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John Lewis: Good Trouble | A Magnolia Pictures Film | In Theaters and on Demand July 3rd

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John Lewis: Good Trouble | A Magnolia Pictures Film | In Theaters and on Demand July 3rd

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Using interviews and rare archival footage, JOHN LEWIS: GOOD TROUBLE chronicles Lewis' 60-plus years of social activism and legislative action on civil rights, voting rights, gun control, health-care reform and immigration. Using present-day interviews with Lewis, now 80 years old, Porter explores his childhood experiences, his inspiring family and his fateful meeting with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

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Fair Fight is a national voting rights organization rooted in Georgia. Join our fight for free and fair elections today!

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Voting should be as easy and accessible as possible, and in many cases it is. But in recent years, more than 400 anti-voter bills have been introduced in 48 states. These bills erect unnecessary barriers for people to register to vote, vote by mail, or vote in person. The result is a severely compromised democracy that doesn't reflect the will of the people. Our democracy works best when all eligible voters can participate and have their voices heard.

Suppression efforts range from the seemingly unobstructive, like strict voter ID laws and cuts to early voting, to mass purges of voter rolls and systemic disenfranchisement. These measures disproportionately impact people of color, students, the elderly, and people with disabilities. And long before election cycles even begin, legislators redraw district lines that determine the weight of your vote.

Below, we've listed some of the most rampant methods of voter suppression across the country - and the advocacy and litigation efforts aimed at protecting our fundamental right to vote.

Voter Registration Restrictions

Restricting the terms and requirements of registration is one of the most common forms of voter suppression. Restrictions can include requiring documents to prove citizenship or identification, onerous obstacles for voter registration drives, or limiting the window of time in which voters can register.

Politicians often use unfounded claims of voter fraud to try to justify registration restrictions. In 2011, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach championed a law requiring Kansans to show "proof of citizenship" documents in order to register to vote, citing false claims of noncitizen voting. Most people don't carry the required documents on hand - like a passport, or a birth certificate - and as a result, the law blocked the registrations of more than 30,000 Kansans. The ACLU sued and defeated the law in 2018. In 2020, the Supreme Court and a 10th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the ruling.

After a surge in registrations during the 2018 midterm election, Tennessee legislators imposed substantial requirements on groups that foster political participation via voter registration efforts and created criminal and civil penalties against those who fail to comply with these onerous requirements and turn in "incomplete" applications. The ACLU filed a federal lawsuit challenging the law and blocked it from going into effect in 2019.

Resources on voter registration requirements
Look up your state's voter registration requirements | States with online voter registration

Criminalization of the Ballot Box

Some states are discouraging voter participation by imposing arbitrary requirements and harsh penalties on voters and poll workers who violate these rules. In Georgia, lawmakers have made it a crime to provide food and water to voters standing in line at the polls - lines that are notoriously long in Georgia, especially for communities of color. In Texas, people have been arrested and given outrageous sentences for what amount at most to innocent mistakes made during the voting process. ACLU clients Crystal Mason and Hervis Rogers are examples of this egregious treatment.

Because of racism in law enforcement and the broader criminal legal system, criminalization of the ballot box disproportionately impacts people of color, who are more likely to be penalized. This method of voter suppression aims to instill fear in communities of color and suppress their voices in the democratic process.
More on criminalization of the ballot box

Felony Disenfranchisement

A felony conviction can come with drastic consequences, including the loss of your right to vote. Some states ban voting only during incarceration, or while on probation or parole. And other states and jurisdictions, like Maine, Vermont, and Washington, D.C., don't disenfranchise people with felony convictions at all. The fact that these laws vary so dramatically only adds to the overall confusion that voters face, which is a form of voter suppression in itself.

Due to racial bias in the criminal justice system, felony disenfranchisement laws disproportionately affect Black and Brown people, who often face harsher sentences than white people for the same offenses. Many of these laws are rooted in the Jim Crow era, when legislators tried to block Black Americans' newly won right to vote by enforcing poll taxes, literacy tests, and other barriers that were nearly impossible to meet. To this day, the states with the most extreme disenfranchisement laws also have long histories of suppressing the rights of Black people.

Felony disenfranchisement laws by state

Thirty-six states have identification requirements at the polls, including seven states with strict photo ID laws.

Cleaning up voter rolls can be a responsible part of election administration because many people move, die, or become ineligible to vote for other reasons. But sometimes, states use this process as a method of mass disenfranchisement, purging eligible voters from rolls for illegitimate reasons or based on inaccurate data, and often without adequate notice to the voters. A single purge can stop up to hundreds of thousands of people from voting. Often, voters only learn they've been erroneously purged when they show up at the polls on Election Day and it's too late to correct the error.

Election administrators properly keep voter rolls up to date by filtering out voters who have changed their address, died, or otherwise become ineligible to vote. But states often conduct such purges using inaccurate data, flawed processes, and targeting certain voters such as those with felony convictions without enforcing federally-mandated safeguards to prevent purging voters who don't even fall under the targeted group.

The ACLU has taken action against unlawful voter purges and laws that enable them. In 2019, we stopped Texas' flawed, discriminatory voter purge list that targeted naturalized citizens. This year, we blocked an Indiana law that would have allowed county elections officials to kick voters off the rolls immediately without their explicit consent or notice, or an opportunity to correct the record.

More on voter purges
Report: Purges: A Growing Threat to the Right to Vote | Congressional Testimony by Sophia Lin Lakin, Deputy Director of the ACLU's Voting Rights Project

Redistricting and Gerrymandering

Every 10 years, states redraw district lines based on population data gathered in the census. Legislators use these district lines to allocate representation in Congress and state legislatures. When redistricting is conducted properly, district lines are redrawn to reflect population changes and racial diversity. But too often, states use redistricting as a political tool to manipulate the outcome of elections. That's called gerrymandering - a widespread, undemocratic practice that's stifling the voices of millions of voters.

The Census Bureau released data from the 2020 Census in August 2021, triggering this once-in-a-decade line drawing process in most states. These new district lines will determine our political voice for the next decade.

The 2020 Census

In 2018, the Trump administration announced plans to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census, with the goal of suppressing participation of immigrant communities, stunting their growing political influence. The question would have resulted in an undercount that goes against the census' very purpose - to count everybody in this country. Accurate population data is essential in apportioning representation and public funds. The ACLU sued the administration and successfully blocked the citizenship question before the census was conducted.

The Trump Administration's Census Cover-up

Thirty-six states have identification requirements at the polls. Seven states have strict photo ID laws, under which voters must present one of a limited set of forms of government-issued photo ID in order to cast a regular ballot - no exceptions. These strict ID laws are part of an ongoing strategy to suppress the vote.

Over 21 million U.S. citizens do not have qualifying government-issued photo identification, and these individuals are disproportionately voters of color. That's because ID cards aren't always accessible for everyone. The ID itself can be costly, and even when IDs are free, applicants must incur other expenses to obtain the underlying documents that are needed to get an ID. This can be a significant burden on people in lower-income communities. Further, the travel required to obtain an ID is an obstacle for people with disabilities, the elderly, and people living in rural areas.

Voter ID Restrictions Imposed Since 2010

Who's Affected By Voter Suppression?

The short answer is all of us. Our democracy is debased when the vote is not accessible for all. But the fact is that some groups are disproportionately affected by voter suppression tactics, including people of color, young people, the elderly, and people with disabilities. The proof is in the numbers.

Across the country, 1 in 16 Black Americans cannot vote due to disenfranchisement laws.

Counties with larger minority populations have fewer polling sites and poll workers per voter.

In 2018, Latinx and Black Americans were twice as likely as whites to be unable to get off work while polls were open.

25 percent of voting-age Black Americans do not have a government-issued photo ID.

Geographic isolation is a major barrier to Native American voters due to the inaccessibility of nearby polling locations in many reservations. In South Dakota, 32 percent of Native voters cite travel distance as a factor in deciding whether to vote.

More than one-sixth (18 percent) of voters with disabilities reported difficulties voting in person in 2020.

Nearly two-thirds of polling places had at least one impediment for people with disabilities.

The right to vote is the most fundamental constitutional right for good reason: democracy cannot exist without the electoral participation of citizens. We vote because it's we, the people, who are supposed to shape our government. Not the other way around.

President Biden and states can enact measures to encourage rather than suppress voting. Automatic, online, and same-day voter registration encourage participation and reduce chances of error. Early voting helps people with travel or accessibility concerns participate. And states must enforce the protections of the Voting Rights Act.

At an individual level, the best way to fight voter suppression is to know your rights - and vote.

Tell Congress to pass the VRAA, which would reinstate critical protections against voter suppression left behind after the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act in 2013. This is even more urgent in the wake of the Supreme Court's recent decision in Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee, which significantly undercut the protections of another vital provision of the Voting Rights Act.

Know Your Rights before you get to the polling booth. Read and share our guide on what to do if you face registration issues, need disability or language accommodations, or come across someone who's interfering with your right to vote. Share the guide on Facebook and Twitter to spread the word.

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Block the Vote: How Politicians are Trying to Block Voters from the Ballot Box | News & Commentary | American Civil Liberties Union

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Voting should be as easy and accessible as possible, and in many cases it is. But in recent years, more than 400 anti-voter bills have been introduced in 48 states. These bills erect unnecessary barriers for people to register to vote, vote by mail, or vote in person.

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Listen to this episode from Who Is? on Spotify. In the United States, political power is allocated when Americans go to the polls and vote for the candidates whom they believe will best represent their interests in government.

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Podcasts

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Listen to this episode from Solvable on Spotify. Kirsten Clarke is the president and executive director of the National Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. The committee was established in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy to address the inequities confronting African Americans and other minorities.

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Yara Shahidi’s voting initiative

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We Vote Next is a creative story-telling platform to engage our generation to speak our truth, get active and vote! #WeVoteNext in 2018!

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ABC News:  The Ongoing Fight to Overcome Voter Suppression

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ABC News:  The Ongoing Fight to Overcome Voter Suppression

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You're taking a look at a big black lives matter. Banner right next to saint John's church there in Washington DC. Welcome back to our special here and slavery. Does not abolished until the black man has the ballot. Those word was spoken by Frederick Douglas back in 1865. At the end of the civil war and now here we are in 20/20. Heading towards another presidential election arguably one of the most pivotal in generations and as we've already seen in the primary season the right of the black man and woman to vote. Is still not a guarantee. Activist looks hot show grounds has dedicated her career to the notion that all black voters matter. Well on the ground when we're really excited about getting people out to bottles. Voters in the Atlanta area endured hours of alliance but just last week in the Georgia primary elections brown pulled appalled by what she solved. We're going to wait times 36 hour. African American voters it during endless lines and overwhelmed pull work. Now there's been a distinction between how black police have been treated in this country. In many ways our contemporary moment has been perfect storm in demonstrating some of the distort problems that have plagued black voting rights during the history of our nation. This year marks the 150. Anniversary of the ratification of the fifteenth amendment which states the right to vote shall not be denied on account of race. The fifteenth and admit is greeted with enthusiasm across the United States by African Americans. Because they recognized how importance moment it. That joy was short lived Jim Crow laws were passed in the south to keep blacks from the ballot box. We'll have the poll tax. The be the literacy test there was always the threat of violence and intimidation at the polls these efforts to prevent African Americans from voting will ultimately. Very successful. But then in the 1960s but the finance generation fought back peacefully. Marching for their voting rights only to be met with Billy clubs and tear gas. This country was worth living for fighting for and dying for. For civil rights icon Andrew Young the violence injured on the historic Selma to Montgomery marches was worth it. For their big prize passage of the landmark voting rights act of 1965. And that's something you had on your mind in Selma. We will Willard and the guy. Because. We knew. This country needed a voting rights act to empower them and every citizen. So that the will of the people could become the reality of violation. But new generations of black voters say those horde ore and rights have been eroded by efforts to suppress their vote. Everything from boat right deal laws the purging of voter rolls and the rejection of absentee ballots. There's a cost a tank on the civil rights. Well this in this country. That constant attack. Felt on so many fronts has pushed to 20/20 two an unprecedented tipping point. Voting choosing leaders becoming the highest priority for change we need struggles we've gone to presidential election in 2001. This is more than a vote. Our lives arrested BBA's stored dream on green and other athletes have joined the LeBron James to form a more than a vote. A nonprofit dedicated to fighting voter suppression and increasing black voting. It's the values of my platform to raise awareness to educate more on these issues that we're facing. The president critics are. Yeah. Boy peers spoke to the NBA's Atlanta Hawks is also taking his voice from the sidelines to the streets warrior doing strategy. I don't fill as if parents trust the leadership. I'm dressed I'm change. Here's the hawks are now pushing to turn state former arena home of the hawks into a polling place I think the idea thirty NBA seasons with the growing to open up the arena's and an increase voting across the country. You want to make of the voting event. If that's what it takes. I'm called Eyewitness News accountable. I think it's important for us of Feldman. That it gets tired of this is some the wait for me it's important for have to go into that system and changing. Georgia voting rights activist Mary pat Hector is trying to make today's protest movement been something more on Election Day in November. Aren't all as organizations that is any first time voters registered and into the coldest possible very excited about the November report that I can't be true. Hundred return I want is leading light in a moment but in movement. I am sitting here. And the hope and dream of playing games here I think an event because there were people who can't believe and he had ideas and. Though the from the head down there in Georgia's vote still turned out of the election there that has to give you some hope I put my hope. In them and the election is just one phase of this. Hello I'm saying is don't ever give up don't give in and keep on keep an all. Got a feeling everything's. Going to be all right. Thank you TJ.

This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.

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Video: The ongoing fight to overcome voter suppression

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You're taking a look at a big black lives matter. Banner right next to saint John's church there in Washington DC. Welcome back to our special here and slavery. Does not abolished until the black man has the ballot. Those word was spoken by Frederick Douglas back in 1865.

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Experience history. Inspire the future. | Sojourn Project

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"The goal of teaching is to be able to instill confidence and skills in a student to go along with content knowledge and relate it to the student's life. Sojourn was able to do that with me by teaching me as a high school student more than just the history of the Civil Rights Movement, but to take action and be a voice of my community..."

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Suppressed: The Fight To Vote - FULL FILM • Feat. Stacey Abrams • BRAVE NEW FILMS (BNF)

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All In:  The Fight For Democracy:  Prime Video

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All In:  The Fight For Democracy:  Prime Video

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Add your name to join Stacey Abrams and the #AllInForVoting team.

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Home | Rigged: The Voter Suppression Playbook

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Rigged: The Voter Suppression Playbook is a documentary feature chronicling how American democracy is being threatened, and what we can do to save it.

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Know Your Rights | American Civil Liberties Union

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Learn more about how to exercise your voting rights, resist voter intimidation efforts, and access disability-related accommodations and language assistance at the polls. For help at the polls, call the non-partisan Election Protection Hotline at 1-866-OUR-VOTE.

I need to register to vote

States have different voter registration deadlines and requirements, so make sure you are registered well in advance of Election Day. Voter registration deadlines vary and some states allow individuals to register for the first time and cast ballots on Election Day.

What to do

Check your registration status at Can I Vote.

If you are not registered to vote, go to vote.gov to find your options. This link will provide information about your registration options, which may include online registration.

I need to find my polling place

Every state offers options to vote in-person on Election Day, even those that primarily conduct elections by mail.

What to do

I'm not sure what to bring to the polls

Your state may require you to bring an ID or bring documents to show your residence, especially if you're voting for the first time. Make sure you're prepared.

What to do

I want to vote before Election Day

Your rights

If you cannot vote in-person on Election Day, you may be able to vote early or by absentee vote-by-mail ballot.

Some states allow any voter to vote absentee; others have stricter requirements.

What to do

Learn about your options to exercise absentee or early voting in your state.

Keep in mind that the deadline to request an absentee ballot may be before Election Day.

What are my general rights on Election Day?

Your rights

If the polls close while you're still in line, stay in line - you have the right to vote.

If you make a mistake on your ballot, ask for a new one.

If the machines are down at your polling place, ask for a paper ballot.

If you run into any problems or have questions on Election Day, call the Election Protection Hotline:

English: 1-866-OUR-VOTE / 1-866-687-8683

Spanish: 1-888-VE-Y-VOTA / 1-888-839-8682

Arabic: 1-844-YALLA-US / 1-844-925-5287

For Bengali, Cantonese, Hindi, Urdu, Korean, Mandarin, Tagalog, or Vietnamese: 1-888-274-8683

The poll worker says my name is not on the list of registered voters

Your rights

Voters are entitled to a provisional ballot, even if they aren't in the poll book.

After Election Day, election officials must investigate whether you are qualified to vote and registered. If you are qualified and registered, they will count your provisional ballot.

What to do

Ask the poll worker to double check for your name on the list of registered voters. Make sure to spell your name out for the poll worker.

If your name is not on the list, ask if there is a supplemental list of voters.

If the poll worker still cannot find your name, confirm that you are at the correct polling place:

Request that the poll workers check a statewide system (if one is available) to see if you are registered to vote at a different polling place.

If the poll worker does not have access to a statewide system, ask them to call the main election office.

You can also call 1-866-OUR-VOTE and ask for help verifying your proper polling place.

If you are registered at a different location, in most instances you will have to travel to that location to cast a regular ballot.

If the poll worker still cannot find your name or if you cannot travel to the correct polling place, ask for a provisional ballot.

Additional information

If you are turned away or denied a provisional ballot, call the Election Protection Hotline at 1-866-OUR-VOTE or 1-888-VE-Y-VOTA (en Español).

Report your experience to local election officials.

I am a voter with a disability

Your rights

Under federal law, all polling places for federal elections must be fully accessible to older adults and voters with disabilities. Simply allowing curbside voting is not enough to meet Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accessibility requirements.

In federal elections, every polling place must have at least one voting system that allows voters with disabilities to vote privately and independently. Usually, this is a machine that can read the ballot to you (for people with vision disabilities or dyslexia), and let you vote by pushing buttons (for people with mobility disabilities).

Under federal law, voters with disabilities and voters who have difficulty reading or writing English have the right to receive in-person help at the polls from the person of their choice. This helper cannot be the voter's employer, an agent of the voter's employer, or an agent or officer of the voter's union. The helper must respect the voter's privacy, not looking at the voter's ballot unless the voter asks them to do so.

Election officials (including poll workers) must make reasonable accommodations as needed to help you vote.

Election officials must provide you with help if it's possible for them to do so.

A voter with a mental disability cannot be turned away from the polls because a poll worker thinks they are not 'qualified' to vote.

What to do

You can bring a family member, friend, or another person of your choice to assist you at the polls. Do not bring your employer, or an agent of your employer or union.

If you bring a person to assist you, let the poll workers know that when you check in. They may ask you to swear under oath that you have a disability and that you have asked that person to help you. Your helper may also be required to sign a form swearing that they did not tell you how to vote.

If there are long lines and you have a physical or mental health condition or disability that makes it difficult for you to stand in line, tell a poll worker.

Tell election officials what you need. For example, if it's hard for you to stand, they should provide you with a chair or a place to sit while you wait. If the crowds or noise are hard for you, election officials can find a quiet place for you to wait and call you when it's your turn to vote.

If you are not able to enter your polling place because the pathway to it is not fully accessible, ask poll workers for curbside assistance. Also call 1-866-OUR-VOTE to report the issue.

If you have difficulty using the materials provided to make your ballot selections, review, or cast your ballot, let a poll worker know and ask for the help you need. Accessibility is the law.

If you face any challenges in voting privately and independently or are unable to cast your vote, report the problem to the Election Protection hotline at 1-866-OUR-VOTE. Trained attorneys can assist you and make sure that other voters do not experience the same problem.

Additional information

I speak English less than "very well"

Your rights

Under federal law, voters who have difficulty reading or writing English may receive in-person assistance at the polls from the person of their choice. This person cannot be the voter's employer, an agent of the voter's employer, or an agent or officer of the voter's union.

Counties covered by Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act are required to provide bilingual assistance to voters in specific languages. This means that they must provide poll workers who speak certain languages, and make all election materials and election-related information available in those languages. Check whether your county is required to provide bilingual election assistance in a language you speak.

What to do

You can bring a family member, friend, or other person of your choice to assist you at the polls. Do not bring your employer, or an agent of your employer or union.

If you live in a county that's required to provide bilingual voting assistance for a language you speak, you can request oral assistance from a bilingual poll worker and ask for voting materials, such as a ballot, in that language.

If you have trouble voting due to lack of English fluency, call one of these hotlines:

Spanish: 1-888-VE-Y-VOTA / 1-888-839-8682

Arabic: 1-844-YALLA-US / 1-844-925-5287

English: 1-866-OUR-VOTE / 1-866-687-8683.

Bengali, Cantonese, Hindi, Urdu, Korean, Mandarin, Tagalog, Vietnamese): 1-888-API-VOTE / 1-888-274-8683

Additional information

Someone is interfering with my right to vote

Examples of voter intimidation

Aggressively questioning voters about their citizenship, criminal record, or other qualifications to vote.

Falsely representing oneself as an elections official.

Displaying false or misleading signs about voter fraud and related criminal penalties.

Other forms of harassment, particularly harassment targeting non-English speakers and voters of color.

Spreading false information about voter requirements.

You do not need to speak English to vote, in any state.

You do not need to pass a test to vote, in any state.

Some states do not require voters to present photo identification.

Your rights

It's illegal to intimidate voters and a federal crime to "intimidate, threaten, [or] coerce ... any other person for the purpose of interfering with the right of [that] other person to vote or to vote as he may choose."

What to do if you experience voter intimidation

In many states, you can give a sworn statement to the poll worker that you satisfy the qualifications to vote in your state, and then proceed to cast a ballot.

Report intimidation to the Election Protection Hotline at 1-866-OUR-VOTE or 1-888-VE-Y-VOTA (en Español).

Report intimidation to your local election officials. Their offices will be open on Election Day.

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Learn more about how to exercise your voting rights, resist voter intimidation efforts, and access disability-related accommodations and language assistance at the polls. For help at the polls, call the non-partisan Election Protection Hotline at 1-866-OUR-VOTE. States have different voter registration deadlines and requirements, so make sure you are registered well in advance of Election Day.

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NPR:  A Look At Voter Suppression Tactics

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NPR:  A Look At Voter Suppression Tactics

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subscribe to The NPR Politics Podcast podcast

NPR's Michel Martin speaks with attorney Kristen Clarke about voter suppression efforts ahead of the 2020 election.

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

For the last few years, a number of states have made aggressive efforts to purge voting rolls and to make more demands of people trying to register to vote, including demanding specific kinds of ID. Historically, these efforts have tended to disproportionately affect less affluent voters and voters of color. That's why civil rights activists and lawyers have called these campaigns of voter suppression.

We've called Kristen Clarke to talk about this. She is the president and executive director of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. That's a group that was founded at the request of then-President John F. Kennedy to marshal legal talent to challenge civil rights abuses. And she's here with us now to talk more about that work.

Kristen Clarke, welcome. Thanks for joining us.

KRISTEN CLARKE: Thank you so much for having me.

MARTIN: Well, when people think of voter suppression, they might think about what they remember from the '40s and '50s, like violence, people being threatened or even beaten if they tried to vote. And I think most people would say or believe that that doesn't happen anymore. So would you tell us as briefly as you can what you call voter suppression in 2020? What does that look like?

CLARKE: Yeah. Well, voter suppression is most certainly alive and well and has taken on a slightly different form. Today, we see suppression efforts in the form of purging of the rolls, moving polling sites to hostile locations, shutting down polling sites, making it harder for people to register to vote by imposing new 11th-hour requirements. And often, these efforts tend to impact and burden certain people more than others - Black voters, Latino voters, Native Americans, students and others.

MARTIN: Many people might not remember this, but in the 1980s, a consent decree blocked the Republican National Committee from posting armed off-duty law enforcement at polling stations in minority neighborhoods. It also prevented them from sending targeted mailings to African Americans about penalties for violating voting laws - mailings which were not sent to predominately white neighborhoods, it has to be said.

That decree expired at the end of 2017 because the Democrats couldn't argue that this behavior had continued and that the Republicans had been in compliance. And so the judge said - allowed the order to expire. How much of a game-changer is this? Do you think the expiration of the consent decree is that relevant?

CLARKE: It is. That consent decree proved to be an important deterrent towards officials who often try these scare tactics aimed at discouraging and deterring people from coming out and participating. But we know historically that using law enforcement and calling law enforcement out to the polls has been a scare tactic largely aimed at voters of color.

MARTIN: Well, let's talk about that a minute, though. Why are you persuaded by that? Because you could see where other people might argue that given that there has been a lot of restiveness in the street - we've seen, you know, clashes between different groups and different communities over certain issues - I mean, what persuades you that this is actually meant to be intimidating as opposed to create a more orderly environment?

CLARKE: I'll tell you a story from not too long ago. Macon-Bibb County, Ga. - officials there sought to move a polling site from a majority-Black school to the local sheriff's office. And Black folks in that area spoke out immediately to say, look - this is not a place where people are going to be - you know, feel encouraged or feel that they can openly cast their ballot. Officials would not relent. And so we were able to go in and work with the community and got that site ultimately moved to a majority-Black church.

But it's kind of an old and familiar tactic. But the last thing that we want on Election Day is for voters to feel that they are under siege, that they are being surveilled and watched. We want polling sites to be open, free and fair environments where people can cast their ballots and have their voice heard.

MARTIN: Before we let you go, we're about seven weeks away from the election. How would you describe your priorities for these weeks going into the November election?

CLARKE: We're fighting in states that continue to use the pandemic as a reason to make it harder for people to vote. We've got suits in states that are saying that fear of the pandemic is not a reason to get access to an absentee ballot. We're fighting states that have premature deadlines by which voters have to return their absentee ballots. We're fighting states that are requiring voters in the middle of a pandemic to notarize their absentee ballot in order for it to count.

Between now and Election Day, we're working to tear down those barriers. With close to 200,000 Americans now dead from the pandemic, we just believe that people should not be forced to choose between their health and exercising the right to vote at this moment.

MARTIN: Kristen Clarke is the president and executive director of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.

Kristen Clarke, thanks so much for talking to us.

CLARKE: Thank you for having me.

Copyright © 2020 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

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A Look At Voter Suppression Tactics Ahead Of The Election

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subscribe to The NPR Politics Podcast podcast NPR's Michel Martin speaks with attorney Kristen Clarke about voter suppression efforts ahead of the 2020 election. MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: For the last few years, a number of states have made aggressive efforts to purge voting rolls and to make more demands of people trying to register to vote, including demanding specific kinds of ID.

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Join When We All Vote to make sure every eligible voter is registered and ready to vote in every election.

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"Voter suppression" is any effort, either legal or illegal, by way of laws, administrative rules, and/or tactics that prevents eligible voters from registering to vote or voting. And ever since the Supreme Court ruling in Shelby County v. Holderin 2013, Republican legislators have introduced and passed as many voter suppression laws as they can get through.
WHO ARE THE TARGETS OF VOTER SUPPRESSION?
People of color are disproportionately affected by voter suppression in comparison to white voters. Regardless of ethnicity, voter suppression also impacts women, queer and trans folk, disabled, low-income and unhoused, elderly, and college student voters. And, statistically, all of these voters tend to vote for Democrats.

WHO DOES VOTER SUPPRESSION BENEFIT?
In almost all cases, the people that benefit from voter suppression tactics are Republican lawmakers and, by extension, the corporate donors that fund them.

Voter suppression laws are only introduced by Republican lawmakers and passed in Republican-held state legislatures or chambers of Congress with little or no Democratic support. And they are generally only signed into law by Republican mayors, governors, or Presidents.

The majority of the country supports the policies of the Democratic party. And when Democrats turn out at the polls, Democrats tend to win.

Generally when a political party loses an election they reflect on that loss then adjust their agenda to better fit the will of the people. Unfortunately, the Republican party has decided that they would rather hold onto to their power by preventing Democratic voters from exercising their right to vote.

And they argue for these restrictive laws by using the false pretense that they trying to protect the integrity of our elections from "VOTER FRAUD". The only problem is...
VOTER FRAUD DOES NOT EXIST
Justin Levitt's 2014 study found 31 cases between the years of 2000 to 2014 out of ONE BILLION VOTES. And if you need to see more proof then read the Brennan Center for Justice's extensive report on THE MYTH OF VOTER FRAUD.
WHAT DOES VOTER SUPPRESSION LOOK LIKE?
VOTER I.D. LAWS - Proponents of Voter ID laws claim that ANYONE can just get an I.D. And many states offer them for free. However, "free" I.D.s have hidden costs, and are not always easy to obtain. Not everyone has a car or lives close to an agency that provides I.D. And even if they do, people may not be able to afford to take a day off from work to get an I.D., or afford to pay for the documents needed to get a "free" I.D. A recent study found that between 9,000 and 23,000 registered voters were deterred from voting in Wisconsin in the 2016 Election. To learn more, read the Truth About Voter I.D.

PURGING THE VOTER ROLLS - Notorious vote suppressor; former Kanas Secretary of State, Kris Kobach, who has been successfully sued by the ACLU multiple times for suppressing the vote, created CROSSCHECK. Crosscheck purports to be a benevolent program that compares voter roll data from state to state and removes duplicate entries to clean up the voter rolls. But, a Stanford study found that for every legitimate match Crosscheck finds, it produces nearly 200 false positives. This results in voters showing up to vote only to find that they have been purged and are now unable to exercise their right to vote.

Another purging method is "Use it or Lose it." States such as Ohio and Georgia purge voters from the voter rolls if they do not vote after a specified period of time which results in voters unable to vote.

LIMITING EARLY VOTING - Nearly every Election is held on a Tuesday. Early voting gives voters who may not be able to get time off from work, have family obligations, or any other legitimate reason an opportunity to vote before the official Election Day. States with competently implemented "no-excuse" early voting systems in place can see higher turnout numbers during the early voting period which will aid in shorter lines on Election Day allowing more voters to vote. If you cut early voting it means everyone is forced to vote on Election Day which can lead to extremely long lines which can suppress the vote.

FELONY DISENFRANCHISEMENT - In every state, but two, voters automatically lose their right to vote when they are convicted of a felony. The concept of prison is that a person serves their time and their debt is paid to society. Adding obstacles to voting afterwards, essentially extends their prison sentence because they do not have the same rights as every other citizen. Click HERE to learn more about "felony disenfranchisement". Or if you're a voter with a felony conviction who needs help registering to vote or voting, check out Restore Your Vote from the Campaign Legal Center.

SABOTAGING ELECTION INFRASTRUCTURE - In May of 2020, Republican President Trump installed a GOP loyalist and top Trump donor with conflicts of interest and zero experience to head up the U.S. Post Office as the Postmaster General. Trump continued to publicly disparage the Postal Service while his Postmaster General sabotaged the post office from within by removing sorting machines, cutting overtime, firing or reassigning experienced postal veterans, removing postoffice boxes, and changing procedure for the sole purpose of causing delays. Trump also held up coronavirus relief for Americans because legislators wanted to include funding for the Post Office in the aid package. Many Americans are hoping to vote by mail in 2020 because, as of September 12, 6.4+ million Americans have been infected with the coronavirus and 193,000+ have died.

GERRYMANDERING - Drawing electoral districts in order to favor one party, and in this case, the Republicans. After the 2010 census the GOP initiated Operation REDMAP in order to draw districts favorable to GOP candidates. This resulted in the Democrats often getting the most votes, but the GOP getting the most seats which you can see illustrated HERE. Gerrymandering is one of the greatest threats to our Democracybecause it denies legitimate representation in government.

To be fair, this is one area where you can also point the finger at Democrats, but not to the extent that Republicans do it. And even if this was an instance of "both sides do it," only Republicans are passing laws that limit access to the ballot box in order to enhance the impact of their partisan gerrymanders.

UNDERFUND ELECTION DAY RESOURCES - If the state, county, or district does not provide adequate funding to properly staff and/or equip its polling places, this will result in longer lines and longer wait times. People may not be able to physically or financially stand in line for hours and give up which effectively denies them the right to vote. Below is a video of the Georgia June 9, 2020 Primary after they closed polling places, failed to provide enough provisional ballots, and installed defective voting machines. Thousands were disenfranchised.

This drone footage shows a long line of voters waiting to cast ballots in Atlanta on Tuesday. Georgia election officials, poll workers and voters have reported major trouble with voting in Atlanta and elsewhere.

Read the latest. https://t.co/wRnW8f5tng pic.twitter.com/BVU9J9CF79
- The New York Times (@nytimes) June 9, 2020

DEFYING THE LAW - If a voter is in line to vote before polls close then they have a right to stay in line until they can cast their ballot. But, sometimes election officials will close a polling place the second it hits the official closing time which is in violation of election law. For example, during the June 23, 2020 Kentucky primary, election officials closed the ONLY polling place in Jefferson County at 6:00pm despite voters still in line to vote.

Kentucky Officials locked the polling doors at 6pm. Voters were still waiting. The people demanded the doors open. Candidates filed an injunction to extend the time. The judge granted an extension. The people are voting in Kentucky... pic.twitter.com/vcHuxSgL0a
- Rex Chapman🏇🏼 (@RexChapman) June 23, 2020

CLOSING ID OFFICES - In states requiring specific forms of ID to vote, voters without it must go through the process of obtaining it. But, on more than one occasion officials have closed agency offices that issue the IDs voters need which effectively denies them the right to vote by denying them the ability to get the ID they need.

DISINFORMATION - Voters receive official looking mailers with incorrect information on them like deadlines, polling places, and election times and dates. For example, during the 2011 Wisconsin recall election, the Koch-backed group Americans For Prosperity sent mailers to predominantly Democratic areas telling them to make sure their absentee ballots were in by August 11. The actual deadline was August 9.

VOTER INTIMIDATION - In 1981, Republicans sent armed off-duty police officers into minority neighborhoods during the New Jersey gubernatorial race claiming it was to ensure "ballot security." But, what it actually did was intimidate minority voters from casting their vote. This led to the 1982 consent decree which barred the GOP from engaging in this type of activity. However, in 2018, the consent decree was allowed to expire and the Republican party swiftly moved into action to prepare for large-scale voter intimidation in 2020 with the goal of targeting likely Democratic voters. The GOP has a stated goal of recruiting 50,000 "poll watchers" who will be deployed to polling stations visted by likely Democratic voters with the intent to challenge their right to vote.

OFF-YEAR ELECTIONS - Off-year elections have historically low turnout, so by setting elections on off-years it makes it easier for well-organized and well-funded interest groups to push their preferred candidates and policy initiatives through.

CAGING LISTS - A political party will send registered letters the addresses of people of the opposite party and if the letters are returned undeliverable then they challenge the legitimacy of that voter. The reality is that the voter may have just moved and never updated their address. Click HERE for more info.

Voter suppression is an assault on civil rights and a threat to a legitimate representational democracy. We need to replace all politicians who support voter suppression laws with people who will fight for free and fair elections for all Americans.

If you want to fight voter suppression, check out our RESOURCES page.

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Demand the Vote - What Is Voter Suppression?

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"Voter suppression" is any effort, either legal or illegal, by way of laws, administrative rules, and/or tactics that prevents eligible voters from registering to vote or voting. And ever since the Supreme Court ruling in Shelby County v. Holder in 2013, Republican legislators have introduced and passed as many voter suppression laws as they can get through.

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Facing History and Ourselves:  Voting Rights in the US

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Facing History and Ourselves:  Voting Rights in the US

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Voting rights are a fraught issue this year during the 2020 presidential election. Since the US Supreme Court struck down a key section of the 1965 Voting Rights Act in the 2013 Shelby County v. Holder decision, many states have passed laws that create barriers to voting, by limiting the types of ID voters can use, disenfranchising felons, restricting early and absentee voting, and removing voters' names from registration lists if they have not voted recently. Many of these laws are being challenged in the courts, with critics arguing that they disproportionately affect voters who are racial minorities, poor, or young. These new voting laws affected voting in the 2018 midterm elections and will continue to impact voting this year during the 2020 presidential election.

In addition, many Americans are concerned about voting practices in the upcoming 2020 presidential election. Some of these concerns are based on legitimate worries about the challenges of organizing an election during a pandemic, such as the potential for delays in counting absentee ballots and the pressures on the postal system caused by increased voting by mail. Other concerns are stoked by widespread misinformation about voter fraud and election malpractice. (See the Brennan Center for Justice Report Dirty Tricks: 9 Falsehoods that Could Undermine the 2020 Election for more information on election-related misinformation.) Despite challenges to voting, this election provides students the opportunity to influence future policy on pressing issues by voting or campaigning for candidates.

This Teaching Idea helps students explore the history of voting rights in the United States, the impact of the Supreme Court case Shelby County v. Holder, and questions around voting rights today.

What follows are teacher-facing instructions for the activities. Find student-facing instructions in the Google Slides for this Teaching Idea.

1. Explore the History of Voting Rights

Ask students to reflect on their own connections to voting. Use the Think, Pair, Share teaching strategy to give students the opportunity to discuss the following prompt:

Do you think voting is important? Why or why not?

Then, watch the TED-Ed video The Fight for the Right to Vote in the United States (4:30), which provides a brief history of US voting rights. After watching the video, discuss the following questions with your students:

Which groups of US citizens have been-or still are-denied the right to vote? Why were these citizens denied their right to vote?

When and why has the United States expanded voting rights in the past?

Extension: To explore the history of voting rights in the United States more deeply, construct a timeline of voting rights with your students using the Human Timeline teaching strategy. Key suffrage moments to use on your Human Timeline include the following:

Removal of property requirements

The Fourteenth Amendment

The Fifteenth Amendment

The Nineteenth Amendment

Suffrage for Native Americans

The Voting Rights Act

The Twenty-Sixth Amendment

Recent initiatives such as Voter ID requirements and the disenfranchisement of felons

Students can reflect on the first prompt individually in their journals. (The resource Journals in a Remote Learning Environment provides guidance for setting up student journals during remote learning.) Students can watch the video individually and asynchronously and then respond to the discussion questions during a synchronous session or asynchronously in an online discussion forum.

To teach the extension remotely, ask students to create a visual timeline-individually or in small groups-rather than a Human Timeline.

2. Introduce the Voting Rights Act and Shelby County v. Holder

The 2013 Supreme Court decision in Shelby County v. Holder provides crucial context for understanding many of the contemporary challenges to voting. In order to explore the significance of that case, students also need to know about the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which was passed to remedy severe restrictions on voting by African Americans during the Jim Crow era. (Note: Consider reading the Vox article How Shelby County v. Holder upended voting rights in America for your own background knowledge.)

In order to give your students context on the 1965 Voting Rights Act and Shelby County v. Holder, play a section of the New York Times video How Could Voter Suppression Affect the Presidential Election? Look at Georgia, from 4:37-6:52. After you finish watching, ask your students to read the "Facts of the Case" section of the case summary. Ask your students:

What was the purpose of the 1965 Voting Rights Act?

What aspect of the Voting Rights Act did Shelby County challenge?

(Note: The New York Times is offering free digital subscriptions to high school students and teachers through September 2021. Without a subscription, you have access to a limited number of free articles/videos per month.)

Then, place students in groups of four and ask each group to read the "Question" and "Conclusion" sections of the case summary. (For advanced students provide the complete majority and dissenting opinions.)

Using the Café Conversations teaching strategy, assign students to the following roles:

Shelby County representative (the Alabama county claiming the VRA is unconstitutional) Eric Holder, Jr., the former Attorney General for President Obama (defending the constitutionality of the Voting Rights Act) Chief Justice John Roberts (writing for the narrow majority of the Court and siding with Shelby County) Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (writing for the minority of the Court and disagreeing with the ruling)

Prompt students to discuss this case, from their assigned viewpoint, along with the following questions:

Why was the Voting Rights Act necessary in 1965?

Which districts were considered "eligible districts" under the Voting Rights Act and why?

Why did Shelby County challenge the Voting Rights Act in 2013?

What was the Court's opinion?

Why do you think four justices dissented?

What do you think has been the impact of Shelby County v. Holder?

Students can watch the video clip asynchronously. Then, ask students to complete their Café Conversations with their small groups either in virtual breakout rooms during a synchronous session or asynchronously during a defined time period in a discussion forum. You can ask students to use an application like VoiceThread to allow them to record their asynchronous discussions.

3. Examine Challenges to Voting in 2018

After Shelby County v. Holder overturned key provisions of the Voting Rights Act, a number of states have passed new restrictions on voting and have made accessing the ballot box more difficult for many. Georgia is one state that has enacted several new voting restrictions, and by examining them students can deepen their understanding of the significance of the Shelby County v. Holder decision.

Play the next section of the New York Times video How Could Voter Suppression Affect the Presidential Election? Look at Georgia, from 6:52-10:20. Ask your students:

What types of laws can make voting more difficult?

How can voting laws impact different groups of people differently?

Then, share the Brennan Center report What's the Matter with Georgia? with your students. You might divide students into four groups, assigning one section of the article to each group, and have them discuss the voting restrictions in Georgia using the Jigsaw strategy.

Share the Brennan Center interactive map New Voting Restrictions in America with your students. After exploring the information provided on the map, have students synthesize their thinking about it using the S-I-T (Surprising, Interesting, Troubling) strategy.

Remote Learning Note: Ask your students to watch the video clip asynchronously. To teach the jigsaw activity synchronously, assign students to work in small groups in virtual breakout rooms. Assign each group one section of the Brennan Center report What's the Matter with Georgia? Then, assign students to new breakout rooms, this time with group members who read different sections of the report.

To teach the jigsaw activity asynchronously, assign students to small groups. Ask each group member to read a different section of the Brennan Center report What's the Matter with Georgia? Students should record or write a summary of their section to share with their group members.

Students can review the Brennan Center interactive map New Voting Restrictions in America asynchronously.

4. Learn About Voting Today

Your students may have come across misinformation about voter fraud or election malpractice during the 2020 presidential election. Read the Brennan Center for Justice Report Dirty Tricks: 9 Falsehoods that Could Undermine the 2020 Election ahead of time to help you answer questions or address concerns students might have.

Ask your students to work together in small groups to brainstorm answers to the question:

How do you think voting will be different this year because of the pandemic?

Then, watch the last section of the New York Times video How Could Voter Suppression Affect the Presidential Election? Look at Georgia, from 10:20-15:00. Ask students to reflect on the video using the Connect, Extend, Challenge strategy:

Connect: How do the ideas and information in this section of the video connect to what you already brainstormed about voting this year?

Extend: How does this video extend or broaden your thinking about voting this year?

Challenge: Does this reading challenge or complicate your understanding of voting? What new questions does it raise for you?

Then, research voting rights in your own state. Use the Washington Post tool How to Vote in Your State to look up voting procedures in your state. Assign students to small groups and give each group a sample voter profile. Voter profiles could include:

Voter 1: This person just turned 18 and is hoping to vote for the first time. They still need to register to vote before the election.

Voter 2: This person is elderly and lives alone. They have voted during every election in person, but they are nervous about being around other people because of the coronavirus.

Voter 3: This person works long shifts at a hospital. They want to vote in person but may have to work on election day.

Voter 4: This person does not have a photo ID and has been moving around between friends and relatives since the pandemic began, so they don't have a stable mailing address.

Ask students to answer the following questions from the perspective of their voter and then to present their findings to the class:

Do you think your voter would be more likely to vote by mail or in person? Why?

What are all of the steps your voter needs to take in order to vote?

What are the obstacles your voter might face when voting?

Extension: Ask students to work together in groups to research voting rights in different states and present their findings to the class.

Assign students to small groups of four and ask each group member to research a different voter profile. Students can respond to the first question, watch the video clip, and conduct research on their voter asynchronously. Then, ask students to present their voter to their groups, either during a synchronous session or asynchronously by posting to a discussion forum during a defined period of time.

Additional Resources:

Use the comic Registered to teach your students about the passage of the Twenty-sixth Amendment and youth voting rights. This comic was created through a collaboration between the New York City Department of Education and Good Trouble Comics, who also created the graphic memoir March with the late Congressman John Lewis.

The documentary film All In: The Fight for Democracy examines the history of voting rights in the United States and the impact of recent voter suppression efforts. It is available to stream through Amazon Prime.

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Voting rights are a fraught issue this year during the 2020 presidential election. Since the US Supreme Court struck down a key section of the 1965 Voting Rights Act in the 2013 Shelby County v.