Civil Rights and the 2022 Elections
One of the main Civil Rights issues discussed during the 2022 election was voting rights. After the 2020 elections, over 400 bills were proposed in state legislatures that would restrict voting rights. 19 states adopted laws that restricted voting by eliminating at-the-polls registration, limiting early voting, or limiting voting by mail. In response the House of Representatives passed the For The People Act (HR 1) which was designed to expand voting rights. Among its provisions, this law would require states to offer at-the-polls registration, hold two weeks of early voting, allow voter registration forms to be completed online, allow 16- and 17-year-olds to pre-register to vote, and set up automatic voter registration. However, Republicans in the Senate blocked the bill from being considered for debate. This led some to fear that states might restrict voting in ways that would impact the outcome of the 2022 election.
Instructors, click the link below to download this week’s lecture for use in your classroom. The deck contains a writing prompt and a debate question as well as other assessment questions.
Download: Civil Rights and the 2022 Elections
Videos
News Articles on Voting Rights
19 States Enacted Voting Restrictions in 2021. What’s Next?
NBC News
12/21/2022
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/19-states-enacted-voting-restrictions-2021-rcna8342
Map: See Which States Have Restricted Voter Access, and Which Have Expanded It
NPR
09/07/2021
Two Groups Quietly Spent $32 Million Rallying Voters Behind Voting Rights
New York Times
12/12/2022
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/12/us/politics/midterm-elections-voting-rights.html
News Articles on Voting Restrictions
How New US Laws Could Trip Up Voters This November
Reuters
09/6/2022
Here’s How Democrats’ Sweeping Voter Rights Law Would Work
New York Times
03/30/2021
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/30/us/politics/voting-rights-law.html
The Sorry State of Voting Rights in America
WBUR
10/27/2022
https://www.wbur.org/cognoscenti/2022/10/27/voter-restriction-midterms-absentee-ballot-jamie-hoag
The New Voting Restrictions Aren’t as Restrictive As People Think
Politico
04/06/2022
Assessment
Debate: What restrictions, if any, should states consider when it comes to voting?
Is voting a right or a privilege?
Poll: Should the National Government pass voting rights legislation in response to state restrictions on voting?
Is voting too difficult, too easy, or at an appropriate level of difficulty in the US?
Short Answer: It is often argued that voting restrictions target what groups of people?
