voting rights

November 19, 2018 - The text of Georgia Democratic gubernatorial nominee Stacey Abrams' Nov. 16 non-concession speech in which she acknowledged that Republican former Secretary of State Brian Kemp would be the state's next governor and announced plans for a lawsuit over election misadministration and the launch of a group to fight for electoral integrity in Georgia.

November 15, 2018 - Voters in states across the South faced difficulties including long lines, closed polling places, malfunctioning machines, and voter intimidation. There were also registration issues that forced some voters to cast provisional ballots, which aren't necessarily counted.

October 31, 2018 - When Southern state constitutions were rewritten during Reconstruction, the drafters created new limits on lawmakers and took the power to choose judges, governors, and local officials from politicians and gave it to the voters. But today, some state legislatures are chipping away at these checks and balances. 

October 9, 2018 - Voting rights advocates are mobilizing in the Carolinas to ensure people affected by the disaster are able to access the ballot in the upcoming election.

September 26, 2018 - After former Confederate states drafted progressive constitutions that allowed black men to hold office for the first time, there was violent resistance to black power at the local level. During the Jim Crow era, legislatures rewrote those constitutions to give themselves broad power to override local governments.

September 6, 2018 - Students across the South are working to more easily exercise their right to vote, starting with raising awareness about the inequity in voter ID laws across the region.

July 20, 2018 - With President Trump nominating a judge with a record of hostility to voting rights to the U.S. Supreme Court, state courts and constitutions are likely to play an increasingly critical role in protecting those rights — but those institutions are under political assault by conservatives.