{"id":5061105,"date":"2022-10-29T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-10-29T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rilatinonews.com\/?p=5061105"},"modified":"2022-10-29T08:00:00","modified_gmt":"2022-10-29T08:00:00","slug":"democracy-in-riln-voter-access-across-new-england","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/riln\/2022\/10\/29\/democracy-in-riln-voter-access-across-new-england\/","title":{"rendered":"Democracy in RILN: Voter Access Across New England"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Hispanic and Latino Americans are the fastest growing racial and ethnic group in the U.S. electorate since the last midterm elections, with about\u00a034.5 million Hispanics and Latinos eligible to vote in 2022<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the turnout for Hispanic and Latino voters nationwide has increased over the past decade, they still fall behind other groups<\/a>. Hispanic and Latino voters face a variety of barriers, but efforts to limit voter access are increasing across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Democracy doesn\u2019t properly work when people and communities are blocked or prevented from participating within local, state, and national elections. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expanding voting access across the country ensures that communities are accurately and justly represented by its elected officials. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Advocating for and increasing voting access includes expanding early voting, online voter registration, and same-day voter registration. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Rhode Island, <\/strong>three significant barriers to voting were recently removed through the Let RI Vote Act, which was enacted in June. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The act \u201callows residents to vote by mail without an excuse, drops the requirement that mail ballots be signed by two witnesses or notarized and makes permanent early in-person voting that was introduced because of the COVID-19 pandemic,\u201d according to The Center for Public Integrity<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, democracy activists argue that the state\u2019s strict voter ID requirements still create a roadblock, especially for voters of color. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Studies over the past years have found \u201cthat voters of color in states across the country lacked access to the needed IDs to vote in their state\u2026Using county-level turnout data around the country, researchers demonstrated that the racial turnout gap grew when states enacted strict voter ID laws,\u201d the Brennan Center reported<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2020, non-traditional voting \u2014 all types of non-election day voting including vote-by-mail and absentee voting \u2014 accounted for about 69.4% of the vote, according to Deliver My Vote Executive Director Amanda Pohl.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cVote-by-mail programs and any early-voting program does provide greater access to the ballot and that supports the basic foundation of our democracy,\u201d Pohl said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe had the highest turnout election in modern history,\u201d she added. \u201cWe had more people of color [and] young people voting\u2026and more people accessing the ballot who otherwise,\u201d would have not be able to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nonprofit leaders at the Vote Local Day discussion on Vote By Mail & Voter ID\u2019s emphasized that the rate of vote-by-mail has increased over the years. They also spoke on how early-voting, vote-by-mail, and absentee ballots have led to greater and more diverse participation throughout the country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThose accessible programs do increase access to voting for disenfranchised communities, especially, and we have some research that we released in February that also shows that young voters and especially voters of color are more likely to vote if they\u2019re given vote-by-mail options,\u201d Pohl said in the discussion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although data has found that expanding voter access results in higher participation rates among communities, officials across the U.S. are working to backtrack some of these laws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs soon as those things happened, we immediately saw states starting to clamp down on voting methodologies\u2026We\u2019re also seeing backlash from legislatures that don\u2019t want to see that increased participation,\u201d Pohl said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since May, almost 400 restrictive bills have been introduced in legislatures across the nation. Some restrictions deny assistance to voters with limited English proficiency, according to the Brennan Center<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOver the past 18 months, there has been a wave of anti-voter bills introduced and passed across the country, many of them designed to undermine the growing political power of Latinos and other communities of color,\u201d wrote the Brennan Center. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Research by the Brennan Center<\/a> would support the idea that the ongoing increase in voter restrictions are strongly motivated\/influenced by \u201cracial backlash\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRacial Backlash\u201d is a theory that \u201cdescribes how white Americans respond to a perceived erosion of power and status by undermining the political opportunities of minorities,\u201d according to the Brennan Center.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Important Reminders <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Registration: <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

RI residents can no<\/em> longer register at this time. Voter registration by mail, in person, and online ended on Oct. 9. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Check your registration status at<\/strong>: https:\/\/vote.sos.ri.gov\/Home\/UpdateVoterRecord?ActiveFlag=0&?ref=voteusa_en<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Early Voting<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Early voting is available from Oct. 19 to Nov. 7. Learn more at:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/vote.sos.ri.gov\/Voter\/PersonVotingPage<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Submitting an Absentee Ballot: <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Any voter could have requested a ballot by mail<\/a> before Oct. 18. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ballots by mail must be recieved by Nov. 8 at 8 p.m. EST<\/strong> either by mail or in-person to be counted. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Track your mail-in ballot at<\/strong>: https:\/\/ballottrax.sos.ri.gov\/voter\/<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Voting Day:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Nov. 8, RI Polls are <\/strong>generally<\/em><\/strong> open 7a.m. to 8 p.m.<\/strong> (any resident standing in line at the polls at 8 p.m. is able to vote.) Find specific hours by municipality at: https:\/\/elections.ri.gov\/voting\/pollhours.php <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Locate a polling place near you at: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/vote.sos.ri.gov\/Home\/PollingPlaces?ActiveFlag=2<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or <\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/gettothepolls.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Additional Resources <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

General<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Be The Ones English<\/em> Local Voter Guide <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Be The Ones Spanish<\/em> Local Voter Guide <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vote.org Poll Locator – https:\/\/www.vote.org\/polling-place-locator\/<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rhode Island<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Common Cause RI Website – https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

3 Questions With Executive Director John Marion Episode – https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/riln\/category\/3-questions-with\/<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Publisher\u2019s note: <\/em>RI Latino News, under the Latino News Network umbrella, has put together this informational guide with the help of our partner Be The Ones, to help voters make informed decisions not only at the polls, but in their engagement with democracy going forward. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Collaboration and inclusion are best practices LNN adopted from the Democracy SOS<\/a> fellowship. LNN is one of 20 U.S.-based newsrooms elected to participate in the Hearken<\/a> and the Solutions Journalism Network (SJN)<\/a> fellowship, committed to building understanding, trust, and engagement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hispanic and Latino Americans are the fastest growing racial and ethnic group in the U.S. electorate since the last midterm 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