This chapter discusses the right to vote. Democracy demands that every vote count and that every voter be able to shape social and economic policy. Equality of participation, however, is seriously undermined by the outsized role that money plays in American electoral politics—making the exercise of the franchise even more important for persons who are poor or have low income. The chapter discusses the legal and practical barriers that low-income citizens face when they go to the polls, including demands for identification cards, the need to take time off from work, and long waiting periods at the ballot box in neighborhoods that are poor or populated by persons of color. The chapter sets out the constitutional basis for the right to vote, locating current restrictions in past practices that excluded the poor and unpropertied, and impeded the political rights of African Americans after emancipation. Discussion focuses on conditions that states have attached to the right to vote, on protections afforded under federal statutes, and rules governing voter registration campaigns.
Voter Registration: A Restriction on the Fundamental Right to Vote