A note on voting rights ahead of Election Day

When I was in law school and just starting out my career, I had zero intention of getting into politics. I was studying civil rights but not really sure where that would take me.

Then, in the summer of 2013, while I was interning at the White House under President Obama, the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act.

I knew what that would mean for Texas. The same day as that ruling, then-Attorney General Greg Abbott moved to implement the strictest voter ID laws in the entire country. And just like that – I knew exactly what I’d be doing after law school.

My home state of Texas has a long history of voter suppression, mostly designed to stop Black and brown people from having a voice in our democracy. And I wanted to do something about it.

So I went back to Dallas and became Voter Protection Director for Battleground Texas – helping Wendy Davis in her fight against Greg Abbott. We launched a statewide hotline and a poll watcher program, and I was on the ground helping people jump through hoops to get their new IDs.

It was rarely a straightforward process. Tracking down birth certificates, Social Security cards, and other ways of proving your identity took time and money that a lot of working folks don’t have. In that way, it was basically a poll tax.

I remember one woman who had moved to Texas from Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina. She didn’t have any of those documents, and there was no way for her to get them in time, so that year, she was just disenfranchised. I’m still upset at the ways our system failed her.

But I also remember the very first young person who I helped through every step of the process: getting an ID, registering, finding their polling place, and making it there on Election Day. It was an incredible feeling helping someone take part in our democracy for the first time – and that’s what keeps me fighting for our voting rights to this day.

Right now, this fight is as important as it’s ever been. Because here we are 10+ years later and the same Texas Republicans are systematically dismantling our right to vote.

I’m talking about the blatant gerrymandering we all saw in Texas this summer. On Donald Trump’s orders, the Texas GOP redrew our state congressional maps in the middle of the decade, without a new census to justify it, in a shameless attempt to hold on to power in the House.

I’m still furious. Furious at Gov. Greg Abbott, Attorney General Ken Paxton, and Sen. John Cornyn for refusing to listen to voters who overwhelmingly opposed the new maps. Furious because these guys are elected to serve Texas families, and instead they’re enabling the authoritarian regime of a wannabe king. Furious because voters should choose their politicians, not the other way around.

The best thing we can do in moments like this is turn our fury into action. That’s what Democrats across the country are doing. Here in Texas, we are challenging the new maps in the courts and making strategic plans to win in spite of them. In blue states like California and New York, they’re drawing their own maps to combat these so the Republicans’ scheme will backfire.

I support what Democrats are doing because we have to fight fire with fire. But it doesn’t get at the root of the problem, and the fact that a lot of Texans – and folks across the country – are going to find themselves without representation or accountability in their leaders.

That’s why, when I get to the Senate, I am determined to pass a nationwide ban on gerrymandering.

But it’s not just gerrymandering. The Trump administration has election monitors from the Department of Justice showing up at polling places. They’ve attacked mail-in voting and anything that makes it easier for people to vote. They’ve made a habit spreading lies about voter fraud – especially in races they think they might lose.

We must take everything the Supreme Court struck down in the Voting Rights Act and codify it into federal law that protects and expands the right to vote. I don’t trust the current Supreme Court to protect voting rights any more than I trust the Texas GOP, and neither should you.

I’ll leave you with something that inspires me to keep doing this work, even on the toughest days: They wouldn’t be trying to stop us from voting if our votes weren’t so powerful. That’s why we have to keep fighting and keep voting. Don’t let them silence you.

Aly and I proudly cast our early votes in Dallas last week, and we’ll keep doing so every chance we get – because that’s how we create the future that we want for our kids and yours.

If there’s an election in your community this year, go vote! And if you’re unsure about your registration status, your polling place, or what’s on your ballot, vote.org is a good place to start.

Thanks for reading, for voting, and for never giving up.

Colin

Colin Allred is a civil rights lawyer who has spent his career fighting to protect the voting rights of Texans. He understands more than anyone the detrimental effects of Republican gerrymandering and voter suppression.

He’s running for Senate to safeguard the core pillar of our democracy. And with multiple polls showing him statistically tied with his MAGA extremist opponent, Ken Paxton, Colin has a real chance to win. But to finally flip Texas blue, Colin needs to raise $50,000 every day from grassroots donors like you. Will you help send a voting rights champion to the Senate by chipping in right now?

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