Read in-depth op-eds on voting rights and democracy from guest authors and Democracy Docket founder, Marc Elias. Use the drop-down menu to organize by topic.
Now, with the ghost of Jim Crow threatening to rise, it is our responsibility to carry the work further and recommit to voting rights. Congressman Lewis and countless others fought for our right to vote. It is our job now to protect it.
The truth is that Republicans have made restricting the freedom to vote a central part of their platform, and they have rejected every proposal, compromise or not, that has come their way.
We need to call these attacks on voting what they are: part of a clear attempt to move away from a pluralistic, multi-racial democracy and toward white supremacist authoritarianism. We need to remain laser-focused on what’s at stake.
Even though November 2020 was the strongest showing for LGBTQ+ candidates in history, America has a long way to go before the number of LGBTQ+ state legislative candidates rivals the diverse constituents they represent.
In every state, we need to elect secretaries of state who believe in democracy and who believe every eligible American should be able to choose their elected leaders at the ballot box. That is how we protect our democracy.
American voters are poised to face unreasonably longlines just to exercise their constitutional right to vote. No democratic country should stand for a status quo where voters have to stand in line for hours.
The legislators who stood strong against the latest attack on the franchise will have an enormous burden to carry. We must help them by speaking out and supporting the movement to protect voting rights wherever it takes us.
Now is the moment to show Senator Manchin that we do not have to compromise with corruption, racism and minority rule. Now is the moment to reveal to all of America that Republicans have rejected democracy.
It shouldn’t be easier to vote in Maine than Montana. Voting rights for our neighbors matter as much as our own, especially when the relic of white supremacy that is the Electoral College remains in place.
AVR just makes sense. Citizens should not have to opt-in to their fundamental right to vote, any more than they have to opt in to free speech or due process. It is the government’s job to make voting easy.
