Voting Discrimination In The United States

It's an understatement to say that so far this election has been messy. As with most elections voting discrimination has been at full force. Even 51 years after the signing of the Voting Rights Act and almost a hundred years after the 19th amendment, this problem is still prevalent in today's society. By first outlining the problem at hand with voting discrimination I can then use my own personal framework of conflict management to propose possible solutions to this conflict.
With the recent news that Donald Trump isn't doing so well with female voters many Trump supporters have started pushing for a repeal of the 19th amendment in hopes that it will help his chances of getting elected. This is merely talk as of now, but it leads to the bigger issue concerning this nations history with voting rights. Democracy according to professor of political science at Stanford University Larry Diamond is a system of government that is composed of four main elements, “1.) A political system for choosing and replacing the government through free and fair elections. 2.) The active participation of the people, as citizens, in politics and civic life. 3.) Protection of the human rights of all citizens. 4.) A rule of law, in which the laws and
procedures apply equally to all citizens.” So then how can the United States claim to be a democratic nation if it continues to restrict voting rights to only some of its citizens?
The current power imbalance in the U.S.
especially in politics has often targeted minorities through laws such as the voter ID law that came about when the Supreme court in 2013 allowed several Southern States to have full control of their election laws (VRA for Today). Although rooted initially enacted to hep stop voter fraud many of these laws have since been recalled as they were proven to target minority voters and make it harder for them to register to vote and participate in voting. For example North Carolina's voter ID law that was recently struck down as it was proven to target African-American voters. However, this still hasn't stopped many politicians/campaign managers from discouraging and or restricting voters one way or
another.
With the complexity of this situation finding a solution is one thing but implementing it is another as it requires participation from both the government and the citizens. My framework is primarily based on mutual respect and understanding. The government, referring to it as one party, needs to be willing to understand the basic needs and desires of its citizens and give them all a voice to be heard by. It's important for both parties to stop viewing this election as a competition and instead begin to implement a mindful conflict perspective that will encourage a collaborative effort. Through collaborative listening and dialogue the government can as Managing Intercultural Conflict Effectively states take,“into account not only how things look from one’s own conflict perspective, but how they look and feel from the other conflict partner’s perspective.” (182). The best collaborative solution is of course a fair election.
People will always have their differences, but these differences shouldn't get in the way of our respect for each other and our willingness to come together to solve the issues we face. By working towards mutual understanding both parties can then use collaborative efforts to effectively communicate and resolve discriminatory issues such as unfair voting laws.