For voters in 13 states, voter suppression looks like this: no early voting AND no no-excuse absentee voting. This “rigs” (privileges) the election towards those who hold white collar jobs where it’s easy to come in late or leave early on Tuesday. It disenfranchises voters working hourly wage jobs who have little or zero power over setting their schedules.
And which states are these? From the National Conference of State Legislatures (red states were slave states in 1858) and their electoral college votes (total: 138):
- Alabama (9)
- Connecticut (7)
- Delaware (3)
- Kentucky (8)
- Michigan (16)
- Mississippi (6)
- Missouri (10)
- New Hampshire (4)
- New York (29)
- Pennsylvania (20)
- Rhode Island (4)
- South Carolina (9)
- Virginia (13)
In addition, there are new (since the last presidential election) voting restrictions in at least 16 states, ranging from “strict photo ID requirements to early voting cutbacks to registration restrictions.”
Requiring every voter to show up at the polls on election day does not scale in metropolitan areas or any where polling stations have been cut.

Conference Education Fund.
These states overlap with the above list (red states were slave states or slave territories in 1858).
- Alabama (9)
- Arizona (11)
- Indiana (11)
- Kansas (6)
- Louisiana (8)
- Mississippi (6)
- Nebraska (5)
- New Hampshire (4)
- North Carolina (15)
- Ohio (18)
- Rhode Island (4)
- South Carolina (9)
- Tennessee (11)
- Texas (38)
- Virginia (13)
- Wisconsin (10)
North Carolina was particularly brazen in its justification for rolling back early voting.
North Carolina GOP eliminated Sunday voting because "counties with Sunday voting were disproportionately black and Democratic" pic.twitter.com/G55KWY9EKD
— Ari Berman (@AriBerman) November 6, 2016
Total electoral college votes affected by voter suppression: 271
Needed to win: 270
Take a peek at early voting lines as harbinger for Tuesday
Just because a state has “early voting” does NOT mean that voting is for the faint of heart or pressed for time. These lines are also a form of voter suppression.
- Long lines at some Austin (TX) polling stations, KUT, 6 November
- Early voters wait in line for hours to cast ballots in NoHo (CA), ABC7, 5 November
- Hamilton County (IN) early voters wait in line for hours to cast their votes FOX59, 3 November
- Early voting opens to crowds, long lines (OK), KFOR, 3 November
- In some Texas counties, long lines complicate early voting, Texas Tribune, 24 October
- Early Voting Reductions Lead to Long Lines in Charlotte (NC), ProPublica, 21 October
- Early voting lines are so long, people are fainting. That harms democracy (GA), The Guardian, 19 October
4,000 people are waiting in line to vote in Cincinnati right now. This is how long the line is. pic.twitter.com/bilpnGsrzl
— Saahil Desai (@Saahil_Desai) November 6, 2016
Long lines for #earlyvoting at #Jupiter Community Center #TCElections pic.twitter.com/aO2cSMS9bT
— George Andreassi (@GCAndreassi) November 6, 2016
Long lines for early voting continue in LA County. Have you voted yet? https://t.co/XtzzL5Jp57 #Election2016
— FOX 11 Los Angeles (@FOXLA) November 6, 2016
Long lines for #earlyvoting in #uptownchicago. pic.twitter.com/uv1YwvCMZu
— Gregory (@Greg_Ingleright) November 6, 2016
https://twitter.com/puhahagyxef/status/795367809295482880
https://twitter.com/LisaFOX45Now/status/795367885988368384
The line at the Franklin County BOE wraps all the way around the parking lot and extends back, almost to the entrance – WOW. #OHVotesEarly pic.twitter.com/yhXinTZrPw
— Hannah Fine (@hannahbfine) November 6, 2016
At 4 hours 15 minutes, now sitting in a tented area waiting for my number to be called. #EarlyVoting pic.twitter.com/f7sdRbrZFx
— 😷 #MASKUP 😷 (@bennlacy) November 6, 2016
4 hours later and I'm finally at the front of the line to wait some more #itsworthit #earlyvoting #thisistooimportant #doingmycivicduty pic.twitter.com/DTeyoGkCMo
— Stacye Branché (@StacyeBranche) November 6, 2016
The line for #earlyvoting at @VoteHamCoBOE is still past Eggleston. It's the 2 hour point. You can vote if you are in line by 5 p.m. pic.twitter.com/3Yof6MjUg9
— Katie Vogel (@KatharineVogel) November 6, 2016
See state-by-state documentation of voting lines at Storify.
Know this: if you are in line before the polls close, you have the right to vote!
That’s the law, Donald Trump rants not withstanding.
Vote by mail: it should be the law of the land
Three states have implemented 100% vote-by-mail, with voting centers for those needing help with ballots: Oregon (2000), Washington (2011), and Colorado (2013).
I love Oregon's vote by mail. I can properly research each and every measure before voting online. I always read the "against" arguments.
— Kikidoodle & Purrmaids (@KikiDoodleTweet) October 27, 2016
I voted from the comfort of my own home at a time convenient for me. Everyone should be able to vote by mail. Thanks, Washington state. pic.twitter.com/ZK6ziVqCUE
— Garland ⭐️⭐️ (@garlandmcq) November 5, 2016
Thanks, Colorado, for letting us vote by mail. https://t.co/ERFOa5sOsP
— Raymond Johnson (@downclimb) November 5, 2016
Ballot drop boxes are secure. Here’s one in King County (WA). And yes, you can still share your civic life with your children!
Ballot drop box at Bothell City Hall is drawing some little customers. Parking is available in front of City Hall. https://t.co/jWde2nbfha pic.twitter.com/XjsagAw6VG
— City of Bothell (@CityofBothell) November 4, 2016
States with no-excuse absentee voting already have de facto vote-by-mail systems (unless all absentee voting has to be done in-person). Vote-by-mail systems are secure; voter signatures are certified by trained staff rather than volunteers; and paper ballots provide an easy-to-follow trail should recounts be necessary.
And they extend the franchise to all.
My heart goes out to all of you in those 13 states.
Thinking about the folks in the 13 states on TU w/out early voting … who have to work. https://t.co/RhyyVHva5t
— ⚡️Kathy E Gill | Staying at home (@kegill) November 6, 2016
It’s long past time to modernize our voting system.
Vote by mail should be the practice – if not the law – of the land.
A Sunday well spent 🇺🇸 #imwithher #earlyvoting https://t.co/BbrURhBLyt pic.twitter.com/K7W13RtT73
— K I M M Y K I T T A (@kimmykitta) November 6, 2016
Featured image: Brennan Center, 2013
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9 replies on “How the Presidential election is rigged: voter suppression”
RT @kegill: How the Presidential election is rigged: voter suppression https://t.co/BG7Zs9isEJ https://t.co/DKYXTVjffn
@KikiDoodleTweet @garlandmcq @downclimb @CityofBothell
You’re quoted on VoteByMail awesomeness!
https://t.co/BG7Zs9A3wh
“Democracy often works beautifully at first. But once a state extends the franchise to every warm body, be he producer or parasite, that day marks the beginning of the end of the state. For when the plebs discover that they can vote themselves bread and circuses without limit and that the productive members of the body politic cannot stop them, they will do so, until the state bleeds to death, or in its weakened condition the state succumbs to an invader–the barbarians enter Rome.”
– RAH, maybe mid-1980s? Lifting from maybe Tytler, similar thoughts from deTocqueville, et al
You, my friend, are a pessimist. :-)
I’m far more worried about the parasites masquerading as producers — they do grave harm, both financial (see WallStreet et al this century and last) and corporeal (see war profiteers). Also psychic harm (see Trump’s whitewashing of hate).
We are, however, sorely missing civics education — perhaps with more than a modicum of intent-to-retain-status-quo.
@Lesmitch529 @Taniel There were long lines today in CA.
https://t.co/BG7Zs9A3wh AND https://t.co/92MVtS4vzK
@LisaFOX45Now @FOXLA
You’re quoted: How the Presidential election is rigged: voter suppression
https://t.co/BG7Zs9A3wh #earlyvoting
@bennlacy @StacyeBranche
You’re quoted: How the Presidential election is rigged: voter suppression
https://t.co/BG7Zs9A3wh
RT @kegill: How the Presidential election is rigged: voter suppression https://t.co/BG7Zs9isEJ https://t.co/DKYXTVjffn
How the Presidential election is rigged: voter suppression https://t.co/BG7Zs9isEJ https://t.co/DKYXTVjffn