Voting is more than a civic duty — it's a vital part of a democratic society. Voting laws or practices that thwart an individual's ability to vote weaken our democracy. Assaults on the right to vote are increasing across the country and are likely to threaten Minnesota. The ACLU of Minnesota works to protect your right to vote. We do this by protecting the victories made since the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which helped protect the political participation of racial and language minorities in our national dialogue.
We must resist any attempts to restrict voter registration, early voting, same-day registration, and access to the polls. Moreover, any redistricting that follows the 2020 census must be conducted fairly and transparently. Even today, about 1.5 percent of voting-age Minnesotans are deprived of their right to vote because of their criminal records. Although nearly all prisoners re-enter our communities, we deprive them of the ability to participate in our democracy, increasing their alienation from their neighbors and their communities. In addition, restrictions on the right to vote do not affect all citizens equally, but rather result in undue and inequitable burdens on historically marginalized people and communities.
