Restrictive rules prevent millions of Americans from voting

Voters line up to vote in the presidential election at a polling station in Christmas, Florida on November 8, 2016. (Photo by Gregg Newton / AFP)

WASHINGTON – Millions of Americans will not be allowed to vote in Tuesday's crucial mid-term elections due to state-level election rules, which effectively exclude many minority voters at the expense of Democrats .

The following is an overview of the states where these restrictions may affect the survey results.

1.5 million Floridians deprived of their rights

Nearly six million Americans are excluded from the vote because they are jailed, on parole or awaiting a conviction.

African-Americans, who are overrepresented in the US penal system, are four times more likely to be unable to vote than the rest of the population, according to The Sentencing Project, a non-profit organization.

The rules vary considerably from one state to the other, some like Maine and New Hampshire allowing inmates to vote.

But in places such as Kentucky, Iowa, Virginia and Florida, any conviction – even for a minor offense, such as possession of marijuana – results in the loss of the right to vote for life.

In Florida, where Republican Donald Trump has only 112,000 votes more than his rival, Democrat Hillary Clinton, nearly 1.5 million people are disenfranchised because of their criminal record.

In addition to choosing their governor and members of Congress, Florida residents will vote on the opportunity to restore the voting rights of those convicted of crime once they have served their sentences, in addition to those found guilty of the most serious crimes.

Proof of address

There is no national identity card in the United States. Instead, each state defines which documents can be used as identification at the polling station.

And according to the American Civil Liberties Union, an influential civil rights organization, several states have imposed restrictive rules since 2010.

Since 2016, North Dakota requires its residents to submit a document with proof of their address.

But the state is home to thousands of native Americans living on reserves in rural areas with only one post office box.

They could be turned down at the polls, where Heidi Heitkamp – a Democrat elected to the Senate in 2012 by only 3,000 votes – is campaigning to keep his seat.

Defenders of the rule believe that it prevents fraud because North Dakota does not require voters to pre-register.

Rules of "exact match"

In Georgia, since 2017, the data provided by voters when they registered at the polling station were compared to those provided when applying for a driving license or a social security number.

In case of discrepancy, the authorities may refuse registration.

According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, some 53,000 applications are currently pending, of which 70% are owned by African Americans.

Democrat Stacey Abrams – who hopes to become the first black woman to be elected governor in the United States – has accused her Republican opponent, Brian Kemp, of using her position as the head of the office to oversee elections to influence the vote.

Kemp says that voters can vote if they clarify their situation and accuses Abrams of wanting to let undocumented immigrants vote.

Even though the limbo candidatures are finally approved, Abrams fears that the challenge of registering may cause these voters to stay home.

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