Election Bias
The new playbook for voter suppression
Cockburn, Andrew
Publisher: Harper's Magazine
Year Published: 2020
Resource Type: Article
On the systemic/bureaucratic voter suppression of People of Color (POC) and working class communties in the United States.
Abstract:
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Excerpt:
Undoubtedly, the most powerful enabler of the U.S. voter suppression in the recent years has not been foreign intervention but the ocnservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court. Its 2013 Shelby Country v. Holder decision gutted the 1965 Voting Rights Act, nullifying a provision that required states and localities with a history of discrimination to get "preclearance" from the Justice Department or the D.C. district court before changing their election rules.
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The results of the Shelby decision were felt immediately. The Brennan Center for Justice reported that states previously covered by the 1965 act began purging voters, mostly minorites, at record rates as soon as the justices had spoken. Although the Roberts court's (admittedly outrageous) decision in Citizens United has received far more attention and protest with regard to its effect on fair elections, Shleby's assault on democracy has been at least as drastic and far-reaching.
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