Suppressing the Vote in 2020

Voters box on a rock in the middle of the ocean.

As the presidential election nears and communities see new spikes of COVID-19 infections, some lawmakers are considering ways to ensure voters can participate safely. Meanwhile, other political leaders, like the President, seem intent on suppressing the vote by making false claims about voter fraud.


“In light of COVID-19, election officials and policymakers are proposing significant changes in election practices and procedures, many of which will likely have a significant impact on the ability of Latinos to cast ballots in Election 2020,” said Claudia Ruiz, Analyst with UnidosUS, a Latino civil rights organization who spoke to Luz Collective by e-mail. “As we have seen in various state primaries already, these changes can cause confusion among voters regarding polling locations, drop boxes, or registration deadlines; result in significant wait times and delays due to lack of planning or adequate lead times; and fall victim to an onslaught of deliberate and targeted misinformation. This is not to mention a host of other overt voter suppression tactics that Latinos have faced in past elections, including voter roll purging, voter intimidation, lack of multi-language ballot and voter education materials, and the dissemination of false information when it comes to polling locations, hours, or registration deadlines.”

(photo credit: Lucy Nicholson)

Compared to similarly developed democracies around the world, the United States has consistently had low voter turnout with only about half of the eligible voters actually turning up to vote. Despite low participation by eligible voters, a study on attitudes about voting notes that “an overwhelming share of the public (84%) says it is very important that ‘the rights and freedoms of all people are respected.’ Yet just 47% say this describes the country very or somewhat well; slightly more (53%) say it does not.” Participants in the study have good reason to question if the rights and freedoms of all people are respected when there’s been numerous efforts to suppress voters such as Illegal voter purges, discriminatory voter ID laws, or making it harder to register to vote in the first place.

These voter suppression tactics are strategically designed to keep Black and Latino voters from exercising their rights to vote, which often translates into fewer votes for Democrats. For example, a federal court found that North Carolina’s voter ID-law showed ‘discriminatory intent’ by making the requirements for the ID difficult to meet for the elderly, low-income people, and Black people. “In what comes as close to a smoking gun as we are likely to see in modern times, the State’s very justification for a challenged statute hinges explicitly on race—specifically its concern that African Americans, who had overwhelmingly voted for Democrats, had too much access to the franchise,” wrote Judge Diana Gribbon Motz, as quoted in The Atlantic. According to Mother Jones, racist voter ID laws are why President Trump won Wisconsin in 2016 and could have well cost Hillary Clinton the presidential election.

When activists are up against a President drumming up support for the myth of pervasive voter fraud, Republicans intentionally suppressing the vote, and an uninspired electorate, the coronavirus is yet another obstacle in the way of civic engagement. In response, some states chose to reschedule elections. The state of Ohio chose to protect voters from the spread of COVID-19 by moving to all mail-in ballots for the state primary elections. Meanwhile, the Governor of Wisconsin was forced by the Supreme Court to keep the primary election as originally scheduled resulting in long voting lines to adhere to social distancing and record-breaking absentee voting.

California Governor Newsom issued an executive order so that all registered voters in the state could vote safely by mail. This has implications for the Latino vote since nearly 25% of Latino eligible voters in the nation live in the golden state. It’s unclear whether other states will similarly work to protect the ability of those at high risk for COVID-19 to vote safely.

“For our democracy to remain responsive to all of the nation’s electorate, it is critical that Latinos can fully participate in Election 2020 in a safe and accessible manner and without new barriers to voting,” said Ruiz. “Thus, any public dialogues about how to administer the 2020 elections must take into consideration the perspectives and needs of the Latino community.”

As weeks of protests continue to denounce racism, transphobia and the Trump Administration, there is also energy around the upcoming election. Basketball star LeBron James has joined the cause. Along with other athletes, James launched More Than A Vote, an effort to safeguard voting rights and get out the vote in Black communities. James is quoted in the New York Times describing the initiative, “Yes, we want you to go out and vote, but we’re also going to give you the tutorial,” James said, “We’re going to give you the background of how to vote and what they’re trying to do, the other side, to stop you from voting.”

Along with efforts like those championed by James, the Center for American Progress makes several recommendations that can make it easier for eligible voters to participate, including restoring the right to vote to the formerly incarcerated, increasing civic education in schools, and investing in voter outreach. Adding to this list are the strategies by UnidosUS, shared by Ruiz. They are as follows:

  • Expanding voting options
  • Increasing language accessibility
  • Maintaining geographic accessibility of in-person polling locations and/or dropboxes
  • Expanding voter education resources
  • Allocating federal support and resources to states and localities

“[We are] calling upon policymakers at the federal level to standardize emergency-era voting best practices, many of which may be found in Senator Kamala Harris’ VoteSafe Act 2020,” Ruiz said. Harris’ Vote Safe Act is supported by a diverse coalition of civil rights organization including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), NALEO Educational Fund, National Disability Rights Network, Native American Rights Fund, Service Employees International Union (SEIU), and Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAJC).

The additional barriers to voting brought on by the pandemic heightens the important work by organizations like “More Than a Vote” and efforts like the Vote Safe Act. “The [Vote Safe Act] provides urgent funding for states to meet their obligations to offer voters a range of options to guarantee full access to the ballot box,” said Vanita Gupta, President and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, in a statement. “It also includes important protections for in-person voting for Native Americans, people with disabilities, and language accessibility. We must ensure everyone stays healthy while also ensuring that every eligible voter can register and cast a ballot that counts.”

woman surrounded by colorful illustrations
Image by Sayuri Jimenez.

Nathalie Molina Niño has never been one to shy away from breaking barriers, and now, she’s focusing her attention on a new mission: demystifying corporate boardrooms for women, especially Latinas. Molina Niño is the President of Known, an asset management and financial services firm, a veteran tech entrepreneur and builder capitalist, and a board member at the iconic lingerie Brand, Hanky Panky, and others.

Like many corporate boards, Hanky Panky hadn’t publicly disclosed its board composition until recently. After the brand survived the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, Molina Niño decided it was time for more women, specifically more Latinas, to know what it means to be on corporate boards.

Coincidentally, the decision to finally be more vocal about this topic aligned with the start of Hispanic Heritage Month, which served as the perfect kick-off to the work.

"Something that rarely gets talked about and I think almost gets kept opaque by design is boards,” she explains in a recent Instagram announcement. “[This Latinx Heritage Month], that’s what I’ll be talking about.” Her goal? To equip more Latinas with the knowledge they need to navigate onto for-profit boards, where they can thrive and build multi-generational wealth.

For-profit corporate boards often feel like an exclusive club. And in many ways, they are, especially for Latinas, who hold the smallest percentage of board seats in Fortune 500 companies compared to other racial groups. According to the latest report from Latino Board Monitor, while Latinos hold 4.1% of these board seats (compared to 82.5% held by white people), only 1% go to Latinas. Molina Niño, a first-generation American of Ecuadorian and Colombian descent, is part of this boardroom minority.

When asked about her experience as a Latina board member during a recent Zoom interview, she said, “It’s been lonely. There’s not a lot of Latinas on boards.” She went on to explain that even serving on boards of Latina-founded businesses gets lonely because, “A lot of the times, people who serve on their boards represent their investors and, as a result, [...] you still don’t see a lot of Latinas on those boards.”

This lack of representation drives Molina Niño’s determination to increase Latina presence in corporate boardrooms. By sharing her insights, she hopes to give Latinas a roadmap to claim their seats at the table. “If you don’t know where to go, it’s impossible to figure out how to get there,” she says.

The Road to the Boardroom

Getting onto a for-profit corporate board isn’t an overnight achievement, but it’s not an unattainable dream either. People often think you need to be a CEO or have a certain type of background, but that’s one of the biggest myths about boards in Molina Niño’s experience. What they’re really looking for is expertise — whether that’s in finance, marketing, sustainability, or even technology. If you have that expertise, you’re already an asset. It’s simply a matter of which road you should take.

Understanding what boards are and how they operate is key to unlocking opportunities. For-profit boards serve as the governing body for companies, overseeing direction and financial stability, and guiding CEOs and executives in decision-making. But Molina Niño emphasizes that not all for-profit boards are created equal.

“There are two kinds [of for-profit boards] [...]. There’s the publicly traded business board and then, on the privately held side, there are, I would argue, two types of boards [...] the traditional business board and the venture-backed business board,” explains Molina Niño. Traditional businesses are often family-owned or long-established and may only form boards to meet requirements, like securing financing or transitioning through an ESOP. Venture-backed boards, on the other hand, are typically filled by investors who hold major stakes in the company.

According to Molina Niño, understanding the difference between them is how you can create a successful strategy. With publicly traded business boards, the whole world is privy to them, so, “The way that you get in there is a little bit more transparent. Sometimes those publicly traded companies will hire a recruiter to help them find new board members,” explains Molina Niño. For private companies, on the other hand, there’s no legal requirement to make announcements. As a result, most people don’t know anything about them or their inner workings.

“Usually what happens in traditional businesses that don’t have venture-capital investments is that the Founders, Executives, or the board members, if one existed already, they usually go to their friends,” and people they deem experienced to fill board seats. In other words, it’s the founder’s decision, and that’s an entirely different approach than hiring recruiters. When it comes to venture-backed business boards, the seats on the board are filled by whichever investor writes the biggest check.

This is why an understanding of the different types of boards and acknowledgment of their own strengths is what will help Latinas define a sound strategy. Whether that’s working with a recruiter, networking and connecting with founders to build trust, or making the biggest investment.

The Path for Latinas

For Molina Niño, the key to getting more Latinas into corporate boardrooms is education. Knowing what a board looks like and how it functions is how you can position yourself to get on it. In openly talking about this, without the mystique it’s usually shrouded in, Molina Niño is providing women, especially Latinas, with invaluable insights. “If we had Latinas understanding what are the three types of for-profit boards I think that, on their own, they would be able to figure out what their best chance is and adjust their careers to make themselves more competitive,” states Molina Niño.

When asked about the impact of increased Latina representation in boardrooms, Molina Niño flips the narrative. “Boards don’t help Latinas by offering them seats; Latinas help businesses thrive by being on their boards,” she says. “The whole point of sitting on a board is that you have experience and expertise, and as Latinas, you also have some cultural experience that everyone wants. [...] At the end of the day, we [Latinas] have to realize that we have a ton to offer and we have to be selective about where we put that expertise,” she explains.

As demand for access to the Latina consumer rises, Molina Niño predicts that more Latinas will find themselves recruited into boardrooms. But she’s not content to sit back and wait for that moment. By openly sharing her journey and insights, she’s making sure other Latinas know their worth and have the tools to claim their place at the table. “I realized that quietly being on boards that helped me personally is not helping other Latinas. [...] I was lucky enough to have friends who could advise me and share their experiences, so that’s why I’m doing this,” she stated.

With Hispanic Heritage Month as the backdrop, Nathalie Molina Niño’s mission is clear: “My goal is just to give Latinas enough information so they can make a plan for how to eventually get on a board that they’re paid to be on and that will eventually help them build generational wealth.”

flags of latin american countries fly behind performers wearing culturally traditional clothing

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