Powerful forces in the US and abroad are spending a lot of money and effort on undermining democracy. In 2017, we tried to call them out on it when others were silent.
There probably isn’t a topic that we focused on more in 2017 than election integrity. With good reason. There are forces at work in the US and abroad that are working to undermine democracy. That’s bad enough. What’s even worse is that they are succeeding.
We at WhoWhatWhy believe strongly that any eligible voter who wants to cast a ballot should be able to do so. Unfortunately, a lot of powerful people in the United States don’t feel this way and we will continue to hold them to account next year.
Unlike many in the media, we believe election integrity is an issue that must be covered all the time — and not just every four years.
That is also why we will launch a new site early next year in which we will update you weekly on who is trying to undermine democracy and how.
Protecting our precious franchise. Photo credit: DonkeyHotey / WhoWhatWhy (CC BY-SA 2.0) See complete attribution below.
Want to Improve Election Integrity? Lock Up Vote Suppressors
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Voter suppression works, but President Donald Trump’s new election integrity commission is unlikely to do anything about the problem…especially because it is chaired by a prominent architect of voter suppression laws. But we have some ideas that would help.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Photo credit: Gage Skidmore / Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)
The Troubling Voting Rights Record of Jeff Sessions
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With the confirmation of Sen. Jeff Sessions, the Senate could deal yet another blow to the Voting Rights Act. The Alabama Republican will appear before the Judiciary Committee today.
Justice Clarence Thomas joins liberals to corral NC racial gerrymander. Photo credit: DonkeyHotey / WhoWhatWhy (CC BY-SA 2.0) See complete attribution below.
North Carolina Tried to Make Jim Crow Great Again
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If you want to design your state laws so that they suppress the African-American vote, don’t use North Carolina as a model.
Pennsylvania voter ID information from my polling place November 6, 2012. Photo credit: Sarah Goslee / Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
GOP Plan to Suppress the Rising Millennial Vote: How Will They Do It?
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The Republican-championed voting requirements aim to reshape the changing electorate in their favor, cut millennial voters out of politics, and reassert control over a crumbling coalition.
Photo credit: Cory Doctorow / Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Hackers Eviscerate Election Tech Security…Who’s Surprised?
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DEF CON attendees remind us just how easy it is to bypass laughable voting machine safeguards. At least they got the mainstream media to cover this issue for once.
Voting rights march. Photo credit: Lauren Shiplett / Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
Voters with ‘Ethnic’ Names Score Big Win in Georgia
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The voting rights of minorities are under attack in Georgia — as they are in many GOP-controlled states. This month, however, voters with “foreign” names booked an important win in the Peach State.
Moral Monday protest in Raleigh, North Carolina. Photo credit: Pilar Timpane / Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
How North Carolina’s Republicans Are Fighting Democracy
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Whether through gerrymandering, voter ID laws, or gubernatorial restrictions, North Carolina has become ground-zero for Republican led voter suppression.
Photo credit: IIP Photo Archive / Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0)
The Coming Voting Rights Battle: Access vs. Accountability
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Like so many important subjects, the future battle over improving our election system is about technical issues. Don’t let the geek factor throw you off: whether we emphasize accessibility for the disabled or a reliable paper trail is a very big deal for us all. The question is: Can we have it all?
Photo credit: ACLU
ACLU Seeks Evidence of Election Commission’s ‘Preordained’ Agenda
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The ACLU has submitted FOIA requests to prove Trump’s “Election Integrity” Commission has rigged its investigation in order to validate voter suppression tactics.
Photo credit: Danny Howard / Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Are Americans Beginning to Care about Election Integrity?
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While experts are relieved to see some states finally taking cyber threats seriously, they say the nation as a whole still isn’t where it needs to be to prevent future interference by foreign or domestic forces.
Photo credit: Adapted by WhoWhatWhy from US map (Ali Zifan / Wikimedia – CC BY-SA 4.0), donkey (Yasuki Ichishima / Flickr – CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) and elephant (Andrew Dyson / Flickr – CC BY 2.0).
What Will/Can the Supreme Court Do about Partisan Gerrymandering?
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The Supreme Court’s upcoming ruling in Gill v. Whitford may be partisan gerrymandering’s most significant legal battle yet. Law professor Justin Levitt discusses why it matters, how we got here, and what we should expect.
Photo credit: Richard Ricciardi / Flickr (CC BY 2.0) and David Mulder / Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Did Talk of Election Hacking Do More Harm Than Good?
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Election integrity activists are at odds over whether raising too many concerns about the security of US elections did more harm than good.
Photo credit: Adapted by WhoWhatWhy from Mark Warner / Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0) and Verified Voting.
Virginia Says “No” to Touchscreen Voting
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The state is off to a good start after decertifying its highly vulnerable DRE voting machines. But it still has work to do if it wants truly secure elections.
Related front page panorama photo credit: Adapted by WhoWhatWhy from voting lines (C. J.™ / Flickr – CC BY-NC 2.0).
