How Voting Rights Advocates are Winning the Fight Against Voter Suppression

If the story of the 2016 election could be coined in one phrase, it would be this: The year communities of color fought back against voter suppression efforts…and won. While states across the country are rushing to erect barriers to the ballot box, grassroots organizations and voting rights advocates are pushing back. Hard. While the media may be still obsessed with potential voter fraud and voter intimidation, the real story is how these communities are winning right now.

The biggest win of the year was in North Carolina. Suing on behalf of the NC NAACP and impacted voters, Advancement Project and our co-counsel shut down what was the most egregious attempt to silence voters of colors in decades. North Carolina’s legislature tried to wipe out opportunities to vote by cutting back early voting, eliminating the opportunity to register and vote on the same day, and requiring strict photo identification that did not include student IDs, among other things. They tried to make it harder to vote for Black, Latino and elderly voters and students — but they failed. Not only did they fail, but the court recognized that the law was discriminatory.

When Florida Governor, Rick Scott attempted to silence the voice of Black and Brown voters by refusing to extend the registration deadline after Hurricane Matthew, the community pushed back. Noting the closure of election offices, the delay of naturalization ceremonies, and the mandatory evacuation of millions of Floridians, a federal judge extended the voter registration deadline by one week, allowing more voters to register after a suit was filed.

Election officials in Macon-Bibb County, Georgia tried moving a polling location in a Black community to a sheriff’s office, a move that would have a chilling impact on voter turnout. They had no idea what they started. Our partner, New Georgia Project waged a full campaign, knocked on every door in the impacted communities three times, petitioned, and got the polling location moved to a church.

In Ohio, when tens of thousands of voters were illegally purged from the voter rolls, voting right advocates made a full court press to have these voters restored. Organizations like the Unity Coalition of Ohio encouraged Black voters across the state to verify their registration status and vote early ahead of Election Day.

Without the full protection of the Voting Rights Act, states are reviving Jim Crow tactics to prevent voters of color from casting a ballot. The lesson these states should be learning from the 2016 election cycle? Create barriers to the ballot box for voters of color at your own risk. Should you seek to do so, an army of voters, community organizations, and legal experts will be fighting you every step of the way.