The U.S. has a deep history of suppressing the voting rights of non-white voters, especially in the South. While in 2020, you would expect that everyone would have equal access to voting, that simply isn’t the case.
This is a detailed video about how the Supreme Court overturned the Voting Rights Act of 1965 which has enabled many Southern states to enact voting changes to suppress the minority vote. The most obvious change being shutting down voting locations in areas mostly inhabited by minorities.
In simple terms, the Voting Rights Act prevented many Southern states (who had a history of suppressing the black vote) from making voting changes without federal approval. By invalidating this Act, the Supreme Court enabled these states to change their policies without federal oversight.
The John Lewis Voting Advancement Act would have reinstated federal oversight into Southern states’ voting policies. It was passed by the Democratic-led House of Representatives in December of 2019 (with almost full support from Democrats and almost full rejection from Republicans). This bill has not been considered or voted upon in the Republican-controlled senate though.
For even more information about this key issue, I strongly recommend watching the documentary All In: The Fight for Democracy.
