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WATCH: WGAW PAC Panel on Voting Rights
WGAW member Veena Sud interviews national voting rights experts about the threat of voter suppression.
(9/18/2020)
With 46 days until election day, voting rights advocates are sounding the alarm on election integrity and voter suppression. Last Wednesday, two of the nation’s leading experts, Kristen Clarke of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and Michael Waldman of the Brennan Center for Justice, joined WGAW member Veena Sud (The Stranger, The Killing) for an in-depth discussion of this urgent threat to our democracy, presented by the WGAW Political Action Committee (PAC).
With remarks from WGAW PAC Board member Allison Abner (When We Rise, Narcos), the event was co-sponsored by the Committee of Black Writers, Latinx Writers Committee, Career Longevity Committee, and Writers Education Committee.
According to Clarke and Waldman, voters are facing systemic barriers—exacerbated by the pandemic—that are suppressing the vote in what would otherwise be a record-high turnout election. North Carolina has required that voters have their absentee ballots notarized in order for them to count. Several states reject ballots when a voter’s signature doesn’t match the one on file, and do not notify the voter or provide an opportunity to cure the “defect.” Ohio officials have mandated that a county can only have one ballot drop box, which will disproportionately burden denser urban counties with higher proportions of Black voters. Officials in Texas and Tennessee have determined that fear of contracting COVID-19 isn’t a valid justification to receive an absentee ballot, which will force vulnerable voters to put their lives on the line to cast their ballots.
Unfortunately, two important, common sense bills that would make it easier to vote have stalled in Congress. The For the People Act (H.R.1) would create a national voter registration program, make Election Day a federal holiday, replace gerrymandering with non-partisan commissions, and limit efforts to purge voting roles. The John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act (H.R.4) would make it easier to vote and restore the Voting Rights Act, which was gutted by the 2013 Supreme Court decision in Shelby County v. Holder. Both bills passed the House and wait on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s desk.
The Lawyers’ Committee and Brennan Center are working diligently to break down the barriers to voting that have been erected, through public education and lawsuits targeted at discriminatory laws.
Other efforts to suppress voter turnout have come from President Trump, whose actions and rhetoric seek to undermine the legitimacy of the election; from right-wing extremist groups like True the Vote, which announced plans to intimidate voters at polling sites around the country; and from Russian cyberattack operations.
Despite these factors, Waldman and Clarke were heartened by the civic movement growing in response to these efforts, and encouraged writers to take a few simple actions to protect the vote.
Make a plan now for how you intend to vote—and make sure friends and family have plans, too. Since most poll workers have traditionally been elderly citizens, a group more likely to experience complications from COVID-19, advocates anticipate a massive shortage of poll workers on Election Day. (In the disastrous Wisconsin primary, for example, Milwaukee went from 178 polling places to 5 because poll workers didn’t show up.) Those who can should volunteer to become a poll worker by signing up at lavote.net or powerthepolls.org if you live outside of Los Angeles County. Report problems if you see them by calling 866-OUR-VOTE, a non-partisan election protection hotline.
Finally, when you do cast your ballot, support representatives who will make it easier to vote in future elections and fight to save our democracy.
Watch the full video of the event to learn more about the issues.
Visit the members-only page to learn more about the WGAW PAC.