"It’s also clear what we must do: restore the race-conscious protections of the Voting Rights Act and enact affirmative measures to expand ballot access across the country."
The counter to this neoliberal vision involves, then, a more thorough moral critique—and a more transformative policy agenda—that tackles the underlying forces of corporate power, market inequities, structural racism, and anti-democratic political institutions. That progressives are finally talking in these expansive terms represents a potentially transformative inflection point in American politics.
"The bill that the governor is expected to sign into law establishes blatant wealth discrimination in the restoration of rights process. The bill will create two classes of returning citizens… [and] under this bill your ability to pay will govern whether you can participate in democracy.”
There is an ideal pathway for knocking down a barrier that has kept so many voting-eligible citizens away from the polls: automatic voter registration.
“In today’s decision, the court recognized that Spanish-speaking voters are not second-class citizens and should not have to wait for their voting rights to be fully protected.”
“You definitely get the feeling that they’re trying to run the numbers up — that they want to be able to say that there’s a lot of voter fraud out there."
We have faith that with the tireless work of the grassroots organizers, we will one day live in an America where every election — in every corner of the country — is free and fair for everyone.
Democrats have proposed H.R. 1, a bill that would make our democracy more equitable, improved access for vulnerable groups to have a real say in how we are governed, and roll back voting restrictions that have disproportionately harmed people of color.