This commentary is by Bruce Olsson, chair of the Vermont Democratic Party.
American democracy faced a very real threat from the Trump presidency — and not just from the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol. His authoritarian cronyism worked to undermine the institutions of our democracy as he and his followers pushed the Big Lie that voter fraud was rampant in Democratic areas, particularly in poor and minority districts.
The roots of this threat can be traced to the GOP’s embrace of the racist Southern Strategy of Richard Nixon, which helped the Republican Party expand in the South, while also making the Republican Party whiter, older, more male, and less willing to accept the growing racial and ethnic diversity of America.
There is no indication that the Republican Party sees this as an issue or is willing to change. After a landmark year for the Black Lives Matter and civil rights movements, Republican legislatures are now even trying to impose Orwellian right-wing proposals that would prevent public schools from teaching about the lasting impact of systemic racism in America.
Historically, when a political party loses an election, it seeks to understand the concerns of the electorate and shape its platform to be more aligned with the voters, but not the GOP. As a result, the Republican presidential candidate has won the popular vote only once since 1988.
Unable to win nationally when every vote is counted, Republicans have now turned their efforts to suppressing the legitimate vote. This year, 14 Republican-controlled state legislatures have passed 22 laws restricting the right of citizens to vote, including states critical to President Biden’s victory, such as Arizona and Georgia. Another 60-plus voter-suppression laws continue to move through Republican-dominated legislatures.
These voter-suppression laws would make registering to vote more difficult, impose new restrictions on absentee ballots, reduce voting hours, limit ballot drop boxes in highly populated urban areas, make it easier to reject a ballot for a minor error, and make it a crime to provide water for voters waiting hours in line to vote.
Ominously, the Republican majority on the U.S. Supreme Court further undermined the Voting Rights Act of 1965 when it upheld the new voter restrictions in Arizona, signaling that the recent wave of Republican voter-suppression laws will be given a green light.
In stark contrast to the Republicans, Democrats have worked to expand voting rights and voter access to the polls. In the U.S. House, Democrats passed the For the People Act of 2021, as well as the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. These two important pieces of legislation would expand voter protections weakened by the Republican majority on the Supreme Court, strengthen campaign finance laws, and provide states with the necessary resources to run secure elections. Senate Republicans continue to block both of these vital voting rights bills.
Fortunately for Vermonters, Secretary of State Jim Condos worked closely with our Democratic legislative leadership to initiate and craft a bill to expand voting access for all Vermonters by making vote-by-mail permanent. Building on last year’s highly successful vote-by-mail election, this important legislation institutes safeguards for a secure election and allows voters to “cure” their ballot if they make a mistake when filling it out. It demonstrates our shared value that democracy is stronger when we all participate.
We must acknowledge that, while America has changed much since its founding, what has not changed is the continuing struggle to expand our democracy and create a more perfect union. Today, only one political party works to fulfill that vision on both a state and national level, and that party is the Democratic Party.
