Stopped At The Box: Voter Access Ahead Of The Midterms

WAMU 88.5

Published November 1, 2018 at 9:06 AM CDT

A voter exits a polling place during early voting at the Bordeaux Branch of the Nashville Public Library, October 30 in Nashville, Tennessee.

Twenty-three states have restricted the ability to vote since 2010. This includes efforts such as passing voter ID laws, purging names from voter rolls and restricting early voting times or locations.

And the right to vote as a U.S. citizen is not guaranteed by the Constitution.

We’ve heard prominent stories about voter suppression from Georgia to North Dakota.

With less than a week to go before the midterm elections, what issues of access are people experiencing at the ballot box?

And what can voters do about it?

Produced by Bianca Martin. Text by Gabrielle Healy.

GUESTS

Kat Calvin, Founder, Spread the Vote; @KatCalvinLA

Ari Berman, Senior reporter, Mother Jones; author, “Give Us the Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America;” @AriBerman

Johnny Kauffman, Reporter, WABE news in Atlanta; @JohnnyIK

OJ Semans, Executive director, Four Directions, a nonprofit that advances native voting rights; member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe

For more, visit https://the1a.org.