Introduction and Summary

Introduction and Summary 3 From Confusing Eligibility to Housing Instability, Black Voters Face Hurdles to Voting Absentee Black voters face hurdles at every step of the vote-by-mail process: from unclear eligibility criteria to strict rules for returning and counting absentee ballots, the pandemic has created more obstacles for Black voters to participate in our democracy. [...] This section will focus on barriers specific to certain state policies in the Black to the Ballot states, including Texas’s unclear absentee ballot eligibility requirements, Alabama’s witness and notary requirement for returning an absentee ballot, and Nevada’s policy to not send ballots to “inactive” registered voters, despite the nationwide housing crisis that is impacting the state’s Black vote. [...] Nevada: Housing instability and the “inactive” registered voter list add another barrier for Black voters The housing crisis disproportionately impacts Black voters in all Black to the Ballot states, but Nevada serves as a unique example of how the housing crisis creates obstacles for Black voters, even in a state that allows all registered voters to vote by mail. [...] According to the Nevada secretary of state, registered voters are put on the inactive list after a piece of election mail is sent to the voter and returned as undeliverable, and the voter does not respond to a mailer to confirm their voter registration information.15 Remaining on the active list requires having a stable address to register to vote and receive mail, and the fact that the housing cr. [...] The pandemic has exacerbated housing instability and created another barrier to the ballot box for Black communities: according to Census data from September 2020, 22 percent of Black households nationwide reported that they were not up to date on their rent payments, compared to only 9 percent of white households.17 (See chart below for a breakdown of each Black to the Ballot state.) Additionally.