Voter Access

Despite gains made in voter turnout during the pandemic, 19 states — including 6 in the South — have passed laws restricting voter access.

States with new restrictive voting laws

January 1 - September 27, 2021

Source: Brennan Center for Justice

Despite concerns that the pandemic might depress voting rates, voter turnout was at a record high in the 2020 presidential election. National voter participation jumped to about 67% and voter participation in the South neared 65%.¹ In anticipation of the 2020 election and in response to the pandemic, nearly every state did something to make voting easier, such as temporarily expanding access to mail-in voting, establishing ballot drop-boxes, or increasing availability of early voting.²

However, since the 2020 election, there has been a series of restrictive voting laws introduced across the country. Between January 1 and September 27, 2021, at least 19 states have enacted 33 laws that make it harder for Americans to vote.³ Half of Southern states have passed restrictive voting laws.

Lawmakers in these states often cited fraud as a reason for curtailing expansions made during the pandemic despite expert consensus that there was no evidence of widespread fraud and that the 2020 election was “the most secure in American history.”⁴

Among the 1/3 of voters who did not participate in the 2020 election, the Current Population Survey found that 8% did not vote because of structural barriers such as polling place hours, long lines, registration problems, or not being near polls on voting day. Rather than building on the progress made in 2020 by focusing on ways to reduce barriers to voting, many states have moved to further restrict voting access, an effort that could have a significant impact on voter participation in future elections.

1. “Voting and Registration in the Election of November 2020”. U.S. Census Bureau. April, 2021. https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/voting-and-registration/p20-585.html

2. “Expanded Access To Voting Yielded Huge Turnout. Will States Take It Away?” Parks. NPR. November, 2020. https://www.npr.org/2020/11/25/937050893/expanded-access-to-voting-yielded-huge-turnout-will-states-take-it-away

3. “Voting Laws Roundup: October, 2021”. Brennan Center For Justice. October, 2021. https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/voting-laws-roundup-october-2021

4. “Joint Statement From Elections Infrastructure Government Coordinating Council & The Election Infrastructure Sector Coordinating Executive Committees”. Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency. November, 2020. https://www.cisa.gov/news/2020/11/12/joint-statement-elections-infrastructure-government-coordinating-council-election