As States Impose New Voting Restrictions, Concerns Mount About Access to the Polls

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Mina Kim

Sep 23, 2016 at

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Citizens vote on Election Day at Fire Station #71 in Alhambra, Los Angeles County, on November 6, 2012 in California. (Photo: Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images)

In the past six years, 22 states have passed new voting restrictions, including requiring identification at the polls and banning felons from voting. Journalist Ari Berman says voters are about to head to the ballot box with fewer rights than when Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act over 50 years ago. The author of “Give Us the Ballot” talks with Forum about the history of voting rights in America and why the current wave of voting restrictions predominately affects youth, poor people and minorities.

Related Links:

AriBerman.com
“Right to Vote? Wrong.” (Sierra Club article by Ari Berman)
New Voting Restrictions in Place for 2016 Presidential Election (Brennan Center for Justice)

Guests:

Ari Berman, senior contributing writer, The Nation; author, "Give Us the Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America"

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