Following up on our Jan. 6 post about being partisans for democracy: Despite the popular notion of a bitterly divided America, pro-voter policies continue to enjoy broad agreement among Americans. A new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll finds that a number of initiatives to expand voting access are supported by solid-to-wide U.S. majorities.
Specifically:
›› 65% of Americans support expanding access to early voting;
›› 61% of Americans support making Election Day a federal holiday;
›› 56% of Americans support expanding same-day voter registration;
›› 55% of Americans support expanding voting by mail;
›› 54% of Americans support allowing Americans with prior criminal convictions to vote.
We’re not surprised. Minimizing barriers to the ballot is, has been, and always will be popular in nearly every cross-section of our country. Wider early-voting windows help us build plans to vote that aren’t make-or-break based on ever-crowded personal calendars. So does expanding day-of registration and voting by mail. Making Election Day a federal holiday would bring us level with other modern democracies. And finally, re-enfranchising those who have paid their debt to society is a no-brainer in a nation built on the credo of no taxation without representation.
Taken individually, each of these measures are common-sense steps to make our elections more modern and robust. Together, they would go a long way toward steadying our democracy and ensuring our basic democratic rights in the face of continued voter suppression efforts, both here in Nebraska and nationally.
Voting is our most cherished democratic right – without it, there is no prospect for change, no method to hold our leaders accountable, no real way for our values and vision to be represented in our institutions. That’s why Civic Nebraska fights for elections to be fair, modern, and accessible. That’s why we work to defeat bad policies that threaten the right to vote. That’s why we advocate for measures that protect our rights.
