Voting is a right of citizenship, and the opportunity to exercise it should be made easier, not more difficult.

Congress could go a long way to fixing the problems here. Lawmakers must pass a new voting rights measure with meaningful provisions to deter state legislatures from making changes to voting procedures that could impede voting rights. As we’ve written before, several changes could protect voting rights and address concerns about security and fraud without disenfranchising voters.

First, an overhaul of the Voting Rights Act should include a federal provision removing signature matching as a legal means of verifying voter identity. A signature is too subjective, and there are much more reliable mechanisms for verifying identity.

Second, the federal government should fund a Postal Service program to provide ballot delivery for free via certified mail. A date-stamped receipt could be part of the process so that voters know their ballot was received, and when.

Third, a national voter registry managed by the nonpartisan Federal Election Commission could be used as a safeguard. States would still maintain their own voter rolls and conduct their own elections, but would be required to share those records with the FEC to detect instances of double voting. Death records also should be made available to the FEC so that deceased voters can be removed from the rolls.

Fourth, the Congress should reconsider a return to preclearance or a streamlined remedy to review potentially discriminatory changes in election procedures before they take effect. In the Shelby decision, the Supreme Court did not rule out the possibility of preclearance as a provision to protect voting rights. The court only suggested that Congress should legislate a new formula or mechanism that more accurately reflects recent patterns of discrimination.