A New Battle in the Fight for Voting Rights

The past ten years have seen a deluge of state laws restricting the right to vote through voter ID requirements, limits to voter registration drives, cuts to early voting, and other restrictive measures. In 2013, many states were newly emboldened by the Supreme Court’s decision devastating key provisions of the Voting Rights Act, and the assault on voting rights intensified. Now that the administration has established an “election integrity” commission to investigate the president’s unsupported claim of millions of “illegally cast ballots,” advocates fear a new battle in the fight for voting rights may be approaching. How can we most effectively defend against restrictive measures in the states and at the federal level? What affirmative reforms are possible in this political environment? And can a new approach to voting rights foster a bipartisan agreement that our democracy is strongest when everyone participates?