What America Would Look Like If Everyone Could Vote
In 2018, Democrats in Wisconsin won 54% of the votes for state assembly; they won 36% of the seats.
In North Carolina that same year Republicans won 48% of the congressional vote - they received 77% of the seats.
Georgia showed 53,000 voter registrations, 70% of them Black, were suspended by the secretary of state who was simultaneously running for governor. He won by 55,000 votes.
These patterns repeat across the country. Now, imagine if every American who wanted to vote could vote.
What would America look like under those conditions?
This isn't just about voting mechanics. It's about the policies that die in the gap between public will and political power.
We already know how Americans vote when obstacles are removed. We also know what policies poll at 60, 70, 80% with bipartisan support. We know what bills have died in gerrymandered legislatures despite overwhelming public backing. The America that would exist if every vote counted equally would have specific policies that majorities have wanted for decades.
In 2009, 72% of Americans supported including a public option in the Affordable Care Act. But senators representing just 38% of the population were able to strip it from the final bill.
In a democracy where every vote counts equally, the public option passes in 2009. Based on every other country's experience with public healthcare competing with private options, a significant portion of Americans would choose the public option. Insurance companies, forced to compete with a non-profit alternative, would be unable to price gouge people for their healthcare needs. Families would see substantial annual savings, as documented in countries with similar systems. Rural hospitals would stop closing because the public option pays them sustainable rates.
Healthcare isn't unique. The pattern repeats wherever citizens can't vote directly on policy.
The minimum wage tells the same story. From 2012 to 2023, every single state minimum wage increase via ballot measure passed, including in Republican states. Arkansas saw 68% approval. Florida saw 61%. Even deep-red Nebraska saw 59%. Each time, when the legislature couldn't filter the vote, working people chose higher wages.
In a truly representative democracy, the federal minimum wage would have risen to $10.10 in 2014 when 73% of Americans supported it and to $15 by 2019 when 67% supported that increase. It might even be indexed to inflation, as strong majorities consistently support automatic increases.
27 million Americans would make more money tomorrow if their votes counted equally. That's 27 million people choosing between gas and groceries, skipping medications, working multiple jobs, all while their representatives ignore supermajority support for wage increases. When given direct votes on minimum wage increases, majorities have consistently approved them.
Look at what happens when democracy functions. In 2020, Florida Republicans won the state by 3 points. But on the same ballot, Floridians voted for a $15 minimum wage by 61%. The policy had 22 points more support than the politicians opposing it. That gap shows the space between public preference and political representation.
Currently, 87% of Americans oppose subsidies for profitable corporations. Amazon's $11.6 billion in taxpayer subsidies, oil companies' $20 billion annual subsidies, stadium deals requiring public funding for billionaire owners would all disappear.
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 temporarily created expanded voting access in the South. Black registration soared. Politicians who had built careers on segregation started appointing Black officials. George Wallace appointed more Black officials to state positions than any previous Alabama governor after Black voter registration increased.
When democracy expands, policy follows - when it contracts, policy contracts with it.
Since 2010, states closed at least 1,688 polling places, primarily in minority communities. Texas eliminated 750 polling locations. Arizona closed 320. Georgia shut down 214. These closures targeted counties where demographics were shifting. In 2013, the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act. Within 24 hours, Texas announced new voter ID laws. North Carolina requested racial voting data and then crafted restrictions to "target African Americans with almost surgical precision," according to a federal court.
Policies that 60-80% of Americans support can't get 50% in Congress.
The wish list of an actual democracy reads like this: paid family leave (82% support), Medicare negotiating drug prices (84% support), getting money out of politics (91% support). None have happened. America remains the only developed nation without paid leave, while Citizens United still stands.
As democracy contracts, popular policies die. As voting becomes harder, majorities matter less. As districts become safer, representatives become more extreme.
Wisconsin shows what we lose to gerrymandering in concrete terms. Under fair maps, Democrats would control the state assembly. With Democratic control, Wisconsin would have legal marijuana with 63% support, expanded Medicaid with 70% support, and universal background checks with 80% support. The state would save $325 million annually by accepting federal Medicaid funding while reducing gun deaths through proven prevention measures.
The policies that would exist in an actual democracy have broad support. Insulin price caps poll at 75% among Republicans. These policies have American support but face systemic opposition.
The distance between what Americans want and what they get relates to who gets to vote, how those votes are counted and whether they matter.
In 2016, Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by nearly 3 million. In 2000, Al Gore won by 500,000. In a properly functioning democracy, they would have been president. The policies that followed would have been different.
Policies like automatic voter registration have majority support. Early voting everywhere has 77% support. Nonpartisan redistricting has 71% support. Restoration of the Voting Rights Act has 69% support.
We have a system where some votes count more than others, where some people vote easily and others wait eight hours, where districts are drawn to predetermine outcomes and senators representing 18% of Americans can block any legislation.
Every American having an equal voice in governance would transform the country. The distance between what we have and what we want isn't about divided opinions. It's about divided power. The majority has spoken. They're just not being heard.
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I suspected this, but didn't have the stats to back up my thinking. Thanks for posting.
Imagine a nation where no one votes. Wake up America!