CHN’s Human Needs Watch: Tracking Hardship, August 23, 2024
August 23, 2024
The election potpourri edition. It is difficult to believe, but in 25 days, Americans begin voting for President. That’s when voters in Pennsylvania begin early voting. The election is truly upon us.
Unfortunately, when some voters attempt to cast ballots, whether it be in person, or through some combination of early voting, absentee, mail-in, or drop-box, they will be in for a rude surprise. This is because a number of states have tightened voter ID laws and otherwise have made it more difficult to vote.
We all know the backdrop. Falsifications about stolen elections in 2020 flew fast and furious; many to this day believe in a stolen election, despite no evidence to the contrary.
“I think we can draw a direct line between lies about election integrity in 2020 and the passage of voter suppression laws, including new and stricter ID laws across the country,” said Lauren Kunis, Executive Director of VoteRiders in an interview with the Florida Phoenix.
What can we do as an antidote to attacks on voting, on democracy? The best antidote is delivering accurate, empowering information, to the people who need it the most. As you will read below, that includes people of color, young people, older voters, people voting for the first time as U.S. citizens,
Our democracy deserves no less.
43,000 votes |
Had Wisconsin, Georgia, and Arizona gone to President Trump in the 2020 election, the race would have been decided in the U.S. House of Representatives, where Trump would have had a procedural advantage. This scenario would have required a popular vote shift of just 0.63% or less in each of these three states, or a total of 43,000 votes. These were the closest three states. Tweet this.
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77,000 votes |
Somewhat similarly: in 2016, a shift of 0.77% or less in each of the three most closely contested states (Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania), or about 77,000 votes total, would have resulted in overall popular vote winner Hillary Clinton winning the Electoral College as well. Tweet this.
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65%/88% |
In the high-turnout 2020 presidential election, 88% of eligible voters with incomes over $75,000 turned out to vote, but fewer eligible voters with incomes below $40,000 did (65%). Making voting more accessible, through policies like easier mail-in voting, increased turnout more among lower-income voters than among those with higher incomes. So when states make voting less convenient, low-income communities are less represented. Tweet this.
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18 states/
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According to VoteRiders, a voting advocacy organization, voter ID requirements have stiffened in 18 states since 2020 and 38 states have voter ID laws in place for the 2024 election. Tweet this.
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47% |
47% of Black Americans aged 18-29 lack a driver’s license with their current name and/or address. Thirty percent lack any license at all, compared to the same age range of White Americans, 5% of whom lack a license. Tweet this.
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15-18 million |
The number of Americans who cannot access documents such as birth certificates or passports in order to prove ID. Reasons include complicated document requirements, expensive fees, limited availability of ID services, confusing state policies, and racial and gender discrimination, according to a 2022 report from The Movement Advancement Project.
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1 in 10 |
About 1 in 10 adult citizens, or 21.3 million eligible voters, say they do not have or could not quickly find to show the next day their birth certificate, passport, naturalization certificate, or certificate of citizenship, according to a study. The study shows disparities based on race, ethnicity, and political affiliation. U.S. citizens of color are less likely to be able to access citizenship documents.
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34.5 million/
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More than 34.5 million Americans do not have a driver’s license or state ID, or have one that does not have their current name and/or address on it, which could cause difficulties voting in states with strict photo ID laws. Citizens of color are almost four times more likely to not have a current government-issued photo ID compared to White citizens.
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6 states
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Six states begin early voting in September. They are Pennsylvania (Sept. 16), Virginia, Minnesota, and South Dakota (each Sept. 20), Vermont (Sept. 21) and Illinois (Sept. 26.)
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12 years/
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To date, more than 5 million voters have been registered as part of National Voter Registration Day, which was first held in 2012, and this year takes place on September 17. Check out this handy set of resources. In 2020 alone, more than 1.5 million voters were registered.
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