voter suppression
September 14, 2022 -
As deputy director of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, Volz was a leader in the fight to pass Amendment 4, which returned the right to vote to over a million Floridians with past felony convictions. He talked with Facing South about Florida's ongoing attacks on returning citizens, mobilization for the midterm elections, and the future of the movement to end felony disenfranchisement.
August 9, 2022 -
A recent study from the nonpartisan Brennan Center for Justice details how racism is behind state laws that suppress voter participation. The analysis comes as the nation gears up for midterm elections in which voters of color will play a crucial role.
August 5, 2022 -
Though they turned out in unprecedented numbers in the 2020 election, voters with disabilities still face significant barriers to casting a ballot in some places. Efforts are now underway in several states across the South — the region with the highest percentage of residents with disabilities — to remove obstacles and improve access for this growing voter demographic.
July 7, 2022 -
The U.S. Supreme Court will consider a fringe legal theory that would give state lawmakers even more leeway to gerrymander, suppress voters, and possibly overturn presidential election results. Four conservative justices agree with the theory, and the appeal out of North Carolina will reveal if the court's majority does. A proposed constitutional amendment could provide a fix.
July 5, 2022 -
Youth turnout set records in the 2020 presidential election, and organizers across the South are now building on that momentum to get young people to the polls this midterm election year. Polls show the Supreme Court's decision to overturn abortion rights is a motivating factor.
April 7, 2022 -
Republican lawmakers in Florida and Georgia passed legislation this year to establish “election police" to fight voter fraud, despite no evidence any widespread fraud has occurred. Voting rights advocates say the measures serve only to intimidate communities of color and further damage Americans' confidence in elections.
December 1, 2021 -
Voting rights activists are growing impatient as Senate Republicans' use of the filibuster continues to obstruct popular pro-democracy legislation. They warn that the window for meaningful legislative action is closing as international observers sound the alarm about rising U.S. authoritarianism.