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CBS News analysis: Voting changes get mixed reviews; many voters of color worry restrictions make things harder

CBS News analysis: Voting changes get mixed reviews; many voters of color worry restrictions make things harder

CBS News analysis: Voting changes get mixed reviews; many voters of color worry restrictions make things harder
Jul 23, 2021 2 mins, 22 secs

Coming off a year of record turnout, we know most people are generally resistant to change, but what about some of the specific changes being debated in legislatures now, like voter ID, or what to do with mail ballot rules, drop boxes and voting times.

Some voters of color feel their own voting experience will become harder.

Many of them voted early and used drop boxes in 2020, and our analysis of public records and voter file data lends credence to their concerns.

On the other hand, there are other items like voter ID that do find widespread support, from voters of color as well as White voters, and across party lines, too.

Majorities oppose both shortening early voting periods and limiting the number of drop boxes for absentee ballots, which some state legislatures have done.

In 2020, Democrats and Republicans voted early in-person in similar numbers, but Democrats are more likely to say their voting experience would be made harder if early voting days were cut down.

Early voting on Sunday in particular is popular among Black voters, a key Democratic voting group.  And by about three to one, Black voters say if those voting hours were limited that would make it harder, not easier, for them to vote.

For instance, an analysis of Georgia's voter file reveals that the state's 2020 absentee voters are 7 percentage points more likely to be Black than Election-Day voters are.

Moreover, Black voters are especially at risk of having their ballots rejected, even before added requirements for voting by mail.

About half of the rejected ballots were from Black voters, even though they make up just a third of the electorate.

Millions used these boxes to vote early in 2020, including most absentee voters Cobb and Fulton, as well as over 1.5 million voters in Florida.

This would mean the largest nine counties — which altogether accounted for about half of the state's votes in 2020 — would get the same number of drop boxes as the other 90 counties.

Given this, it's not surprising that Black Americans nationwide express greater opposition to limiting drop boxes than White people do.

Last year, mail ballots in general — whether mailed directly or requested — were used disproportionately by voters of color, and they are more likely than White voters to say that automatically receiving a mail ballot would make the process easier for them.

Republicans who voted by mail in 2020 are twice as likely as Republicans who voted in person to say automatically receiving a ballot would make voting easier for them.

Compared to other proposals, like shortening early voting periods and limiting the availability of early voting hours on Sunday, fewer voters say showing photo ID to vote would personally make it harder for them to vote.

Still, one in six registered voters nationwide feel that this requirement would make voting harder for them.

Summarized by 365NEWSX ROBOTS

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