How Can I Protect My Right To Vote?

Protecting your voting rights is essential in a democratic society. Voters anywhere can face problems with their voter registration, difficulty finding their polling location, or voter intimidation.

Understand your voting rights and take action to protect your right to vote. If you have questions about protecting your right to vote, talk to a local civil rights attorney.

Understanding Your Voting Rights

In her early days as a volunteer poll watcher in Texas, Caitlyn Silhan witnessed a number of voters being turned away. Even though they had updated their registration by mail or in person at the same time as their driver’s licenses, poll workers could find no record of it. Silhan, an attorney at Waters Kraus & Paul in Dallas, went on to successfully sue the state for noncompliance with federal law in 2016 and 2020.

“So, now, if a Texan goes to update their driver’s license online, they can update their voter registration as well,” Silhan says.

Casting a ballot shouldn’t be confusing, yet some still encounter problems. “The onus should not be on the voter, assuming they’re properly qualified and seek to properly register to vote,” Silhan adds. “It’s not their fault.”

Voting Rights Laws

Since the birth of the nation, Americans have fought for the right to vote. A series of amendments to the Constitution expanded voting rights beyond white adult men. The Fifteenth Amendment opened voting rights to Black men, and the Nineteenth Amendment granted the same rights to women.

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was a signature of the Civil Rights Movement. Later, voter protection laws extended rights to minority citizens and people with disabilities. Congress passed a law requiring ballots in other languages in jurisdictions where registered voters speak languages other than English.

“Voting is the right from which all other rights derive because voting gets you those elected officials that pass laws on every other right and appoint judges who rule on every other right. When you don’t vote, then somebody else makes the choice for you, and you may not like that choice,” says Richard Bell, a New York personal injury and civil rights attorney and author of “Voting: The Ultimate Act of Resistance.”

Voter ID Laws and Voter Suppression

Since 2013’s ruling in Shelby v. Holder, the U.S. Supreme Court has limited the reach of the Voting Rights Act. States have more power to create their own voting laws. According to civil rights attorneys, many state legislatures have made it harder for people to cast their ballots through actions like:

• Closing polls
• Purging eligible voter rolls
• Trimming early voting
• Creating complicated voter ID requirements
• Placing restrictions on absentee voting and mail ballots

For example, in 2021, Georgia lawmakers passed a bill making it illegal to hand out food or water to people standing in long lines to vote. Civil rights lawyers view the new law as an attempt to curb participation by voters of color.

Alleged voter suppression can take other forms. Gerrymandering involves manipulating the boundaries of a constituency to create advantage for one political party. Additionally, some voters report outright intimidation, such as threats toward people approaching polling places.

“I’ve heard stories about certain communities having the polling places surrounded by large dogs to keep people from walking up to the polling places,” says Julie Kane, a trial lawyer at Colson Hicks Eidson in Coral Gables, Florida. Kane is also co-founder of the American Association for Justice’s Voter Protection Action Committee, which recruits lawyers, paralegals, and law students to monitor polls and serve as call center volunteers.

Chris Jackson, an appellate attorney at Holland & Hart in Denver, argues that the Supreme Court has opened the door to more gerrymandering. “States have been a little bit more aggressive about drawing districts in a way that they think protects their political parties or their interests,” Jackson says.

Media coverage of voting woes is not overblown, says Silhan, who co-leads her firm’s pro bono voting rights cases. And some suppression tactics still sneak under the radar. In Texas, high schools are supposed to register young voters but aren’t taking action. “I think that’s a shame. Whether it’s on purpose or not, I think that is contributing to low voter turnout.”

Bell, who offers the video series Voting for Beginners, is a bit more forthright. “We’re in the five-alarm fire stage on voting rights, and we have been for a while.”

Five Practical Steps to Ensure Your Access to the Ballot

Given the roadblocks, both deliberate and accidental, here are some practical steps you can take to protect your right to vote.

1. Make Sure Your Voter Registration Is Active and Accurate

Voter rules vary from state to state. The voter registration process where you used to live may be different from where you reside now. Make sure your registration is active and accurate. Contact your local elections office or check your voting status online. If your information isn’t up to date, take steps to correct it.

“Do everything early,” Bell advises. “The only goal is to have your vote counted, and if you wait, you’re putting yourself in a worse position.”

Consult an early voting map for details and deadlines in your state. You can also call your county’s election office to see if countywide voting is available or if you can only go to your assigned precinct.

2. Vote Early or By Mail Where Possible to Prevent Mistakes

Jackson recommends voting early or, where possible, voting by mail. “That gives you more time so that if something goes wrong, it’s not the very last day, and it can be fixed.”

A mistake, even a seemingly small one, can impede your ability to vote. “Sometimes, despite all of the efforts made to help students know where and how to vote, they try to vote at school, and they can’t because they’re registered at their mom and dad’s house,” Kane says.

3. Determine Which State You Can Vote In and Keep Track of Your Absentee Ballot

Residency issues can affect older voters, too. “If you’re a snowbird and you live in Massachusetts, for example, but you winter in Florida, you ought to determine which state you can vote in,” says Christopher Kenney, a civil litigator at Kenney & Sams in Boston. “That’s a mixed question of law and facts.”

If you’re ill, out of town at election time, or a college student not planning to stay in that state after graduation, you can submit an absentee ballot if you request it ahead of time. Absentee ballots are only good for one election unless your state maintains a permanent absentee ballot list. Local election officials are also more likely to challenge absentee ballots, as they did in 2018 when Georgia faced two lawsuits over signatures that allegedly didn’t match those on file.

Absentee voting if you’re in the military or overseas is especially difficult, simply because the ballot has to travel internationally and back. “Even with my own vote by mail,” says Kane, “I always double-check with the Miami elections department online to make sure my ballot has been received and counted because I have the option, if it hasn’t, to go vote a real ballot, in person, on election day.”

4. Figure Out the Logistics for In-Person Voting Ahead of Time

If you’re voting in person, work out the logistics beforehand. Do you need to bring your ID with you? Do you need help getting there?

“There are usually nonprofit organizations within most jurisdictions that can arrange [transportation] ahead of time,” says Ashley Crisafulli, a litigator at Stinson LLP in Kansas City, Missouri. Crisafulli is also a member of the nonpartisan Missouri-Kansas election protection team who assists with voter questions.

Verify that your polling site hasn’t changed. “You don’t want to head to the local elementary school, and it turns out that your polling place is now actually the high school across town,” says Jackson.

Official local election websites can streamline the process and save time on election day. “In places like where I reside in Dallas County, they have maps that update [the length of lines] in real-time,” Silhan says. “That is really helpful for people who are taking time off from work or their other obligations to cast a ballot.” Get in line before the polls close; otherwise, you may legitimately lose your chance to vote.”

People with disabilities, the elderly, and those with language barriers are generally entitled to on-site assistance as long as the helper is not trying to influence their vote. In Missouri, Crisafulli says, curbside voting is available for people who feel they can’t make it into the polling place. “We’ve actually helped many people figure out how to vote the day of the election when they are in the hospital, or they have some kind of emergency, but they want to exercise their right to vote.”

5. If You Have a Felony Conviction, Check Your State’s Rules for Restoring Voting Rights

Voting rights for convicted felons depend on state law.

Kane notes that the system is especially confusing in Florida, where the government has not made it easy for released prisoners to vote. Released prisoners can restore their voting rights if they pay restitution for their crimes. But it can be hard to find out what they owe and to whom to pay it.

On the flip side, as Kenney points out, the law is much easier to navigate in Massachusetts, where felons lose their right to vote only while they’re incarcerated and automatically regain it once they’ve completed their sentence.

If You’re Turned Away on Election Day — Ask for a Provisional Ballot

No matter how well you prepare, it’s still possible to run into a problem when you show up to vote. But you do have options. Generally, you can use a provisional ballot to vote if there is a problem with your ballot or registration.

“I’ve had clients where [poll workers] can’t find their name because there’s some kind of administrative error,” Bell says. “The polling place would tell them, ‘You don’t live here anymore. You’ve got to go back up to Jacksonville,’ and this is in South Florida. That is not feasible on election day. We had to get the director of the board of elections for the entire county involved to admonish the polling places. And they finally got to vote.”

If you’re certain you’re registered but turned away for any reason — such as a misspelling of your name on the voter registration roll or an incorrect listing of your political party in a primary — “Do not leave,” Kane says. Be polite but firm, and ask for a provisional ballot.

Federal law guarantees the right to a provisional ballot. After the polls close, officials can verify your registration status and count your vote like any other. If you have any questions or an election worker denies your opportunity to vote, call the 866-OUR-VOTE hotline.

What To Do If You See Voter Intimidation

Outright intimidation, such as using harassing language or peering over your shoulder while you vote, is a felony in some states. Report intimidation to a nonpartisan poll watcher, legal volunteer, or the local police. “In recent elections, we’ve seen emotions running hotter and hotter,” says Kane.

If you see someone facing intimidation, Bell says, “You have a duty and responsibility to make sure they can get the proper help. We’re all citizens in it together. It’s not just about you.”

Election interference comes in many forms. Employers shouldn’t pressure workers to vote a certain way, even if it’s legal in that state. “It’s just not worth it,” Jackson says. “If you’re the employee, you should feel comfortable that your vote is your own.”

Voter Fraud Is Exceedingly Rare in the United States and Easily Detected

Although it’s become a political talking point, voter fraud is “exceedingly rare,” Silhan says. “There has been a lot of noise around the issue, but I think it is safe to say that it is essentially a non-issue.”

Bell points to studies by The Heritage Foundation, MIT, and the Brennan Center for Justice. Research by The Hill concluded in 2020 that there is an average of three cases per state over a 20-year span. “We are talking about an occurrence that translates to about 0.00006 percent of total votes cast.” According to Brennan Center data, incident rates of voter fraud are between 0.0003 and 0.0025 percent.

“Across the board, these studies have concluded that voter fraud, both in person or by mail-in ballot, is so rare in this country that it happens in the general range, percentage-wise, of being struck by lightning,” Bell says. There are numerous precautions, including regular system checks and updates, designed to prevent fraud from happening. “I don’t think it’s wrong for people to be worried about it because elections matter a lot,” says Jackson. “But I think the thing that, hopefully, might give people some comfort is that it’s very, very hard to change the outcome of an election because you’ve got to move a large number of votes, all going one way. And anything like that can be picked up very easily.”

Find Experienced Legal Help to Protect Your Voting Rights

Voters need to be proactive in protecting their voting rights. Visit the Super Lawyers directory to find a voting rights attorney in your area for legal advice defending your civil right to vote.