A Presidential Candidate is Speaking Out About Voter Suppression

Chiraag Bains, the director of legal strategies at Demos, a progressive public policy organization, also applauded the increased attention that election integrity seems to be getting.

“We are in a moment where there is a great focus on these issues,” he told WhoWhatWhy. “The health and inclusiveness of our democracy are at the center of the debate right now.”

Bains argued that US democracy is facing multiple crises. Foremost among them is the “fundamental issue of millions of people who are not participating in our elections.” This problem disproportionately affects people of color and low-income Americans, said Bains, who added the “crisis of voter suppression is as old as this country.”

He also noted that the most recent election showed that Americans “are in a very different place [politically] than their representatives.” Specifically he pointed out that a lot of pro-democracy ballot initiatives passed across the country that could never have moved through state legislatures.

Read more at Who.What.Why.