From Robert A. Levine at The Moderate Voice:
Since Reconstruction ended a century and a half ago, the white power structure, particularly in the South but in other states as well, have used various mechanisms to try and suppress black and minority voting. Initially, those in power were conservative white Democrats, but over the last half century they have been supplanted by conservative white Republicans. Starting with poll taxes and threats to black voters by the KKK, it has morphed into gerrymandering, voter ID laws, purging of voter rolls of minority citizens and making voting more difficult for blacks. This was achieved by decreasing the number of polling places in black neighborhoods and cutting the number of hours polling places were open. And any slight deviation from the registration forms and the voter’s ID would immediately disqualify that voter.
In this era of the Corona virus, where people are afraid of contact with strangers, one would have thought that attempts to make the voting process easier and faster, and remotely when possible, would have been pushed by politicians. Instead, President Trump and the Republicans have been trying to make voting as difficult as they can.