By Brett Bursey
Director, SC Progressive Network
When I asked the 62 young people at Fairfield High school’s Teen Institute what “democracy” was last week, hands shot up. “One person, one vote,” one said. “Rule of the people,” said another. When I asked what country leads the world in democratic participation, a chorus of “USA” broke out.
They were shocked to find that the land of the free and home of the brave doesn’t rank in the top ten. In fact, the USA doesn’t even rank in the top 100.
The voting-age population in 138 other countries turn out at higher numbers than in the United States. In fact, according to the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance’s “Global Report on Voter Turnout,” the U.S. ranks 139th, between Armenia and Nigeria, with an average of 47 percent of our voting-age population participating in elections.
So, no, the USA is not number one. What’s more, the Census puts South Carolina 34th in state rankings for voting-age participation in elections.
Which brings us back to Fairfield High School and the discussion on democracy. I went there to urge the Teen Institute to sign on to the SC Progressive Network’s “Missing Voter Project” (MVP), which is working to identify and engage South Carolina’s voting age-population (VAP) that isn’t registered or doesn’t regularly vote.
In the 2006 election, about 47 percent of the state’s registered voters cast a ballot – about 37 percent of the VAP. It gets worse. In Fairfield County, only 136 citizens between 18 and 21 – about 10 percent of that age group – voted.
In Fairfield, 79 percent of the county’s children qualify for a free lunch. The per capita income for the county is about $21,000. Twenty percent of the population lives below the poverty line, including 25 percent of those under age 18. Drop-out rates are high, good jobs are scarce. Fairfield County, which is 60 percent black, has not had a black representative in the State House since Reconstruction, some 110 years.
Why people aren’t voting is a complex equation of historic and systematic disenfranchisement that may take generations to overcome. Voter registration in this state was once limited to white, property-owning males, and has historically been used to restrict access to the ballot box, not facilitate it.
Voter turnout is in direct relationship to income. Those making $75,000 or more are 75 percent likely to vote. Those making $25,000 or less turn out at about 25 percent.
Given the structural problems with our democracy, you would think we would be encouraging people to register and vote. Think again.
The SC Progressive Network, a coalition of more than 60 nonprofit organizations, launched the Help SC Vote campaign in 2006. That effort included legislation intended to make it easier for citizens to register and vote by establishing early voting centers, universal registration that includes pre-registering all high school students, and ending the prohibition against registering 30 days prior to an election.
Unfortunately, our efforts to help South Carolina vote ran into the incumbent phenomenon. Being an incumbent legislator means the system works – for you. Why would you want more people to vote if they might not vote for you?
Sadly, the only bills addressing registration and voting being heard in the House are designed to make it harder to vote, not easier. H-4352 would require photo IDs to vote and replace the voter registration card as proof of registration. But the only fraud photo IDs would prevent is someone showing up at your precinct, knowing that you haven’t voted and signing in as you. There are no recorded cases of this happening in South Carolina.
Another bill, H-3343, would require a birth certificate, passport or naturalization card as proof of citizenship to register to vote. Currently, a citizen swears they are a US citizen and a state resident and signs the voter registration application. There are criminal penalties for lying on the application about your citizenship, but no one has ever been charged with this crime in South Carolina. A non-citizen who votes in a federal election currently faces a $10,000 fine, five years in prison and would certainly be deported. It is absurd to suggest that someone would face such stiff penalties by getting one non-citizen to fraudulently register.
Both these bills are defended as necessary to prevent voter fraud, although no such fraud yet exists. When challenged on that point, bill supporters say the “perception” of fraud must be addressed. If such a perception exists, it is caused by irresponsible legislators claiming we need new laws to restrict registration and voting because of the trumped up fear of fraud.
The Brennen Center for Justice at the NYU School of Law did an extensive study last year on voter fraud in the United States. The Center found, “It is more likely that an individual will be struck by lightning than he will impersonate another voter at the polls.”
The fraud we should be concerned about is the one being perpetrated by incumbent legislators happy with the status quo.