When Annie Johnson-Benifield was growing up in Beatrice, Ala., population 200, the right to vote was not only elusive but also illegal for her parents and other Black citizens.
Her parents did not have the right to vote until their 50s, and her mother, who died in 2021 at age 103, cast a ballot right up until 2020.
That's why Johnson-Benifield fights so hard for the right to vote for all citizens now.
As head of the League of Women Voters Houston, Johnson-Benifield is the first person of color to lead the organization in its 102-year history. The nonpartisan civic organization's goal is to empower voters and defend democracy. While the league conducts voter registration events, particularly with naturalization ceremonies, it does not endorse or support political candidates or parties.
"Voting rights is not a partisan issue," she said. "Every citizen should have the opportunity to engage and have his/her voice heard in the political process by casting a ballot irrespective of their ZIP code, whether you're rural or suburban or urban. None of those things should be factors that should prevent you from having access to the ballot and participating in the political process."
Johnson-Benifield, who started as a board member before becoming president in January, talked with Chronicle about why she believes democracy is too important not to vote.
Q: Why does voting matter?
A: My contention is that democracy is not a spectator sport, where you get to go in the arena and sit on the bleachers to watch, but rather it's a gladiator sport, where you have to get into the arena and fight for the things that you believe in and the things that you want in society. You have to be willing to fight, and the way you fight is by casting a ballot. Democracy is clearly on the ballot in this election and in all elections. Democracy requires citizens' input in order to function properly.
Q: Prior to the Voting Rights Act of 1965, your parents, like many Black Americans, were subjected to literacy tests and poll taxes. Can you explain?
A: Neither of my parents got a chance to cast a ballot to vote until they were over 50 years old. That was in response to the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Black people in the South could not cast a ballot and vote (before that). Alabama had a literacy test and a poll tax. In some of the inane questions, they might ask you, 'How many bubbles are in a bar soap?' or 'How many jelly beans are in a jar?' My father-in-law said they asked him to name all of the statewide elected officials. He missed the secretary of state, so they said, 'When you know all of the information, come back.' That is just how trivial that whole process could actually be, and people would be denied access to the ballot.
Q: What do you say when critics call the League of Women Voters a partisan group?
A: We are definitely about individuals voting, not about who you vote for. We want people registered and engaged in the political process, irrespective of political affiliation. We are a nonpartisan organization. We don't endorse or support any political candidate or party, even though in more recent times people are characterizing us as being more liberal leaning.
Q: How do you feel about being called a liberal organization?
A: This is when I say, 'How do you think women got the right to vote?' If they had stayed on the sidelines sitting, doing nothing, would they ever have gotten the right to vote? So, yes, conservative is maintaining the status quo and keeping things the way that they are. Liberal is advocating for change. We matter, and our voices matter.
Q: Has the league always advocated for voting rights?
A: When I was reading the history of the organization, it advocated for people to pay the poll tax, so that they could vote for the people who would abolish the poll tax. If you had to change public policy, you had to get people in who would be willing to undo the poll tax. If you were a person of color, you had to pay it in order to cast a vote. About 6,000 women of color voted in the 1920 election in Texas, and 2,000 in Harris County.
Q: How do the changing demographics impact voting rights?
A: You already see the changing demographic in the state of Texas. So if you add up communities of color in terms of demographics, then you will see that communities of color are the majority of the population. But nobody willfully gives away political power. No group ever concedes and says, 'My time has come and gone.' So if you dilute the vote, preclude or make it more difficult for individuals to cast a ballot, or participate in the political process, then you're affecting democracy, and you're deciding that certain people should not have the same right to participate.
Q: With the last election in March, the paper printouts were a headache. Papers got jammed and created longer lines at the polls. Will it happen again?
A: All Texas counties are going to be required to have a paper printout method for the ballot. Harris County was proactive and did it earlier than others. It was such a long ballot that it jammed machines. Typically, election administrators actually take the machines out into communities and allow people to use them to see how they work efficiently. They didn't do this due to the pandemic, but they're doing that now.
Q: What is your greatest challenge today?
A: Our greatest challenge is reaching our youth and communities of color. When I became president, my contention was that if we joined together in a collaborative effort, we can only expand the effort.
Q: Any advice to voters?
Minimize the time that you're going to take to vote by doing the research beforehand. Don't stop voting midstream because it's a long ballot. Read before you go because the polling location is not the place for you to read to find out whether you want to support or oppose something. I'm very passionate about what's at stake — the electoral process, and what it means for everybody.
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