rights to former
slaves. The 15th Amend
ment gave them the right
to vote, stating, “the right
of citizens of the United
States to vote shall not be
denied or abridged by the
United States or by any state
on account of race, color,
or previous condition of
servitude.”
In response, white leaders
in the South passed Jim
Crow laws to disenfranchise
the black vote. There were
literacy tests to pass in order
to vote. There was a tax to
pay in order to vote. There
were also groups such as the
Ku Klux Klan that terrorized
black people. These methods
all kept African Americans
away from the ballot box.
This went on for almost
100 years. In 1965, due to
the Civil Rights Movement,
Congress and then-President
Lyndon B. Johnson passed
the Voting Rights Act. This
prohibited racial discrimi
nation in voting, outlawed
literacy tests and further en
forced the 15th Amendment.
In 1966, the Supreme Court
case Harper v. Virginia State
Board of Elections found
that poll taxes were uncon
stitutional.
Great strides were made
to protect African Ameri
cans’ right to vote in the 60s,
but they are being roiled
back today. Part of the Vot
ing Rights Act of 1965 said
that states with a history of
voter suppression needed
the federal government to
approve changes to their vot
ing rules. The 2013 Supreme
Court case Shelby County
V. Holder got rid of this
provision, essentially gutting
the Voting Rights Act. Chief
Justice John Roberts argued
that conditions had changed
and these provisions were no
longer necessary. Boy, was
he wrong.
A whopping 24 states
have created new voting
restrictions. One of the
most pressing examples is
the “exact match” law in
Georgia. This requires that
citizens’ names on their
government-issued IDs must
precisely match their names
as listed on the voter rolls.
Georgia’s secretary of state is
a Republican named Brian
Kemp. As secretary of state,
it is his job to oversee the
state’s elections. The prob
lem is that he is currently
running for governor. Kemp
has recently put over 53,000
voter registrations on hold,
70 percent of them from
black voters. Kemp is using
his power to rig the election
in his favor.
Exact match laws are
not the only example of
voter suppression currently
happening in the United
States. There are also “use it
or lose it” laws like the one
in Ohio, which states that if
an individual does not vote
in two consecutive elections,
they will be struck from
the registration rolls. There
are also voter ID laws that
require some form of official
identification before individ
uals vote.
Republicans try to justify
these laws by saying they are
fighting voter fraud. Even
President Trump claimed
there were millions of cases
of voter fraud in the 2016
presidential election. The
truth is that voter fraud is
insanely rare. The Brennan
Center for Justice found that
instances of voter fraud hap
pen at rates between 0.0003
percent and 0.0025 percent.
An individual in the U.S. is
more likely to be struck by
lightning than commit voter
fraud. Voter fraud does not
influence elections, but these
laws to combat voter fraud
do.
The right to vote is the
most sacred and fundamen
tal right a democracy can
have. Without the right to
vote, there is no true democ
racy. Exact match laws, voter
ID laws and use-it-or-lose-
it laws all unfairly restrict
black voters’ rights. We need
to be promoting the right to
vote, not restricting it.