Abstract

In America, voting is treated more like a privilege for some, rather than a right for all citizens to elect the leaders of our nation. From its inception, America denied women, and people of color, access to the ballot. Through the process of Amendments, Supreme Court decisions, and the passage of legislation, the electorate has expanded to include the previously excluded groups. The 2013 decision of Shelby v. Holder, a case that essentially stated that constraints placed on states by the federal government to eliminate bias at the polls under the Voting Rights Act of 1965, were outdated. This ruling opened the flood gates for states and counties in the South to return to their old ways of voter denial and voter suppression for racial minorities. State legislators began proposing and passing laws that would suppress voter turnout among racial minorities in the 2016 presidential election and beyond. This research examines the voter suppression laws drafted by state legislators across the U.S. Statistical analysis is employed to determine the content, the sponsor, the sponsor’s party, and region of the country where the bills were introduced. The expectation for this research is that white, Republican, male legislators, from the South are the primary sponsors of voter suppression laws in the U.S that has a disproportionate negative impact on all other groups.