When the first case challenging the denial of voting rights to women reached the Supreme Court (Minor v. Happerset, 1875), the Court ruled that citizenship alone did not guarantee the right to vote, and it was a matter to be left to the states as to how and by whom that right may be exercised.  The 15th Amendment had made it illegal to deny or abridge the right to vote on account of race, but that left a whole host of other categories that could be brought to bear.  When Miss Anthony learned of the Court’s decision, she presciently said “If we once establish the false principle that U.S. citizenship does not carry with it the right to vote in every state in the Union, there is no end to the petty freaks and cunning devices that will be resorted to exclude one and another class of citizens from the right of suffrage.”  It did not take long for the Jim Crow states to erect all kinds of obstacles to prevent the freed Blacks from accessing the ballot:  poll taxes, literacy tests, etc.

The best way to ensure that all citizens can exercise their rights to vote is to make that process as easy and accessible as possible.  Polling places should be situated in convenient locations.  Dates and hours for voting should be flexible enough to accommodate the varied schedules of a complex nation.  In some countries, voting is mandatory. During the pandemic (still ongoing as of this writing), many states properly made it possible to vote by mail or vote early in order to avoid exposure to the corona virus.  Now we see some nefarious forces trying to make voting more difficult for whole segments of the population, particularly in communities where there are large numbers of minority voters.  They are taking away drop-off locations and placing stricter limits on early voting.  These are the “cunning devices” that Susan B. Anthony warned of.  Defenders of these actions like to claim that they are trying to eliminate voter fraud, which has never been proven to be a factor in any election to date.

Proclaiming the “right” to vote without providing reasonable access to the means of voting is an empty exercise.  Miss Anthony said near the end of her life–a life which did not see universal female suffrage–“The important thing to remember is that the struggle to secure and protect essential human rights is never-ending.”  In this country and around the world vast swaths of people are being denied their essential human rights.  I think we should all ask ourselves what we can do to help those whose essential human rights are being violated.  With enough people on the right side of history, “failure is impossible.”