New Rulings Threaten Voting Access for Marginalized Communities

Two Supreme Court Decisions and a Federal Executive Order Are Reshaping Who Can Vote, and How Easily, Ahead of the Midterms

Across the country, marginalized communities face many barriers to voting through restrictive registration requirements, polling place closures, and now, restrictive mail-in voting and congressional redistricting. These actions threaten voter rights and fair representation for communities of color, voters with disabilities, elderly voters, and low-income voters.

In 1965, the Voting Rights Act was enacted to confront America’s long history of voter suppression. While in the past it may have looked different, with poll taxes and literacy tests, the purpose is the same, to silence certain voices.

Two Supreme Court rulings in June show a mixed record on ballot access, one expanding it, one curtailing representation.

The Supreme Court Upholds Grace Period for Mail-In Ballots

On June 29, the Supreme Court ruled to uphold a Mississippi law allowing election officials to continue counting mail-in ballots for up to 5 days after the election, as long as they are postmarked by Election Day. President Trump has been fighting mail-in ballots, including grace periods, in recent years, largely supported by Republican states. The ruling preserves ballot access for voters in rural areas and those reliant on mail delivery, marking one of the few recent wins for voting rights advocates.

Before the ruling, Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs warned that “had this rule been in effect, those voices would have been silenced, especially in rural areas where mail delivery can take longer.”

Federal Judge Declines to Temporarily Block Executive Order

Recent developments on President Trump’s Executive Order 14399 on restricting mail-in voting continue to raise concerns. On May 28, a federal judge in Washington declined to temporarily block the executive order, allowing the Trump Administration to continue implementation efforts while litigation proceeds.

Section 3 of EO 14399 directs the Postmaster General to draft rules establishing a state-by-state ballot enrollment system. States that opt in to using USPS for mail-in or absentee voting could also choose to submit a list of voters they intend to send ballots to. Under the proposed rules, USPS would be barred from transmitting mail-in or absentee ballots to anyone not enrolled on that state-specific list.

Separately, the order directs the Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration to compile and transmit a “State Citizenship List” to state election officials, intended to verify citizenship status. However, the order specifies that this list alone does not confirm voter registration.

Voting rights advocates and civil rights organizations warn that layering these requirements could create new points of failure for marginalized voters, including low-income renters, seniors, rural voters, voters with disabilities, and homeless voters, who already face higher rates of address instability and limited access to the documentation or follow-up needed to stay enrolled on government-maintained lists.

The SAVE America Act, a separate bill that would impose stricter voter ID and documentation requirements, has repeatedly failed to pass the Senate but remains active. President Trump has since leveraged it directly, canceling the signing ceremony for the bipartisan ROAD to Housing Act in June until Republicans pass the SAVE America Act. Advocates warn that reviving stricter ID requirements would compound EO 14399’s access problems, particularly for homeless voters who often lack the documentation the bill would require.

Louisiana v. Callais Weakens Voting Rights Protections and Fair Representation

Fair representation of marginalized voices remains a concern amid congressional redistricting ahead of the midterm elections.

Back in April, the Supreme Court ruling on Louisiana v. Callais weakened the Voting Rights Act. Later, Louisiana Republicans approved a new congressional map, eliminating one of the state’s only two majority-Black districts, while adding another Republican district in its place. The new map is expected to help elect five Republicans and one Democrat to Congress.

“We are being asked to take one of two minority opportunity districts in this state, where Black Louisianians are nearly one-third of the population, and to reduce that minority opportunity representation to a single seat out of six, from 33% of the population to 16% of the representation members,” said Democratic state Rep. Kyle Green Jr.

“The Supreme Court’s ruling on Louisiana v. Callais takes away some of our most fundamental freedoms: the right to be heard and for all of our votes to be counted equally,” Hannah Fried, co-founder and CEO of All Voting is Local, said. “It strips Black voters of fair and equal representation and makes it harder for people in other historically excluded communities to have their voices heard on issues like affordable housing, good-paying jobs, quality health care, and safe communities. When politicians choose their voters instead of voters choosing their leaders, we all lose.”

Numerous Barriers To Civic Engagement Already Exist In Marginalized Communities

In the recent webinar Mobilizing Voters after Louisiana v. Callais, Waikinya Clanton, Mississippi State Director for the Southern Poverty Law Center, discussed the numerous barriers marginalized communities already face when it comes to casting their vote.

In Mississippi, half a million people fall below the poverty line, including 100,000 extremely low-income renter households, 26% of which include children. Many are also working poor with limited assets, or households on fixed or constrained income conditions. Clanton noted that voter turnout in Mississippi trails the national average by 7 points in presidential elections and 14 points in midterm elections.

What are the things that prevent people from being able to participate in the voting process? Clanton points out that it’s largely a lack of transportation access. For low-wage workers, it’s work schedules.

“Most people who are disproportionately impacted by a lack of civic participation are folks working two and three jobs trying to make ends meet,” Clanton said. Additionally, it’s voters who are homeless, in shelters, or experiencing housing insecurity, or unable to meet their basic needs. It is also low-income parents without access to child care.

“What we’ve learned is that you can’t expect people to care about the state of democracy if you don’t care about the state of their personal economies,” said Clanton.

Mobilizing Voters Requires Building and Maintaining Trust

Mobilizing voters and marginalized voices has never been more critical. In the “Mobilizing Voters” webinar, Monica Riley, Executive Director of the Alabama Alliance, discussed the importance of building and maintaining trust.

In Alabama, there are 171,527 extremely low-income renter households. 70% of those households are severely cost-burdened. Riley shared that distrust in the political system can be a roadblock. Understandably so, when your wages are low, housing is expensive, and living conditions and quality of life are poor. To break through this distrust, Riley said organizers have to build relationships and show up for people beyond just their vote, demonstrating real support for what they’re already trying to do in their daily lives.

When systems breed distrust, building trust in our communities matters more than ever. “In this situation now, where we have our governor who is voiding election results, and people are having to start all over again, it just breeds more and more distrust,” Riley said. “And so building that trust early, and making sure we maintain that trust, and that kind of organizing principle of trust first, is where we are in Alabama right now.”