Remove barriers to the voting process

Nevada voters will head to the polls in 2016 with little changed about the way they cast their ballots, but with today’s 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, it would be inexcusable to pretend there are not real threats to the right to vote in the Silver State. While Republican-proposed legislation in Carson City to restrict access to the ballot box did not become law this year, the 2015 Nevada Legislature reminded us that many members of one party have no qualms threatening to disenfranchise Silver State voters.

Voter suppression is an ever-present threat that deserves serious attention. In the codification of our laws and on-the-ground election operations, we must guard vigilantly against efforts to depress voter activity and engagement. This session, there were multiple overly restrictive voter-ID bills presented with the purpose of preventing eligible voters from casting a ballot. Other proposals would have eliminated early voting.

Hillary Clinton, in a speech at Texas Southern University, outlined the importance of protecting these rights. She called for universal, automatic voter registration for every American when they turn 18 (with an option to opt out). She argued for a new national standard of at least 20 days of in-person early voting. And she called on Congress to restore key sections of the Voting Rights Act that the Supreme Court struck down in 2013.

She hit the nail on the head when she called on Republicans to “stop fear-mongering about a phantom epidemic of election fraud and start explaining why they’re so scared of letting citizens have their say.”

The right to vote is a fundamental right, but across our country we have a patchwork of restrictive and inconsistent rules that often hinder rather than help Americans vote. In Nevada, we have early voting, online voter registration and other tools that enable Nevadans to participate in the electoral process with ease. But it will not remain that way unless we fight at the local, state and national levels to elect public servants who will act as guardians of the ballot box.

We must continue working to modernize our voter-registration system. Registration rolls must remain secure, up-to-date, and accurate. When voters move, Clinton said, so should their registration. I agree: Let’s reduce logistical barriers to voting. Far too many Americans who are eligible to vote (between a quarter and a third) are not registered to vote. We shouldn’t increase that number when Americans pack up their lives and move somewhere else.

Simply put, your ability to make your voice heard through the democratic process should not depend on where you live. We should eliminate barriers to the franchise, not work to make voting an onerous activity.

In 2015, the Nevada Legislature reminded us that threats to suffrage in our state are real. The Voting Rights Act needs repair. Across the country, secretaries of state can work to improve our elections. That doesn’t involve purging voters or enacting identification requirements that would disenfranchise voters. It means empowering.

Ross Miller is the former Nevada secretary of state.