“If the negro knows enough to fight for his country he knows enough to vote; if he knows enough to pay taxes for the support of the government, he knows enough to vote; if he knows as much when sober, as an Irishman knows when drunk, he knows enough to vote”.
The right to vote is the foundation of every democracy and none more so than ours.
The struggle to secure this right spans the entire life of our Nation, requiring a ceaseless effort of democracy in-the-making.
Recent threats renew this ageless struggle. Over forty Trump-loyal, Republican-led state legislatures are intent on tilting election outcomes. NIneteen Red states have adopted laws designed to suppress the votes of students, minorities and others.
Trump himself, enabler-in-chief of the Big Lie of election fraud, and no friend of the rule of law, promises revenge against those who insist on free and fair elections.
To so willfully undermine the right to vote is an act of cowardice. Full stop.
Read MoreHow did this come about? In 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court paved the way for a new wave of voter suppression laws by prematurely eliminating federal supervision of states with a history of voter suppression. as required by the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Unsurprisingly, such states include today’s worst offenders – Arizona, Texas and Georgia – each having raced to enact new vote-suppressing, anti-democratic laws.
Liberated from rules of fair play, these and other states, including Florida, have quickly returned to historic practices of voter discrimination, and at the same time making vote far more difficult for for other urban, rural, older, disabled and Covid-concerned voters.
Such restrictions are not “inconvenient” – they are discriminatory and anti-democratic.
New forces. however, are aligning against this shameful wave of vote-suppressing laws:
First, as many Republican-led states adopt these vote-suppressing measures, other states are moving to reduce barriers to voting.
Second, the U.S. Department of Justice has resumed enforcement of voting rights as a top priority of the Biden administration.
Third, national voting legislation to restore voting rights was nearly at hand but for the vote of one Senator.
Fourth, President Biden and Vice President Harris are devoted to bringing the moral power of the presidency to highlight this shameful effort to revive Jim Crow laws of the past.
Fifth, a non-partisan majority of Americans favor a level playing field.
That proves wrong Minority Senate Leader Mitch McConnell, who belittles corrective national legislation as “a solution in search of a problem.”
Our Card Game mimics these vote-suppressing laws – they undermine your chances of winning.
Ready to play Blackjack?
And try our Quiz? Think of it not as a test but an opportunity to reflect on the struggle of so many to win the unimpeded right to vote.
Explore our Timeline: Voting Rights, a companion to our Quiz. It highlights our Nation’s long struggle over the right to vote. Decade by decade, century by century, you will gain a greater appreciation of what’s at stake for you, the Nation and the hope it offers as the world’s greatest living democracy.
Armed with this information and your natural sense of fair play, eExplore these resources:
- See our weekly Blog.
- Subscribe to award-winning sources of voting-and-election news, opinion, discussion and analysis.
- See our Links of the Week.
- Search topics of interest.
- Play Blackjack.
- See our Card Deck profiles of 54 top “Big Lie” enablers.
- Explore Timeline: Voting Rights, then try our Quiz.
- Register to vote.
- Volunteer with voting rights organizations.
- Support the good works of these remarkable organizations.
- And support national legislation to assure a level playing field for voters in all states.
Play and Learn, Be Informed and Get Involved!