Voting Rights

In his recent Wall Street Journal column, Gerry Seib gives only a partial diagnosis for what ails our democracy and points toward a partial remedy. He's right about one thing though, the dis-ease many Americans feel is dangerous to the future of self-governance, so we best get this right.

Slate's Jamelle Bouie lays it out plain as day, we live under minority rule engineered by changing the rules of our elections through vote suppression and gerrymandering targeting certain populations. It's long past time we talk about it.

The North Carolina case has an element not present in the Wisconsin or Maryland cases. Bob Phillips, executive director of Common Cause North Carolina, called it the "so-called smoking gun."

Democracy Wire welcomes guest author Hedrick Smith, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and documentarian whose newest documentary, The People v. The Politicians will air on MSNBC this summer. Democracy Wire will feature Smith's writing and videos leading up to the air dates. Today, Smith talks with the Rev. Dr. William Barber of North Carolina, who reminds us of the morality at the heart of our democracy, our fundamental belief in human dignity that each of us has an equal say in the future for our families, communities, and nation.

Today, Common Cause issued a new report examining how corrections industry influence, felony disenfranchisement and prison gerrymandering fuel mass incarceration and undermine democracy. Democracy Behind Bars looks at our broken criminal justice system and how it is manipulated for the benefit and profit of the prison industry. The report goes on to examine the work going on in the states to restore voting rights to citizens who have served their time and to curb mass criminalization and incarceration.

Damon Effingham, acting director of the government watchdog group Common Cause, described the incident as "a catastrophic failure" of access to voting. "For decades, the MVA has been one of the main avenues for Americans to register to vote," Effingham said in a statement. "Tonight's news represents a catastrophic failure by the MVA in their duty to ensure every eligible Marylander has access to their right to vote." Effingham pointed out that the provisional ballots won't be counted until the second Wednesday after Tuesday's primary.