The Psychological Toll of Voter Suppression

The Psychological Toll of Voter Suppression

The Psychological Toll of Voter Suppression

Despite a series of voting rights victories, ballot box bullies will still try to dissuade voters.

Copy Link
Facebook
X (Twitter)
Bluesky
Pocket
Email

Though activists are celebrating a slate of recent victories against voter ID laws, the fight isn’t over. Republicans in Florida are purging eligible voters from registries, and using intimidation tactics to convince Sunshine State citizens of their political inefficacy. Nation columnist Melissa Harris-Perry breaks down why voting rights can never be a partisan issue: they are crucial to our national social (and mental) well-being.

—Christie Thompson

For more voter suppression coverage, check out The Nation and Colorlines.com’s joint project, Voting Rights Watch 2012.

Support The Nation’s June Fundraising Campaign

With the midterm elections now firmly upon us, the question is whether Democratic candidates will do more than merely occupy ballot lines as mild alternatives to the red-hot crisis that is Donald Trump.

As Trump spends over $1 billion a day on a globally destabilizing war on Iran and admits that he doesn’t “think about Americans’ financial situation,” millions across the country are struggling with the surging costs of essentials. Democrats must seize this moment and advance bold, small-“d” populist ideas—not settle for cynical caution that once again snatches defeat from the jaws of victory.

The Nation elevates progressive ideas, movements, and elected officials achieving real change across the country into the national conversation. At the same time, our journalists are exposing how crypto and AI-funded super PACs are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to knock out candidates they oppose, reporting on the devastating impact of the Supreme Court’s evisceration of the Voting Rights Act, and sounding the alarm on attempts by red states to quickly redraw electoral maps, disenfranchising Southern Black voters.

We can play this critical role because of support from readers like you. This June, we’re raising $20,000 to power The Nation’s independent journalism in the run-up to November’s immensely consequential elections.

It’s in our power to build a more just society, and your support at this critical moment brings us closer to that bold vision. I hope you’ll donate today.

Onward,

Katrina vanden Huevel
Editor and Publisher, The Nation

Ad Policy
x