This month's 6-3 Supreme Court decision to uphold two voting provisions in Arizona was a major blow to the rights of BIPOC voters and dissolved much of what remained of the civil-rights-era Voting Rights Act. The decision came shortly after a Republican filibuster in June blocked the For the People Act, which would have significantly expanded voting rights.
The White House has responded to these threats to democracy with a $25 million DNC initiative to register voters and combat voter suppression. However, both the Black Voters Matter Fund and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund are criticizing the Biden administration for moving too slowly and not following through on promises for an extensive presidential speaking tour to tackle the issue.
Meanwhile, New York is facing its own election crisis. The mayoral primary last month brought scrutiny to the Board of Elections (BOE) when 135,000 sample ballots were inadvertently included in the tally of partial results. The error gave ammunition to Trump allies who used it to justify voter suppression legislation in other states. Mitch McConnell blamed the snafu on ranked-choice voting, which is unpopular among conservatives. Despite these criticisms, exit polls from Common Cause and Rank the Vote NYC show high levels of trust in the ranked-choice system, and primary results have the city council poised to be the most diverse in NYC’s history.
Advocates of ranked choice voting defend the practice, raising the alternate concern that NYC’s Board of Elections is made up of politically appointed commissioners who are rarely held accountable for ongoing failures. They have called for an amendment to adequately fund the election administration and to introduce merit-based hiring, with the goal of a BOE composed of experienced non-partisan election officials.
It is vital that we advocate for an expansion of voting rights and elections transparency at all levels. Voter education efforts won’t matter if people are turned away at the polls or discouraged from even trying in the first place. We need to ensure folks know their rights and options for voting, and here in NYC, lobby our officials for BOE reform. Action doesn’t end at the ballot box, but voting is a crucial mechanism for change that should be as easy and accessible as possible.
In solidarity,
SURJ NYC
P.S. EGG will be meeting the week of July 18th to reflect and discuss the EGG initiative. In the meantime, could you please fill out this survey to collect your thoughts while they are still fresh in your head? Thanks! And thank you for your participation in this new endeavor.