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.

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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.

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Even before February 28, the reasons for Donald Trump’s imploding approval rating were abundantly clear: untrammeled corruption and personal enrichment to the tune of billions of dollars during an affordability crisis, a foreign policy guided only by his own derelict sense of morality, and the deployment of a murderous campaign of occupation, detention, and deportation on American streets. 

Now an undeclared, unauthorized, unpopular, and unconstitutional war of aggression against Iran has spread like wildfire through the region and into Europe. A new “forever war”—with an ever-increasing likelihood of American troops on the ground—may very well be upon us.  

As we’ve seen over and over, this administration uses lies, misdirection, and attempts to flood the zone to justify its abuses of power at home and abroad. Just as Trump, Marco Rubio, and Pete Hegseth offer erratic and contradictory rationales for the attacks on Iran, the administration is also spreading the lie that the upcoming midterm elections are under threat from noncitizens on voter rolls. When these lies go unchecked, they become the basis for further authoritarian encroachment and war. 

In these dark times, independent journalism is uniquely able to uncover the falsehoods that threaten our republic—and civilians around the world—and shine a bright light on the truth. 

The Nation’s experienced team of writers, editors, and fact-checkers understands the scale of what we’re up against and the urgency with which we have to act. That’s why we’re publishing critical reporting and analysis of the war on Iran, ICE violence at home, new forms of voter suppression emerging in the courts, and much more. 

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