Who Makes Freedom Count?

In class the past few weeks, we have seemed to be falling on the same train of thought time and time again. It all started when we our teacher noticed the frenzy of high school seniors trying to register to vote before school. Two students saw the line and decided to go another day. We fell into the conversation of the history of voting, and what intrigued me was the minimal number of black office holders, most specifically senators. The train of thought that kept resurfacing was maybe black candidates just don't want to run for office. Its the easiest answer to let the topic slip from your mind, but I came across an article that disproved this so passive response.


The article is about the additional "hoops" states have been implementing for possible voters to jump through. My immediate thought was back to the Alabama literacy test that was required for citizens whose grandfathers hadn't voted, more specifically freed men, but then my conscious quickly kicked in and I thought there is no way. As I read on, I learned that a specific hoop that the Florida government added was that, "the state imposed new rules restricting third-party voter registration drives". I read that line a few times, let it sink in, and decided that our country hasn't advanced at all from literacy tests. Why does it need to be made so much harder for people to register to vote?  Attorneys have argued that the law will, "disproportionately harm members of minority communities who rely on community-based group to help them overcome barriers to registering to vote". This law is clearly targeting minorities and hindering their say in our "democratic system". Volunteer groups are being shut down in helping minority groups register to vote, on the basis of voter fraud? I don't understand how it is so hard for the government to give these people the right to vote that they constitutionally deserve.