Last week marks the 30th anniversary of the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA), a landmark piece of legislation that has expanded access to the ballot for millions of Americans.

Signed by President Bill Clinton in 1993, the voting rights law strengthened American democracy. From enabling eligible voters to simultaneously register to vote when they apply for or renew a driver’s license, to offering voter registration opportunities via mail-in application opportunities, the NVRA helps make the promise of democracy real. The NVRA has been an amazing success. As of 2020, 160,000 million Americans have applied to get on the voter rolls through registration services the NVRA requires at departments of motor vehicles, disability offices, and public agencies across the country.

Although we’ve made great progress in expanding access to voter registration, it is important to remember we still have so much work to do to expand voter registration access. In 2021, President Biden issued an executive order to increase access to voting, encouraging federal agencies to utilize an untapped provision of the NVRA that contemplates federal agencies providing voter registration services. Since this announcement, several federal agencies have made public commitments to increase access to voting information and expand voter registration opportunities.

However, there is much more that can be done, not only to embrace the whole-of-government approach encouraged by the executive order, but also the unfulfilled promise contemplated since 1993 in the NVRA to include the federal government in agency registration opportunities. Earlier this year, the ACLU along with a coalition of the nation’s leading civil rights groups released a report, “Strengthening Democracy: A Progress Report on Federal Agency Action to Promote Access to Voting,” to highlight, at the federal agency level, what has been done and what is still needed to help ensure every eligible voter has robust, easy, and equal access to the ballot box.

A few agencies have made noteworthy headway. For example, by accepting National Voter Registration Act designations for the tribal institutions it operates, the Department of the Interior has moved to ensure that eligible students who attend these institutions have regular access to high-quality voter registration.

The Department of Veterans Affairs has also begun working with state election officials to secure NVRA designations. And by incorporating voter registration into the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program, the Treasury Department is helping to address persistent income-based gaps in voter registration by improving access to voter registration among people with low incomes.

Although progress has been made, for the most part, the ACLU and our partners found that most agencies have either made minimal progress on their initial strong commitments to expand voter access or have left important opportunities on the table. This must change; we must make the promise of democracy real for every single American.

• The Department of Health and Human Services should add an effective voter registration opportunity to the application for benefits on HealthCare.gov by the next open enrollment period.
• United States Citizenship and Immigration Services should provide a robust opportunity to register to vote to all newly naturalized U.S. citizens.
• The Department of Education should add a voter registration opportunity for applicants using the Free Application for Federal Student Aid.
• The Bureau of Prisons, the agency within the Department of Justice which oversees federal prison facilities, and the U.S. Marshals Service, which oversees people in federal pre-trial custody, amongst other activities, should also fully implement the executive order. While both agencies have made efforts to improve voter access for eligible voters who are currently incarcerated in federal prisons or held in federal pre-trial custody, there is still more that can be done to ensure the full implementation of systems facilitating civic engagement and access to the ballot. You can read more about the steps they can take here.

As we honor the 30th anniversary of the NVRA, we must never allow the indispensable legacy of this pivotal voting rights law to fade into the past. Simultaneously, the Biden administration must embrace an unwavering dedication to wholeheartedly executing their voting access executive order. Such action not only fortifies our democracy but also empowers millions, ensuring their voices are heard through the power of the ballot.

Empish Thomas is a 51-year-old voter from DeKalb County, Georgia who is blind and needs help filling out and mailing in an absentee ballot. In 2020, she was able to get that help from a sighted friend she trusted. But after the state of Georgia passed a law that made it a felony for anyone other than a “caregiver” or certain family members to help her return her ballot, she doesn’t know if she will be able to find anyone to help her vote absentee. She feels she has no choice but to try to vote in person, even though she can’t drive and has to rely on rides from others or public transportation to get to the polls.

“I believe I would be committing a crime any time I tried to have someone return my ballot because I would need to ask someone other than a family member or a caregiver,” said Empish. “The new criminal penalties are one of the big reasons I don’t feel that absentee voting is accessible to me at all.”

Voters with disabilities, like every American citizen, should have the same right and equal opportunity to vote. Many voters with disabilities find it more difficult or dangerous to go to the polls and vote in person, so the ability to vote by absentee ballot is crucial. But the voting law passed in Georgia in March 2021 targets absentee voting and, as a result, makes voting difficult for disabled people. That’s why this week, the ACLU and some of the nation’s leading civil rights organizations filed a preliminary injunction to stop the bill, Senate Bill 202, from disenfranchising voters with disabilities in the 2024 election cycle and beyond.

Aspects of the bill, if left in place, violate the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. These federal laws prohibit discrimination against people with disabilities, including imposing unnecessary burdens that effectively deny them the full and equal opportunity to access and participate in elections. The ADA and Section 504 don’t just require that people with disabilities can vote in some way — they require that states make all voting programs accessible to voters with disabilities. Voters with disabilities are legally entitled to full and equal access to Georgia’s absentee voting system, and it’s illegal to make that program burdensome or inaccessible to them, as SB 202 does.

The new voting bill puts in place a number of requirements for people who want and need to vote absentee (either by mail or by returning their ballot to a drop box). These rules hit people with disabilities particularly hard because of their reliance on absentee voting, and the preliminary injunction focuses on two of those new requirements:

First: SB 202 makes it a felony for friends, neighbors, or staff who work in shelters or nursing homes to help people receive or return an absentee ballot, even if the person has a disability. The law says that only a “caregiver” or certain family members can help with ballot return, but it doesn’t say anything about who counts as a “caregiver” under the law, and Georgia has refused to offer guidance about it.

The law creates big problems for the many disabled people who rely on friends or neighbors to help them with tasks like sending mail. For people like Empish Thomas, who has no local family members who can assist her and no one she considers a “caregiver,” this new law can make absentee voting almost impossible.

The law also makes it even harder to vote for people who live in institutional settings, like nursing homes or homeless shelters. Often, in those settings, staff help residents with sending mail, but under SB 202, those staff could be charged with felonies for providing that kind of help.

Second: SB 202 requires that ballot drop boxes be placed inside buildings and closed after business hours. Before the law was passed, most drop boxes were located outside of buildings and were available 24 hours a day.

The changes were particularly hard on Patricia Chicoine, who is 76 years old and lives in Fulton County. Because of her arthritis and knee replacements, she can’t stand for long periods of time and can’t walk more than very short distances. She even has to drive to pick up the mail from the mailbox in front of her house. Like many voters, she didn’t trust the mail, and the drop box gave her more confidence that her ballot would be counted. She was able to drive to the drop box outside her local library and used it without any problems.

But when she tried to drop off her ballot after the new law passed, things were different. She had to get out of her car and go inside the building, then walk down a long hallway to the other side of the building to find the drop box, which was very difficult for her. It took her over an hour to drop off her ballot. After that experience, she realized indoor drop boxes weren’t accessible and went to vote in person instead.

Many people with disabilities, especially those who use wheelchairs or have difficulty walking, find it much easier to use a dropbox that is outside. They can drive or walk directly to the drop box and deposit their ballot. Requiring them to go inside and find the box takes a lot of extra time and effort, and some voters with disabilities might not be able to use a drop box at all. Further, people with disabilities who rely on getting rides from others or using public transportation to get to a drop box have fewer options now that drop boxes can’t be used on evenings and weekends.

It is imperative that the court step in to protect the rights of the hundreds of thousands of voters with disabilities in Georgia, ensuring that they have an equal opportunity to participate in the 2024 elections. By halting the enforcement of the confusing and chilling felony provisions and permitting counties to place drop boxes outdoors, the court can restore the more inclusive voting rules that were in place before SB 202.

“When voting is accessible, I have equal access to participate in politics alongside my able-bodied peers,” said Empish. Taking that access away, she added, “is frustrating to me, because I have thoughts and views just like anyone else.”

Governments should never silence or sideline the voices of disabled voters. By advocating for a preliminary injunction, the ACLU and our partners are calling for the accessibility and equality that should be the cornerstone of our democracy. The court must recognize the urgency of this matter and act swiftly to protect the rights of disabled voters, thereby reaffirming the principles of equality and accessibility that underpin our democracy.

This week was a heartbreaking one for those of us who believe in the freedom to fully control our bodies, lives, and futures. Anti-abortion legislators pushed their extremist agenda in three states simultaneously, and as they did they showed the world exactly who they are: legislators bent on cutting off access to health care who won’t let public opinion or democratic principles get in their way.

Just a few weeks ago, we saw the will of the 59 percent of Nebraskans who support access to abortion prevail as legislators rejected a proposed abortion ban. But not content with regular process, anti-abortion extremists turned around and proposed an amendment to an existing bill, attaching an abortion ban to legislation that would ban gender-affirming care for youth. With this move, they confirmed what we have long known. Anti-abortion and anti-trans movements have the same goal: to deny us the ability to make our own decisions and define our own path. This is about control, plain and simple.

American Civil Liberties Union

The Intertwined Future of Attacks on Abortion and Gender-Affirming Care | ACLU

We’re poised to fight back against state legislative efforts to control our bodies and limit access to essential health care.

And it doesn’t stop there — these lawmakers are willing to bend our democratic rules in order to achieve that goal. That blatant disregard for the democratic process was embodied by the governor of South Carolina who, just five minutes after the end of regular session, announced his intention to call legislators back into session in order to ban abortion. And South Carolina House Speaker Murrell Smith affirmed that disregard when he said, “the chamber will not adjourn until the measure gets approval.”

They’re well matched by their neighbors in North Carolina, who told the press that “House and Senate leaders will meet in private to come to an agreement, and then they will roll out a bill after they have an agreement, so that the two chambers don’t have to get into a public debate over that decision.” And they managed to do just that, passing a ban on abortion at just 12 weeks of pregnancy and severely curtailing access to care before that point for millions of people in the state.

But what else would we expect from people who are so indifferent to opposition that they move forward on extreme bills despite the public making their demands known? We saw this in Nebraska, where hundreds protested in the capitol during debates, and in North Carolina where 2,000 people showed up to a rally supporting the governor’s veto and over 200 businesses spoke up in opposition to the law.

These lawmakers have prioritized scoring political points by any means necessary over the will of the people they represent. But we know it’s about more than political gamesmanship. It’s about the woman who has desperately tried to start a family, only to become pregnant and discover severe complications during pregnancy. It’s about the cancer patient who needs to end their pregnancy in order to continue life-saving treatments. It’s about the 12-year-old survivor of rape and incest who doesn’t want to bear the child of her abuser. It’s about the student in the final year of school who doesn’t want life-long dreams taken away. Fundamentally, it’s about all of us who deserve to be able to control our own bodies and the course of our own lives. It’s about freedom.

This is unacceptable behavior from elected officials, and it’s time we fight back. If you live in Nebraska, North Carolina, or South Carolina, look up the votes your elected official took this week and let them know how you feel about it. And let’s all stand in solidarity with our community in those three states by showing up at local events for abortion rights, and calling our elected officials to let them know how important it is that every person can make decisions about their bodies and lives, and access essential health care like abortion. It’s time we let our representatives know that we are paying attention, and we will fight for our freedoms with everything it takes.