1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:06,440 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio, Hey 2 00:00:06,519 --> 00:00:10,720 Speaker 1: brain Stuff, Lauren Vogebaum. Here in the United States, the 3 00:00:10,840 --> 00:00:14,480 Speaker 1: right of adult citizens to vote and elect public officials 4 00:00:14,600 --> 00:00:18,160 Speaker 1: is one of our most hallowed principles, or at least 5 00:00:18,280 --> 00:00:22,560 Speaker 1: that's what's taught in middle school civics classes. In reality, though, 6 00:00:22,640 --> 00:00:26,200 Speaker 1: there's another tradition that goes back even further in American history, 7 00:00:26,760 --> 00:00:29,880 Speaker 1: finding ways to keep people from voting, whether through our 8 00:00:29,920 --> 00:00:33,440 Speaker 1: cane laws, tricks and hoaxes that prevent eligible voters from 9 00:00:33,520 --> 00:00:36,879 Speaker 1: going to the polls, or even open intimidation and violence. 10 00:00:38,159 --> 00:00:41,360 Speaker 1: In some ways, voter suppression, as such efforts are called, 11 00:00:41,800 --> 00:00:45,160 Speaker 1: goes back to the earliest days of the country. Only 12 00:00:45,240 --> 00:00:47,760 Speaker 1: six percent of the U s population was eligible to 13 00:00:47,840 --> 00:00:52,040 Speaker 1: vote in the first presidential election in see. That's because 14 00:00:52,080 --> 00:00:57,000 Speaker 1: most states only allowed white male landowners to vote. In 15 00:00:57,040 --> 00:01:00,200 Speaker 1: the eighteen hundreds, the property requirements started to fade aid, 16 00:01:00,440 --> 00:01:03,080 Speaker 1: and over the next century, people of color and women 17 00:01:03,280 --> 00:01:06,679 Speaker 1: legally gained the right to vote, but local and state 18 00:01:06,720 --> 00:01:09,440 Speaker 1: governments came up with a variety of ways to limit 19 00:01:09,480 --> 00:01:13,680 Speaker 1: who actually got to participate in elections, and efforts to 20 00:01:13,720 --> 00:01:17,600 Speaker 1: restrict voting continue even today. According to the Brennan Center 21 00:01:17,640 --> 00:01:20,400 Speaker 1: for Justice, Aid, new York based think tank and civil 22 00:01:20,440 --> 00:01:25,120 Speaker 1: rights advocacy organization. Since alone, twenty five states have passed 23 00:01:25,200 --> 00:01:28,320 Speaker 1: new laws making it more difficult to vote, such as 24 00:01:28,360 --> 00:01:31,280 Speaker 1: by reducing the number of polling places and the hours 25 00:01:31,319 --> 00:01:35,320 Speaker 1: that they're open. One old method of preventing people for 26 00:01:35,480 --> 00:01:38,080 Speaker 1: voting is to require them to pay a tax for 27 00:01:38,120 --> 00:01:40,880 Speaker 1: that right, and to make it just high enough to 28 00:01:40,920 --> 00:01:44,440 Speaker 1: be prohibitive. In the early twentieth century, most of the 29 00:01:44,440 --> 00:01:48,480 Speaker 1: former states of the Confederacy imposed such poll taxes. The 30 00:01:48,480 --> 00:01:52,680 Speaker 1: amounts weren't that high by contemporary standards. Of Virginia charged 31 00:01:52,680 --> 00:01:55,280 Speaker 1: a dollar fifty per year, which is about eleven dollars 32 00:01:55,280 --> 00:01:59,240 Speaker 1: in today's money, while Mississippi charged two dollars, about fifteen 33 00:01:59,240 --> 00:02:02,880 Speaker 1: dollars today. Even so, the taxes had to be paid 34 00:02:02,880 --> 00:02:06,520 Speaker 1: in cash, which amounted to a hardship for sharecroppers, miners, 35 00:02:06,520 --> 00:02:10,200 Speaker 1: and small farmers who generally bought food, clothing, and other 36 00:02:10,240 --> 00:02:12,760 Speaker 1: necessities with credit and never had more than a few 37 00:02:12,800 --> 00:02:17,520 Speaker 1: spare dollars in their possession. Additionally, in Virginia and other states, 38 00:02:17,720 --> 00:02:21,040 Speaker 1: the taxes were cumulative, which meant that a prospective voter 39 00:02:21,160 --> 00:02:23,120 Speaker 1: had to fork over the cash for several years in 40 00:02:23,120 --> 00:02:27,480 Speaker 1: a row before being eligible to register. In nineteen sixty four, 41 00:02:27,520 --> 00:02:29,600 Speaker 1: the ratification of the twenty fourth Amendment to the U. 42 00:02:29,639 --> 00:02:33,280 Speaker 1: S Constitution prohibited poll taxes, but it wasn't until two 43 00:02:33,320 --> 00:02:36,080 Speaker 1: years later that the last four remaining state laws were 44 00:02:36,080 --> 00:02:40,680 Speaker 1: struck down in federal court. Although outright poll taxes are 45 00:02:40,720 --> 00:02:43,639 Speaker 1: now illegal, the issue of needing to spend money to 46 00:02:43,760 --> 00:02:48,080 Speaker 1: vote intersects with modern tactics of forcing citizens to travel 47 00:02:48,160 --> 00:02:51,840 Speaker 1: further to access their polling place or requiring voter i D. 48 00:02:53,600 --> 00:02:56,760 Speaker 1: At least thirty six states now have laws requesting or 49 00:02:56,840 --> 00:03:00,520 Speaker 1: requiring voters to show some form of identification, such as 50 00:03:00,520 --> 00:03:05,280 Speaker 1: a driver's license or other government issued I D. Advocates 51 00:03:05,280 --> 00:03:08,160 Speaker 1: of such laws promote them as necessary to prevent fraud 52 00:03:08,160 --> 00:03:11,359 Speaker 1: at the polls, but critics charge that they are intended 53 00:03:11,400 --> 00:03:14,520 Speaker 1: to keep young people and minorities, whom studies show are 54 00:03:14,600 --> 00:03:17,920 Speaker 1: less likely to have such I das from voting. In 55 00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:20,680 Speaker 1: some states, obtaining I D can cost as much as 56 00:03:20,720 --> 00:03:23,919 Speaker 1: sixty dollars, and even in states where the cards are free, 57 00:03:24,280 --> 00:03:27,240 Speaker 1: licensing offices are often in places that are difficult for 58 00:03:27,280 --> 00:03:31,880 Speaker 1: people without cars to reach. In addition to the cost, 59 00:03:32,080 --> 00:03:35,840 Speaker 1: the types of acceptable identification can be confusing too, or 60 00:03:35,920 --> 00:03:39,840 Speaker 1: can favor voters of one party over another. In Texas, 61 00:03:39,920 --> 00:03:44,120 Speaker 1: for example, a handgun permit is considered acceptable identification, but 62 00:03:44,200 --> 00:03:48,040 Speaker 1: a University I D Card is not, and it makes 63 00:03:48,040 --> 00:03:51,240 Speaker 1: a difference. A September twenty fourteen report by the U S. 64 00:03:51,280 --> 00:03:55,360 Speaker 1: Government Accountability Office found that black voter turnout in Kansas 65 00:03:55,480 --> 00:03:58,560 Speaker 1: dropped by three point seven percentage points more than white 66 00:03:58,560 --> 00:04:02,080 Speaker 1: turnout after a voter ID law was passed, and that 67 00:04:02,160 --> 00:04:04,440 Speaker 1: the number of eighteen year old voters dropped by seven 68 00:04:04,480 --> 00:04:06,600 Speaker 1: point one percent more than it did for voters ages 69 00:04:06,680 --> 00:04:12,240 Speaker 1: forty four to fifty three. In the post reconstruction American South, 70 00:04:12,400 --> 00:04:15,200 Speaker 1: officials who wanted to keep black people from voting came 71 00:04:15,240 --> 00:04:19,400 Speaker 1: up with another cleverly cruel trick. They imposed so called 72 00:04:19,520 --> 00:04:23,000 Speaker 1: literacy tests, which ostensibly were intended to make sure that 73 00:04:23,080 --> 00:04:25,800 Speaker 1: only voters who could read and write and thus were 74 00:04:25,839 --> 00:04:31,080 Speaker 1: adequately informed, could cast ballots. But since formerly enslaved people 75 00:04:31,240 --> 00:04:33,960 Speaker 1: seldom had been allowed by their owners to learn to read, 76 00:04:34,400 --> 00:04:39,239 Speaker 1: the literacy tests effectively disenfranchised many of them. The first 77 00:04:39,279 --> 00:04:43,039 Speaker 1: such test was created in two in South Carolina, where 78 00:04:43,120 --> 00:04:46,239 Speaker 1: voters were required to fill out a ballot for each office, 79 00:04:46,520 --> 00:04:49,240 Speaker 1: such as governor or senator, and then put the ballot 80 00:04:49,279 --> 00:04:53,039 Speaker 1: in the correct box. The boxes were continuously shuffled to 81 00:04:53,120 --> 00:04:55,520 Speaker 1: prevent those who had learned to read from helping those 82 00:04:55,560 --> 00:04:59,760 Speaker 1: who hadn't yet acquired the skill. As more black people 83 00:05:00,040 --> 00:05:03,920 Speaker 1: came literate, though, officials came up with even more bizarre tests, 84 00:05:03,920 --> 00:05:08,200 Speaker 1: such as in Louisiana, confusingly worded instructions that the prospective 85 00:05:08,279 --> 00:05:12,600 Speaker 1: voter copy out a sentence using alternating cursive print and capitalization. 86 00:05:13,720 --> 00:05:16,760 Speaker 1: Some Southern states continued to use such tests up until 87 00:05:16,839 --> 00:05:20,000 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty five, when the Voting Rights Act made them legal. 88 00:05:21,200 --> 00:05:23,400 Speaker 1: Southern states came up with other tricks to make it 89 00:05:23,400 --> 00:05:27,360 Speaker 1: difficult to register to vote. They required frequent re registration, 90 00:05:27,640 --> 00:05:30,640 Speaker 1: as well as street addresses with names and numbers, which 91 00:05:30,680 --> 00:05:35,919 Speaker 1: many people living rurally didn't have. In the North and West, 92 00:05:35,920 --> 00:05:39,280 Speaker 1: in the late eighteen hundreds and early nineteen hundreds, officials 93 00:05:39,360 --> 00:05:42,240 Speaker 1: used similar tactics to keep immigrants from participating in the 94 00:05:42,240 --> 00:05:46,360 Speaker 1: electoral process too. In California and New Jersey, for example, 95 00:05:46,560 --> 00:05:51,040 Speaker 1: immigrant citizens were required to present their original naturalization papers 96 00:05:51,080 --> 00:05:56,280 Speaker 1: at polling places. Elsewhere, authorities closed polling places and registration 97 00:05:56,360 --> 00:05:59,640 Speaker 1: offices early so that industrial workers who commonly worked ten 98 00:05:59,680 --> 00:06:01,840 Speaker 1: hours shifts in those days wouldn't be able to make 99 00:06:01,839 --> 00:06:05,400 Speaker 1: it in time. And in New York, officials prevented Jewish 100 00:06:05,400 --> 00:06:09,120 Speaker 1: people from registering by designating Saturdays and Yam Kapoor, during 101 00:06:09,160 --> 00:06:14,680 Speaker 1: which Jewish religious observances take place, as registration days. An 102 00:06:14,680 --> 00:06:18,320 Speaker 1: ongoing method of suppression involves pruning names from the voter rolls. 103 00:06:19,080 --> 00:06:22,479 Speaker 1: Before the year two thousand presidential election, state officials in 104 00:06:22,520 --> 00:06:26,120 Speaker 1: Republican controlled Florida hired a private firm to go through 105 00:06:26,120 --> 00:06:29,119 Speaker 1: the states voter registration roles and delete names of people 106 00:06:29,200 --> 00:06:33,279 Speaker 1: who were deceased, registered in multiple places, convicted felons, or 107 00:06:33,320 --> 00:06:38,080 Speaker 1: declared mentally incompetent by court proceedings. But as a subsequent 108 00:06:38,120 --> 00:06:41,120 Speaker 1: investigation by the U. S Commission on Civil Rights detailed, 109 00:06:41,360 --> 00:06:44,960 Speaker 1: the hired checkers made numerous mistakes and deleted many voters 110 00:06:45,000 --> 00:06:49,480 Speaker 1: who are fully eligible. The commission report doesn't specify how 111 00:06:49,520 --> 00:06:52,599 Speaker 1: many voters were deprived of their rights unfairly, but the 112 00:06:52,640 --> 00:06:57,320 Speaker 1: deleted voters disproportionately were African Americans who tend to vote Democrat. 113 00:06:58,080 --> 00:07:01,239 Speaker 1: In the Miami area, sixty five percent of those deleted 114 00:07:01,240 --> 00:07:05,040 Speaker 1: were black people, who represented just twenty of the population. 115 00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:08,800 Speaker 1: White people made up only sixteen point six percent of 116 00:07:08,800 --> 00:07:11,920 Speaker 1: the purge list, even though they amounted to seventy seven 117 00:07:11,960 --> 00:07:17,320 Speaker 1: point six percent of the public, and in a report 118 00:07:17,360 --> 00:07:20,280 Speaker 1: by the American Civil Liberties Union found that Georgia had 119 00:07:20,280 --> 00:07:23,280 Speaker 1: removed nearly two hundred thousand names from the voting lists 120 00:07:23,320 --> 00:07:28,360 Speaker 1: after concluding wrongfully that those people had moved. But the 121 00:07:28,440 --> 00:07:31,520 Speaker 1: last tactic that we're covering today intersects with a number 122 00:07:31,560 --> 00:07:34,720 Speaker 1: of other issues in equity and justice, the practice of 123 00:07:34,760 --> 00:07:38,960 Speaker 1: banning felons from voting. As many as five point eight 124 00:07:39,000 --> 00:07:42,320 Speaker 1: million Americans of voting age can't cast a ballot because 125 00:07:42,360 --> 00:07:44,640 Speaker 1: they live in states that bar anyone with a criminal 126 00:07:44,680 --> 00:07:48,720 Speaker 1: record from voting even after they've served their sentences. About 127 00:07:48,720 --> 00:07:51,880 Speaker 1: two point two million of those disenfranchised voters are black, 128 00:07:52,400 --> 00:07:55,000 Speaker 1: and black people are convicted and sent to prison at 129 00:07:55,040 --> 00:07:59,760 Speaker 1: twice the rate of the overall US population. In just 130 00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:03,280 Speaker 1: two states allowed prisoners to vote. Most of the rest 131 00:08:03,320 --> 00:08:05,880 Speaker 1: allow them to vote after their sentence, parole time and 132 00:08:06,040 --> 00:08:10,200 Speaker 1: or probation, or serve. In another eleven states, convicted felons 133 00:08:10,240 --> 00:08:12,480 Speaker 1: automatically lose their right to vote and may only get 134 00:08:12,480 --> 00:08:16,040 Speaker 1: it back under certain circumstances, after an appeals process or 135 00:08:16,080 --> 00:08:19,800 Speaker 1: after any outstanding court fines and fees are paid, which 136 00:08:19,880 --> 00:08:23,840 Speaker 1: can be a huge hurdle. However, this is one vote 137 00:08:23,880 --> 00:08:28,120 Speaker 1: suppressing restriction that's slowly giving way. Over the last two decades, 138 00:08:28,200 --> 00:08:31,160 Speaker 1: about two dozen states have changed their laws and enabled 139 00:08:31,240 --> 00:08:39,960 Speaker 1: more people with criminal convictions to regain their rights. Today's 140 00:08:40,000 --> 00:08:42,360 Speaker 1: episode is based on the article ten ways the US 141 00:08:42,400 --> 00:08:45,080 Speaker 1: has kept citizens from voting on how stuffworks dot Com, 142 00:08:45,080 --> 00:08:48,360 Speaker 1: written by Patrick J. Kaiger and Katherine Whitborn. Brain Stuff 143 00:08:48,440 --> 00:08:50,880 Speaker 1: is production of iHeart Radio in partnership with how stuffworks 144 00:08:50,880 --> 00:08:53,679 Speaker 1: dot Com and is produced by Tyler Klang. Four more 145 00:08:53,720 --> 00:08:56,480 Speaker 1: podcasts from my heart Radio. Visit the iHeart Radio app, 146 00:08:56,640 --> 00:09:08,400 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.