a key voting tool used by young adults away at college hoping to vote in their home state.
Additionally, Florida and Iowa passed legislation to disenfranchise citizens with previous felony convictions, making it extremely difficult to restore their voting rights upon release. This would particularly impact African American men who are more than five times more likely to be incarcerated.
Every election year, we are reminded that “every vote matters” and that our greatest right (and responsibility) as citizens of our democracy is to participate in our political process. Others across the world are fighting for that right. Our elected officials’ efforts, then, should be focused on spending more energy creating opportunities for more participation and not on creating additional barriers.
Vanessa Cárdenas is the Director of Progress 2050 at the Center for American Progress.©2012 Center for American Progress