In 1965, the Voting Rights Act was passed, preventing racial discrimination in regards to voting. 48 years later, in 2013, the Supreme Court weakened sections of the Voting Rights Act. This allowed nine southern states to pass voting laws without requiring approval from the federal government, permitting the creation of laws that could potentially be discriminatory toward minority groups. Although one would hope that Acts put in place 51 years ago to prevent voter discrimination would be obsolete in the modern world, it is evident that, still today, efforts have been made to undermine votes and to restrict the voting rights of certain groups.

Texas' voter ID law, which took effect in 2013, is one example. This law requires voters to present a valid government-issued photo ID prior to voting. The reasoning behind it is to prevent voting fraud; however, voting fraud in the U.S. is rare. Instead of preventing the voting fraud that is supposedly occurring, the law has been accused of limiting minorities' voting rights. By requiring voter ID, Texas makes it difficult for certain groups such the poor and immigrant groups to vote, thereby discouraging them from doing so. Although the law has been softened due to the upcoming election in November and recent lawsuits, the voter ID law itself is still in effect today. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, in the past 20 years Texas, Florida, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, Mississippi, California, New Mexico, Alabama and Illinois have each had over five lawsuits filed against counties or groups in those states for violating the Voting Rights Act.

In recent years, funding and resources for operating polls have been diminished. The consequences of these cuts can be seen in the hours-long lines that were evident during the primaries. The decrease of funds has resulted in a decrease in the polling stations themselves, which leads to longer lines and less-accessible polling stations, which can lead to violations. The polling stations that can function may be placed strategically so as to hinder or benefits certain groups of voters. With fewer polling stations, a larger influx of votes comes into an under-funded polling station that may be unable to handle it. This can lead to votes going uncounted. According to the Los Angeles Times, in the 2008 election, 200,000 votes went uncounted in Los Angeles two weeks after the election occurred. In Arizona, per the Arizona Advocacy Network, 121,000 provisional votes were rejected from 2006 to 2014. Under-funded and under-staffed polling stations can cause certain groups to be at a disadvantage.

Beyond laws limiting voters' rights and fewer polling stations, gerrymandering poses another threat to those exercising their right to vote. Gerrymandering is the redrawing of districts so as to benefit a certain party or group. Although commonly applied to electoral districts, it can also be seen in school districts. Gerrymandering can benefit a certain party by grouping voters that support that party in such a way that their votes carry more weight. Voters not supporting the party can be spread out in districts or placed in such a way that their votes are no longer as strong as those that do support the party. In a school district, gerrymandering can change the demographics of a school. Although gerrymandering is frowned upon, it is still perfectly legal.

The impact of the difficulties of voting can be seen in the U.S.'s voter turnout. According to the U.S. Census, in the 2012 presidential election, only 61.8 percent of those eligible to vote did do so. Compare that to Australia's 94 percent voter turnout, where voting is compulsory. The discriminatory nature of certain voting policies is also evident in the voter turnout of minorities. In 2012, for the first time in history, African-American voter turnout exceeded Caucasian voter turnout, 66.2 percent to 62 percent. However, Hispanic voter turnout still remained low, at 48 percent.

The U.S. was built on the concept of the people. The government was meant to abide by the people's votes and their voices; however, when those votes no longer accurately represent the people of the U.S., what do we become? We are not a satisfactory democracy if we seek to stifle the rights and voices of certain parts of the population. There are groups that seek to make voting a fairer system, through advocacy groups, such as the American Civil Liberties Union. There is also a bill seeking to amend the 2013 weakening of the Voting Rights Act. The bill will require states with five voting rights violations in fifteen years to require approval from the Federal government and states will need to give notice of any changes to voting laws.