History of Voter Registration in U.S.
I found this document online that is apparently an upload from a book (sourced at bottom). I thought it interesting. Hoping I am not violating some copyright registration here.
The History of Voter Registration in the U.S.
Voter registration originated in the early 19th century as a method of disenfranchisement. Many states were concerned with the growing number of foreign-born transients participating in local government, and so they developed a system of registration to ensure that these non-citizens could not vote. While this did disenfranchise transients and the foreign-born, many poor citizens were also not included on the voter rolls; they were often not home when the assessors came by, which was typically during the work-day, so they were not included. Many areas that were largely Democratic rebuffed the registration system, because most of the poor, immigrants, and other potentially disenfranchised groups tended to vote Democrat.
Near the beginning of the 20th century, other disenfranchisement issues arose, mostly concerning the ability of African-Americans to vote. Laws in the South were designed “expressly to be administered in a discriminatory fashion,” where the validity of a vote due to small mismarks, an arbitrary assessment of a voter’s “understanding,” or other minutia would be subject to the whim of an election official (112).
Between 1870 and WWI, though, most states opted to instate registration, usually to avoid the inevitable conflicts that arose between disenfranchised voters and election officials on Election Day. The Progressive Era also brought new registration developments, allowing citizens an extended window to register, which contributed significantly to the increased participation of working-class people and immigrants.
States mandated the new registration laws individually, so the end result was by no means cohesive or uniform among states. In 1875, the Supreme Court upheld the states’ right to grant suffrage to certain groups in Minor v Happersett, which upheld a lower court’s ruling.
Notable exceptions to the power of the states, in the form of constitutional amendments, arose during the 20th century. Attempts to enfranchise African-Americans culminated in the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which permitted federal examiners to investigate electoral offices in the South to ensure nondiscriminatory voter registration practices. “In Mississippi, black registration went from less than 10 percent in 1964 to almost 60 percent in 1968; in Alabama, the figure rose from 24 percent to 57 percent. In the region as a whole, roughly a million new voters were registered within a few years after the bill [Voting Rights Act] became law, bringing African-American registration to a record 62 percent” (264).
In the 1970s and 1980s, many states were concerned that labyrinthine registration procedures and laws were depressing voter turnout, so they attempted to simplify the process. Turnout was not significantly enhanced by these new reforms, so in 1993, President Clinton signed the National Voter Registration Act, which mandated that states allow citizens to register to vote by mail, at the DMV, or at local public offices, such as welfare offices. Once the bill took effect in 1995, 9 million new voters registered themselves.
It is clear that the country has been progressing towards federal-run universal registration since its inception. Universal registration is enfranchising, and will help to remind every American that their participation is sought, and that their voice is a vital part of the political process.
Source: Keyssar, Alexander. The Right to Vote The Contested History of Democracy in the United States. New York: Basic Books, 2001.
Ken,
I wrote a list a few days ago (slightly modified) in response to an online question of my top political reforms. The central portion of item 3. is apropos to your conversation:
1. Deep structural change: Congress (when it has the votes) should use its authority under Constitution Article 1, Section 4 to mandate the use of Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) in all future federal elections (as opposed to the interminable state-by-state route). This destroys the spoiler effect. (The voter no longer faces the dilemma of choosing between his actual preference and a candidate with an actual chance of winning. He makes his favorite his rank-1 choice and his "lesser-of-two-evils" his rank-2 choice. If his rank-1 choice is eliminated during instant run-off counts, all his other choices move up one rank: his former rank-2 choice becomes rank-1 and is counted.) Eliminating the spoiler effect has at least these advantages: A.) The preservation mechanism of the Duopoly is destroyed: a third party or independent candidate now has a realistic chance of being elected because the voter's dilemma has been eliminated. B.) The candidate must gather second, third, etc., choice votes during the instant run-off counts to have a chance of accumulating the winning majority. This requires moderation and a conciliatory approach to the voters and other candidates. Partisan extremists and firebrands lose! C.) Party bosses lose the threat of "primarying" Congress members to enforce the party line. That person now has the credible response of running as a third party or independent candidate and actually winning.
2. Congress should permanently outlaw the use of the "Hastert Rule", which allows the majority party to prevent legislation coming to a vote if it cannot be passed solely with votes of the majority party. Legislation requiring bipartisan support to pass is disallowed: the minority party is reduced to irrelevance. This is undemocratic and a declaration of partisan warfare. Banish it.
3. Congress should overturn the Supreme Court abomination, Citizens United, and related Court decisions. (Money is NOT speech. Corporations have NO citizen rights.) Monetary contributions should be limited to an amount the average citizen is likely to make. The 1965 Voting Rights legislation should be fully restored. A national voter registration list should be generated (without any action from the potential voter necessarily required, though invited) and federally maintained. Using it, ballots for federal elections should be mailed to all potential voters (perhaps with a return envelope and a form to be signed acknowledging receipt, for activation). List any condition that would temporarily disqualify the potential voter from voting: perhaps currently serving a prison term for a criminal conviction (though some European countries allow current felons to vote). All other citizens would be guaranteed the right to vote, overriding any state law to the contrary. The final text should reference the Constitution's Article III, Section 2, Clause 2 to inform the Supreme Court that this legislation is passed outside the Court's appellate jurisdiction.
4. Since the Supreme Court has demonstrated its inability to remain above partisan politics, its members' lifetime term should be modified. Perhaps a fifteen year term (not necessarily non-renewable--possible renewal would encourage prudent judicial behavior) would be appropriate. In addition, an external review board should be set up to monitor ethical behavior of its members.
5. Eliminate the tax cut legislation of Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush and Donald Trump (perhaps retaining the "sops" to average voters in these tax cuts added to make them superficially palatable.) Restore the former estate tax regulations and eliminate the rule that capital gains tax is "zeroed out" upon the death of the owner. The inheritors should be responsible for paying those taxes.
6. Legislate a social safety net (including medical) comparable to that of all the other advanced nations of the world.
7. Legislate a national standard of personal liberty, including reproductive rights, marriage rights, and gender rights. Parental rights should also be addressed, although this is more complicated because children's rights may be in competition.
8. Congress should endorse the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVCP) and instruct the Supreme Court that this is outside its judicial purview. The NPVCP is a state compact to go into effect when its members have accumulated enough electoral votes among its members to determine a Presidential election (currently 270 electoral votes). As of December 2023, members having fully enacted the NPVCP represent 205 electoral votes. Another 62 electoral votes are held by states that have partially enacted NPVCP, for a total of 267 electoral votes. Replacing the archaic Electoral College via Constitutional Amendment is essentially impossible. The smaller states will not ratify an Amendment that takes away their unfair representative advantage. NPVCP leaves the Electoral College in place, but renders it moot.