So, I see the following headline from the NYT: Democrats, Feeling New Strength, Plan to Go on Offense on Voting Rights, which I then click through to read. And while the article contains a useful and worthwhile run-down of various state-level possibilities as it pertains to voting access legislation, the headline and tone of the story is just off.
The story isn’t that the Democrats have some truly new strength and are going on some unified offensive. I always find stories that suggest significant national coordination of the parties to be misleading. The basis of the story is that these matters are being discussed at the Democratic Governor’s Association, so there is some patina of national focus here, but these remain state-by-state stories.
We find that where Democrats have full control of state government, like in Michigan, there will likely be initiatives to further voting access. Yet, in states like Arizona wherein the Republicans have substantial legislative power, not much of going to happen. In other words, the story is really: “Places Where Democrats Control State Government, They are Likely to Pursue Their Agenda; In Places They Don’t, Not so Much.”
Hence, it is not that the party is “feeling new strength,” per se, as it is simply electoral outcomes. If you control the governor’s office and the state legislature, you can can pass laws. If those conditions don’t exist, well, less laws tend to be passed, especially ones the other party opposes.
The real story, which is touched on but as background to the “reenergized Democrats” thesis, is that where you live will increasingly dictate how easy it is for you to vote.
I also would note that while I applaud any measure that makes it easier for citizens to access basic rights, most are not exactly major moves. For example, automatic voter registration and pre-registering 17 year-olds so that they can vote as soon as they turn 18 are laudable, but the degree to which they will have significant impacts is small. Most of these measures are small band-aids on much larger wounds.
