What Is Voter Suppression?

Voter suppression happens when someone prevents or discourages a registered voter from voting or exercising their right to vote. The right to vote in free and fair elections is a foundational feature of our American democracy. Fair elections are perhaps the most direct way for people to exercise the power democracy gives them. It allows the people to elect representatives and support their favored policies. It also allows them to hold the government accountable.

This article discusses voter suppression and the history of voting rights in the United States. The article begins by explaining voter fraud, voter suppression, and gerrymandering. It then discusses the history of voting rights in America and recent changes to voting laws aimed at preventing voter suppression. It also covers how to recognize voter suppression and what to do if you experience it.

Understanding Voter Suppression

Voter suppression happens when a group or person discourages or prevents an eligible voter from casting a ballot. As the Brennan Center for Justice points out, the “modern approach” to suppressing voters is characterized as “death by a thousand cuts.” These methods often involve state laws that, when taken together, make it more difficult for eligible voters to cast their ballots.

Voter suppression can take many forms, from restrictive laws to outright illegal activities. Some tactics are official government policies, while others involve intimidation or misinformation. This article describes common voter suppression tactics and what to do if you experience them.

Voter Suppression vs. Voter Fraud

Voter suppression is often confused with voter fraud, but they are different problems. Voter suppression prevents or discourages eligible voters from casting their ballots. This undermines democracy by silencing legitimate voters. Voter fraud occurs when ineligible people vote or when someone votes more than once in a single election. Research shows that voter fraud is exceedingly rare.

Both voter suppression and voter fraud undermine free and fair elections, but they do so in different ways. Suppression prevents legitimate votes from being counted, while fraud adds illegitimate votes to the count.

Related Issue: Gerrymandering

Gerrymandering​ is a related but distinct issue from voter suppression. Gerrymandering is the practice of redrawing political district boundaries to give one party an unfair advantage. The term comes from Elbridge Gerry’s attempt​ to redraw Massachusetts’s district lines in 1812.

While gerrymandering doesn’t prevent people from voting, it can dilute the power of their votes. Political parties can strategically redraw district lines​ to gain a partisan advantage, reduce an incumbent’s chances of reelection, drop potential political challengers, or dilute minority votes. By “packing” voters with similar political views into a few districts or “cracking” them across many districts, gerrymandering reduces the impact of those votes on election outcomes.

Types of Voter Suppression Tactics

Voter suppression tactics range from official state laws that make voting more difficult to illegal activities designed to prevent people from casting ballots. Some forms of voter suppression are difficult to spot because they have legitimate goals, such as preventing fraud or reducing costs. Understanding these tactics helps voters recognize when their rights may be at risk.

Restrictive Voter ID Laws

Strict voter ID laws​ can suppress voters by creating barriers to obtaining acceptable identification. While some states have voter ID requirements to prevent voter fraud, critics argue that certain laws are designed to make voting more difficult for specific groups of people. Research suggests that some laws may have a “disparate impact” by unintentionally targeting communities of color, even if that is not the stated intent.

Restrictive documentation requirements, such as requiring specific types of photo ID and proof of address, can create barriers for eligible voters who lack these documents. The SAVE Act of 2026, if enacted, would require that photo IDs, such as driver’s licenses, match the name on birth certificates, creating a new hurdle for anyone who has changed their last name (such as married women).

Voter Registration Restrictions

States may suppress voters through restrictions on voter registration, including:

• Restrictions on voter registration drives: Limiting who can conduct registration drives or imposing complex requirements on organizations that register voters
• Voter purges: When eligible voters get removed from voter rolls improperly, often without notice to voters
• Rejecting registrations for minor errors: Refusing to process registration forms due to small mistakes or missing information
• Limited registration periods: Short windows for voter registration before elections
• Proof of citizenship requirements: Demanding specific documentation beyond what’s required by federal law

The legality of these methods is often under scrutiny.

Reduced Voting Access

Voters must have access to polling places, drop boxes, voting machines, and other election materials. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 guaranteed voters a number of rights, but the most important was the requirement that states must get federal approval before changing any voting rights laws. The Supreme Court‘s Shelby County v. Holder case eliminated this protection. States have since made numerous changes to voting access laws, including:

• Increased enforcement of voter ID laws: In some states, this exclusively targeted African-American and other minority voters
• Reduced early voting and vote-by-mail voting
• Limited voting hours, early polling place closures, and consolidation of polling stations
• Limits on who could provide transportation to polls, deliver food or water, and other amenities at poll locations
• Reduction or elimination of drop boxes
• Limits or restrictions on how disabled voters can receive assistance

The ACLU in each state began targeting these laws for constitutional violations, but every instance must be litigated separately.

Illegal Voter Suppression Activities

Some voter suppression tactics are explicitly illegal, including:

• Destruction of voter registration cards
• Voter intimidation at polling places
• Spreading false information about voting dates, times, or locations
• Threatening voters with consequences if they vote
• Armed presence designed to intimidate voters

If you encounter any of these, contact your state’s Secretary of State’s office or reach out to a civil rights attorney.

Ballot Drop Box Restrictions

Before 2020, most state laws were silent on voters’ use of ballot boxes. Ballot boxes allow people to drop off their absentee ballots. At least 29 states now have laws on the states’ provision of ballot boxes. Three states (Louisiana, Missouri, and Texas) have banned ballot boxes.

History of Voter Suppression Laws

At its beginning, the U.S. Constitution did not provide a universal right to vote. Instead, it let the states decide​ who could vote in federal, state, and local elections.

The United States has a long history​ of blocking certain Americans from voting. At first, only white, male property owners or taxpayers could vote in elections. After the Civil War, the Fifteenth Amendment​ gave every man in America the right to vote, regardless of “race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”

From 1890 forward, former Confederate states amended their state constitutions to disenfranchise Black voters. Some of the more well-known “Jim Crow Laws” include:

• Poll taxes​ (a fee to register to vote)
• Residency requirements
• Literacy and comprehension tests

Women didn’t get the right to vote until 1920. Congress passed the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1919, and the states ratified it in 1920.

Voting Rights Act of 1965

After significant efforts​ from voting rights activists, Congress passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and President Lyndon B. Johnson signed it into law. The Voting Rights Act regulated elections. Specifically, it:

• Banned the use of literacy tests as a requirement for voter registration
• Gave the federal government control of voter registration in areas where fewer than half of minorities were not registered to vote
• Permitted the U.S. Attorney General to investigate the use of poll taxes in state and local elections (the Supreme Court banned poll taxes in 1966​)

After the passage of the Voting Rights Act, Black voter turnout increased from 6% in 1964 to 59% in 1969.

Section Five of the Voting Rights Act contained rules that applied only to states or jurisdictions that engaged in voting discrimination. It prevented state legislatures from enacting any laws or practices affecting voting without the approval of the U.S. Attorney General or the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.

Section Five had a “coverage formula” that identified the states or jurisdictions that had to obtain approval for their voting rules. It included nine states and parts of six other states.

In 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court​ ruled that Section Five’s coverage formula was unconstitutional. The Court decided that Section Five was unenforceable because Congress had failed to update the coverage formula.

Modern Voter Suppression

Voting rights advocates​ say voter suppression is still a problem in the U.S. They say voter suppression affects voters of color more than white voters, and that voters of color are not the only targets.

This section details changes in state voting laws over the past few years. It begins by describing how the COVID-19 pandemic affected the 2020 presidential election. It then discusses changes to state voting laws after the 2020 election.

COVID-19 and the 2020 Presidential Election

Voting amid a pandemic​ creates its own risk of voter suppression, particularly if voters do not feel safe visiting polling places. In the lead-up to the 2020 presidential election, many states had to change their voting procedures due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Jurisdictions had to determine how eligible voters could vote while remaining safe from the virus.

In some cases, states had to use larger spaces to host polling places. Many states had to invest in personal protective equipment (PPE) for polling officials. These officials also had training on reducing contact with voters and other polling staff.

One of the biggest changes during the 2020 presidential election was the increased use of absentee or mail-in ballots. These laws allow some voters to mail ballots ahead of the election. These ballots were not new, as every state offered them in elections. Given the pandemic, states had to prepare for a significant increase in the requests for and use of such ballots.

Before the election, President Donald Trump expressed his distrust of mail-in voting​ and how it could lead to voter fraud. As the National Conference of State Legislatures​ (NCSL) notes, the number of absentee ballots cast in 2020 raised many “longstanding values-based questions” about them. These queries included:

• “Does providing more access to absentee/mail voting degrade the American tradition of Election Day?”
• “Does more absentee/mail voting increase the likelihood for fraudulent use of absentee ballots?”
• “Does providing more absentee/mail voting make voting more convenient and therefore encourage more voter participation?”
• “Who uses absentee/mail voting?” (See MIT’s Some Demographics on Voting By Mail​)
• “Does absentee/mail voting give an advantage to one party over the other?” (The answer is mostly no, according to a 2020 study from Stanford University​)

President Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election, but Trump refused to concede. He also challenged the Electoral College, alleging that Democrats stole the election. Between himself and other election deniers, over 60 lawsuits were filed. To date, no court has found merit in their election fraud claims. For more information about lawsuits challenging the 2020 election, browse the Campaign Legal Center’s website.

Changes To Voting Laws After the 2020 Election

Many states passed voting laws following the 2020 election cycle. These laws focused on ensuring free and fair elections. While each proposed bill varied, lawmakers focused on several issues, including:

• Photo ID requirements
• Early voting (mail-in ballots) and when early vote counting may begin
• New restrictions on voter registration
• Restrictions on restoring voting rights for past felons

While post-election lawmakers proposed more bills than usual, state legislatures enacted bills at pre-2020 levels. According to the NCSL, lawmakers nationwide introduced 3,677 election-related bills​ to state legislatures in 2021. This was a 25% increase in any odd-numbered year since the NCSL began tracking this information in 2001.

While thousands were introduced, states enacted only 290 proposed bills, a figure that tracked with numbers from the last several odd-numbered years. In 2022, legislators proposed 2,120 such bills, and states passed 280 of them.

Examples of Recent State Law Changes

In 2021, Georgia passed a law requiring absentee voters to swear an oath. The oath requires the person to affirm or swear that they are eligible to vote and that they are requesting the absentee ballot for themselves. Anyone who signs the oath on behalf of another person could face a $100,000 fine and up to 10 years in prison.

Before the 2020 election, 30 states and the District of Columbia allowed absentee ballot processing before Election Day. As of 2023, 40 states and D.C. allow pre-Election Day processing. The other 10 states begin processing absentee ballots on Election Day.

How To Recognize Voter Suppression

Recognizing voter suppression or voter fraud at the polls is difficult. The news and social media are filled with alarming reports about fraud and changes to voting laws every day, and it can be difficult to know what to believe. Be alert for sudden changes in your immediate state and county for things like:

• Being told you are not eligible to vote when you know you are
• Notification by phone or text that you should update your registration
• Demands at the polls or from the registrar for documents you do not need to provide
• Sudden changes to the polling location or drop box location
• Being challenged by a poll worker without a valid reason
• Notice of registration purge without a valid reason
• Receiving threatening or unusual communications about voting.

If any of these apply, you may need to react to preserve a fair election. The next section explains what to do.

What Voters Can Do

If you encounter voter suppression activity at the polling place, your next step depends on what exactly happened. For instance, if you were told you don’t appear on the voting roll, you can request and must receive a provisional ballot. The provisional ballot rules vary in each state, but in most, you must provide ID and proof of residence within a certain amount of time for your vote to count.

If something more physical happens, do not take matters into your own hands. Ask to speak to a supervisor or the poll manager. You can also call law enforcement. Document what happened, with photos if possible. Most states have a voter hotline you can call on election day with concerns or complaints. The national number 866-OUR-VOTE can help.

After the incident:

• Notify your state election board and Department of Justice if you believe the situation warrants it. The local or county election board can advise you if that needs to be done.
• Consider contacting voting rights organizations like the League of Women Voters or the ACLU. This is especially important if your other civil rights were violated.
• Consider contacting your local media. You may also need to call an attorney before you do so to ensure that your legal rights are protected.

To avoid issues at the polls:

• Know your state requirements. Register early and verify your registration. States now give voters bar codes so you can track your registration in the system.
• Know your polling or drop box location. If your state uses in-person voting, prepare to arrive early and stay all day.
• Know how to request and use a provisional ballot. Do not be intimidated if a poll worker tells you you’re not on the voting rolls.

Voting is your constitutional right. Do not be intimidated into abandoning it.

Contact an Attorney

If you believe you have been the victim of voter discrimination or suppression, talk to a civil rights lawyer​ who knows about election law. An attorney can help you understand your rights and options for addressing voter suppression. If you know of any group or person attempting to suppress voters’ rights, contact law enforcement or report the activity to your state’s election officials and the Department of Justice.