For years, Donald Trump and the GOP have made wild, unsubstantiated claims about widespread voter fraud as cover for stripping people of their voting rights and engaging in voter intimidation. From Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ election police arresting Black voters, to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s recent raids on Latino civil rights activists, conservatives continue to aggressively attack voting rights.
The ultra-conservative Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 takes this further, and promotes targeting election workers in multiple states, casts doubt on the legitimacy of mail-in ballots, and continues the right wing’s decades-long quest to undo the civil rights movement’s voting gains, including eliminating the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, which has been at the forefront of bringing lawsuits against counties and states that violate voting rights statutes.
What would a progressive vision of voting rights look like instead? As part of a new initiative at YES! called Progress 2025, Cliff Albright, cofounder of Black Voters Matter Fund, answers that question in conversation with YES! Senior Editor Sonali Kolhatkar on YES! Presents: Rising Up With Sonali.