Read in-depth op-eds on voting rights and democracy from our contributors, guest authors and Democracy Docket's founder, Marc Elias. Use the drop-down menu to organize by topic.
President Biden said, “This is the moment to decide to defend our elections, to defend our democracy.” The Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act is the law we need at this moment. History will be watching.
In state capitals around the country, right-wing lawmakers are preparing to decide the 2024 presidential election. The GOP knows that if they can maintain control of key state legislatures this November, they can capture the White House in 2024 — no matter what voters say.
As the chief elections officer of California, a lifelong advocate of voting rights and as a daughter of the Jim Crow South whose parents fought for their right to vote, I’m calling on Democratic leaders to act boldly on behalf of our most sacred American value.
The Senate being the Senate and Republicans being Republicans, it was always going to come down to this: Democrats alone need to save democracy. The time is now. There is no time left to waste.
Now, a compromise bill, the Freedom the Vote Act — based on the For the People Act and a framework announced by Sen. Joe Manchin earlier this summer — offers Democrats a path forward. This is the vehicle that can become law.
As Black women born and raised in the South, we know all too well the painful history of voting discrimination in this nation. We grew up listening to the stories of literacy tests, poll taxes, and other barriers to the ballot box.
If the bill is enacted, more citizens will be able to have their votes counted. And, those of us fighting suppression laws in court will have the tools necessary to achieve fast, consistent victories.
We cannot count on the courts to defend the right to vote. It will be legislation, not litigation, that ensures our democracy is strong and that our federal elections in 2022 and beyond are free and fair.
Not all bad laws come in big packages labeled voter suppression. Not all disenfranchisement tactics make the nightly news. Yet, regardless of the size of the law, the tragic result for democracy is the same.
The GOP in Texas can feel a diminishing grip on power, and in its thirst for control, has sold its soul to discrimination replacing constitutional protectionism with a rollback of voting rights for the disenfranchised.
