Want to expand access to the ballot box? Let people vote by mobile phone.

In 2023, we marked the sixtieth anniversary of the March on Washington and my father’s “I Have a Dream” speech, an anniversary that felt especially poignant at this critical moment when our democracy had reached a tipping point and a lot of what my father fought for was being eroded.

The rights that Americans hold dear are under attack across the country. Reproductive rights, the ability to be ourselves, and the very pillars of our democracy are weakening by the day. The crisis has turn out to be so severe that my daughter enjoys fewer rights today than she did when she was born 15 years ago.

It isn’t any coincidence that the erosion of our civil liberties has coincided with the rollback of voting rights in states across the country. When my father marched for equality many years ago, he understood that voting rights are a essential a part of the fight for freedom and equality. Those on the other side know this too, which is why they’ve systematically made it harder for each American to vote. Eligibility requirements, polling places, and polling hours have been rigged to prevent too many Americans from voting. In my home state of Georgia, it has even been made against the law to serve water to someone waiting in line to vote.

Our voting rights must be sacred, and any attempt to suppress or take away the right to vote have to be stopped. My father used to say, “Oppression is legislated.” Change for the higher must be legislated, not oppression. Legislate change. Legislate hope. Not hate.

That is why my wife Arndrea and I are mobilizing to demand a brand new federal election law that restores the right to vote not only as an aspiration, but as a reality, and ensures that each eligible voter, no matter race, nationality or place of residence, has the opportunity to vote and forged a ballot knowing that their vote counts.

Elections

But we don’t have to wait for Congress to act. Efforts to expand voting access are underway across the country, including the mobile voting campaign. Few efforts have the potential to impact voter turnout like mobile voting. Too many citizens are excluded from the voting booth by existing voting options—from our military members to voters with disabilities and even our youth. Mobile voting would allow all voters to exercise their most elementary democratic right using the same technology they use of their day by day lives. No more waiting in hours-long lines to get to the polls. No more busy parents carrying drained toddlers. No more young students trying to juggle school, work, and life while trying to get to the polls. And no more threats or intimidation to keep some voters from going to the polls.

Why don’t we increase voter participation to give everyone a probability to be heard? Why don’t we ease the barriers for low-income voters and help hourly staff? Why don’t we eliminate the barriers faced by disabled voters who find it incredibly difficult to get to the polls on Election Day? Shouldn’t they’ve the same right to vote as everyone else?

Every vote lost to accessibility or suppression is a loss to democracy. Expanding access is important, and evolving through technology is an indication of the times. We already spend a lot time on our smartphones—from paying bills to accessing healthcare. I’ve been banking on my phone for years, and never once has my money gone where it shouldn’t have. We know that mobile voting has security risks, identical to other voting methods. But given how embedded mobile technology tools are in our day by day lives, we also understand that these risks could be mitigated. Surely the need to protect and expand access to our democracy requires us to balance these risks and be sure that every citizen can exercise their right to vote.

Every positive change is all the time hard fought. We in Institute of Drum Majors I like to say, “Don’t give up, don’t quit, don’t give in.” My dad used to say that people and not using a vote are powerless. And one among the most significant steps we are able to take is that short step to the ballot box. Vote along with your heart and your mind, but vote in the most accessible, attainable way possible. Democracy is dependent upon it.