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VIOLATION OF CIVIL RIGHTS ACT IN ELECTIONS 1

VIOLATION OF CIVIL RIGHTS ACT IN ELECTIONS 2

Violation of Civil Rights Act in Elections

Jake Bookard

Savannah State University

Violation of Civil Rights Act in Elections

Introduction

Despite the assurance of minority voter’s rights by the constitution and the fourteenth amendment, cases of rights violation with regards to the voting process are still on the rise in the US. Minority groups are often discriminated or blocked from participating in the voting process both in ways that they can discern and through cunning plans that can involve the voting process. Some of the main reasons why minorities’ constitutional rights are violated include racial discrimination by majority races, and to manipulate the outcome of the elections so as to keep minority groups out of the political leadership structure. The fourteenth amendment and the constitution do not sufficiently safeguard the rights of minority groups during elections because there are no serious mechanisms of reinforcing their provisions.

Discrimination and Manipulation of Results

There are different ways through which minority groups are blocked from participating or winning in elections through discrimination. One of the ways is through diluting the votes of the minority groups by the use of cunning voting systems such as the at-large method. Another form of discrimination against the minority groups is exercised through the application of majority method of election instead of plurality (Maskin & Sen, 2016). The majority method requires that the leading candidate’s vote should be more than the combination of the votes of the other candidates in order to be declared the winner, a fete that is quite difficult to achieve (Bol, Blais, Laslier, & Macé, 2016). Plurality is the voting method in which the winner gets more votes than the other candidates. There are trends in which the majority voting system is applied in areas where minority populations are more than the whites. The method is used to cunningly force a runoff between candidates from minority and those from minority races.

Another method through which the constitutional rights of minority candidates are violated is the requirement to vie for one of many similar positions combined with the majority system to reduce the chances of winning for the candidate from minority group. Further, discrimination is also done through gerrymandering. This is the practice in which electoral boundaries are revised or adjusted to influence the outcome of an election process to favor some candidates on grounds of race or class (Carson, 2018). During electioneering period, gerrymandering is often done in minority neighborhoods to influence the outcome of the elections by diluting the votes of minority groups. On such occasions, minority groups go to the polling stations to vote only to discover that they are not registered voters in the neighborhood that they live in but are registered in a different region so that they will not be able to vote for their preferred candidates.

Blocking Minority Candidates from Vying

Despite assurances by the 14th Amendment that allows individuals from minority groups to participate in the election process by vying for political positions, there are many cases in which minority groups are blocked from vying for political position. For instance, the Lake Park Town, Palm Beach County in Florida, there is an apparent violation of the Voting Rights Act in that there is a voting system that works against minority candidates. The system, known as at-large, which is used to vote for commissioners, was found by the Department of Justice to deny or prevent black voters an equitable chance to elect or select representative candidates of their preference (Bagozzi & Berliner, 2016). Despite blacks comprising of about 38% or the total voting population, black candidates have never been elected from the time that the town was founded in 1923. The at-large voting system dilutes the votes of minority groups such as blacks due to its highly racially polarized nature.

On some occasions, minority groups are blocked from participating in political processes or vying for elective positions as a result of their low proficiency in English. Some scrupulous electoral officials often look for excuses that can disqualify minority candidates so as to block them from participating in elections. Minority candidates who are American citizens but are not proficient in English are denied the opportunity to vie for political positions (United States Department of Justice, 2019). Education is another method through which minority candidates are sometimes locked out of the voting process. The minority groups who are not as highly educated as their white counterparts but are qualified candidates are sometimes denied the opportunity to vie on grounds that they are not sufficiently educated thus lack the integrity to assume leadership positions (USDJ, 2019). On some occasions, right wing extremists openly threaten minority candidates of dire consequences if they decide to vie for political positions (Cole, 2017). Such candidates often back off for fear of their lives even if it is their constitutional right to vie for political positions. Although it is illegal to threaten a candidate not to participate in political elections as candidates, no action is taken against such right-wing extremists when they intimidate candidates from minority groups in region dominated by white populations.

Intimidation

Although there are many security measures that are put in place by the federal and state governments to protect citizens against malicious criminal attacks, there are many occasions in which minority groups are threatened or intimidated. The violent tactics are used by majority races such as whites to force minority groups such as African-Americans to vote for a particular candidate against their will (Desmond-Harris, 2014). The intimidation takes place in the presence of security officials who do not intervene to protect the civil rights of the people from minority races whose civil rights are being violated. There is a trend in which such intimidation, harassment, and threats, occur mainly in regions where there is a big population of minority groups. The harassment negatively impacts on the confidence of populations from minority groups so that some people may be discouraged to vote for fear of being harassed during polling days.

The harassment of individuals from minority races is often done tactfully by majority races to cover up for the civil rights violation. For instance, some groups of people who claim to be poll watchers, or some who actually are poll watchers from majority races are excessively aggressive towards individuals from minority groups. The poll watchers force minority groups to vote for some candidates who may not be their favorite candidates. As such, the election exercise in such situations tends to favor some candidates not because they are popular but because minority groups are harassed and forced to vote for them. There is also another approach to intimidation in which some organizations known as election-integrity groups carry out match listing exercises amongst individuals from minority races (Desmond-Harris, 2014). Such organizations access voter rolls in collaboration with election officials and proceed to match the names of the minority individuals in the voter rolls with other lists containing names of individuals with negative reputation such as ex-convicts, felons, or undocumented immigrants.

The matching exercise is usually malicious and mainly intended to prevent as many individuals from minority groups from voting as possible. This is because some of the people who are labeled as felons and therefore should not vote are not actually criminals. Besides, there is no law that is intended to prevent people from voting on grounds of them having criminal records or being ex-convicts. The matching exercise in most rampant in locations where their minority and majority races are almost the same in number, and the majority races usually aim at having an advantage over the minority so that the candidate whom will be selected would be from the majority race (Scott, 2018). The self-appointed election monitors conduct research to obtain the names of individuals from minority races. They then prepare a list of the names with offences that can either be true or false, and approach strangers from minority races and tell them that they cannot vote on grounds that they have criminal records. Although federal laws prohibit such behaviors, the scheme is usually well organized, and the police do little or nothing at all to prevent such activities from taking place.

Being Shut out of the Polls after Cuing

There are no federal or electoral laws that protect voters from being locked out of the polls after waiting in the cues for long hours. There are also no guidelines that control the length of time that people should wait in line. After cuing for long hours, individuals from minority groups are sometimes turned away when the time that the voting exercise should stop reaches (Desmond-Harris, 2014). The problem is that not everyone is turned away when time is up. Individuals from majority groups are normally allowed to vote while those from minority groups are prevented from voting (Desmond-Harris, 2014). This habit is common in white neighborhoods where their level of discrimination against minority groups is high. The habit is unconstitutional because as long as an individual is in the cue before closing time gets, they should be allowed to vote rather than be turned away. Further afield, there is a tendency in which when documents of the minority groups are being evaluated, polling officials are often overzealous in evaluating their identifications. In some states without serious voter ID policies, there are usually non-document requirements so that voters can just sign affidavits and poll books or give personal data such as birth dates and home address.

In states that there are no strict laws that require a voter to provide an ID or passport, but to give their details such as home address such as in California and Nevada, there is a tendency in which voters from minority groups are blocked from voting by being asked to produce IDs or passports. Those who do not have are prevented from voting even after providing the basic required details such as home address and personal details (Desmond-Harris, 2014). Minority groups are sometimes blocked from voting if their addresses on the voting rolls do not match their current physical location when what is actually needed is matching of their face and name with the details that are contained in the voting system. This is discriminatory since it is mostly done by racist poling agents who are ill bent on preventing minority groups from voting for their favorite candidates or is an attempt to lower and reduce their privileges as inferior citizens who should not participate in the voting exercise. The problem is difficult to solve because human rights and transparency agents cannot intervene or interfere with the voting process, and it is also a lengthy and tedious exercise for such minority groups to file complaints due to the lengthy formal processes required for investigations to be done. As a result, victims of such injustices do not follow up or launch complaints against unscrupulous poling officials.

Being Turned Away During Provisional Ballots

Although the constitution allows minority groups to participate in the voting exercise, and to vie for political positions, there are many instances in which minority groups are turned away from polling stations thereby denying them the right to vote. Specifically, the fourteenth amendment proclaims that the right to cast the ballot should not be denied to US citizens on the basis of race, gender, complexion, or previous status of an individual as a servant or slave (USDJ, 2019). However, despite this constitutional provision, minority groups are often turned away when they get to the polling station especially in regions dominated by whites. In states with strict election laws, people who are not in a position to provide their identification cards or passport usually use a provisional ballot. They are then required to proceed to show up the next day in the electoral office with the required identification materials for their votes to be counted (Desmond-Harris, 2014). Additionally, many locals were not able to cast their votes because of the power outages.

In states with less strict laws, people who wish to vote but do not have an ID with them are required to sign an affidavit that proves their identity, or their pictures and personal information can be marched with what is in the records. Most minorities are turned away or not provided with provisional ballots whenever they do not carry their IDs or passport with them. This injustice is usually perpetrated mostly by racist polling clerks who focus on preventing minority groups from voting so that the lack of identification is an excuse of denying such individuals the right to vote. Although it is unconstitutional to deny a voter the provisional ballot paper, individuals from minority groups such as Hispanics and African-Americans who forget to carry their IDs are often denied the provisional ballot papers and are turned away from the voting process.

Bribery

According to the Law, it is wrong to influence people to vote in a certain way or to boycott from participating in elections by bribing them. It is also morally or ethically wrong to receive money or other gifts in order to vote in a certain way. A significant fraction of minority groups resides in neighborhoods with low socioeconomic features. A big number of people from minority groups are also of underprivileged socioeconomic conditions and can barely make ends meet. Such groups of minority individuals are vulnerable to bribes. Corrupt individuals from majority groups have discovered this weakness and often take advantage of the poverty to influence individuals from poor minority neighborhoods to vote in a certain way through bribery (Young, 2018). Due to high poverty rates and unemployment, many people from minority groups are manipulated to vote for candidates who are not of their choice by being promised jobs or by being given handouts. As such, their integrity is undermined so that bribery prevents them from thinking and voting independently, which is a way through which individuals from majority groups control the voting decisions of individuals from minority communities (Conti, Göncz & Real-Dato, 2018). In view of the above, the fundamental rights not to be manipulated and freedom of choice is indirectly infringed upon through bribery so that they end up voting for candidates who are not actually of their choice but the preference of the rich individuals from majority communities.

Photo Elector Identification Legislation

In some states, apart from the normal requirements that voters should provide their identification or passport in order to participate in the voting exercise, there is a photo identification process. In the process, voters are identified by a machine that matches their appearance when they show up in the polling stations with the images contained in the electoral commission’s databases. The machines used and the process was found to be maliciously intended to block individuals from minority groups from participating in the polling process. For instance, the Texas Senate Bill of 2011 that established the photo identification of voters was found to have been adopted with the malicious intention of preventing and abridging people’s right to vote on grounds of their race, complexion, and language minority (USDJ, 2019). The Department of Justice also found that the photo identification process and the machines used have blocked a substantial number of individuals from minority groups from voting, which is a violation of the Voting Rights Act, Section 2 that guarantees that all individuals have the right to vote irrespective of their race or color (USDJ, 2019). Although the actual mechanism through which malicious individuals manipulate or use the machines to prevent individuals from minority groups from voting, it is possible that the photo identification machines are adjusted or tuned to mismatch the pictures of the minority persons. It is also possible that some pictures are removed from the database or an individual’s details are mismatched. Consequently, they are locked out of the voting process when the machines fail to identify them with the details in the databases. Although not all states use the photo identifier machines, there is a significant number of states that use the system, and they are mainly applied in neighborhoods with a medium to high fraction of individuals from minority groups to intentionally block them from voting. Some corrupt polling officials who have been compromised by White supremacists are usually involved in the malicious process. The intention is usually to influence or control the outcome of the voting process.

Conclusion

Minority groups experience unfair treatment so that their constitutional rights are often violated during electioneering period. The voting rights can be violated either openly or cunningly through manipulating the voting process. Minority groups are mainly locked or prevented from voting or vying for elective positions to prevent them from taking leadership roles, and for reasons related to racial discrimination. In order to protect the minority groups’ constitutional voting rights, it is necessary to put measures that can ensure that the provisions of the constitution are seriously adhered to.

References

Desmond-Harris, J. (2014). 6 ways your rights could be violated on election day-and what you can do about it. Vox. Retrieved from https://www.vox.com/2014/11/3/7140317/2014- elections-midterms-voting-rights-things-to-know

Maskin, E, & Sen, A. (2016). How majority rule might have stopped Donald Trump. New York Times, 28, 1-4.

Scott, A. (2018). Mexican-Americans and the Right to Vote: A Century of Struggle. 1-8.

United States Department of Justice. (2019). Introduction to Federal voting rights Laws. The United States Department of Justice. Retrieved from https://www.justice.gov/ crt/introduction-federal-voting-rights-laws

Young, E. A. (2018). Dying Constitutionalism and the Fourteenth Amendment. Marquette Law Review, Forthcoming. 1-24.