We recently celebrated 100 years of a woman's constitutional right to vote, but for many, the battle for that right continues to this day.
Throughout our history, the right to vote has been treated more like a privilege. Black Americans were consistently turned away from polls through racist voter suppression tactics that included poll taxes, literacy tests, and unchecked threats of lynching for those who dared to exercise their right.
These discriminatory practices left Black Americans disenfranchised for over a century after gaining the right to vote. The Voting Rights Act, passed in 1965, brought an end to these unforgivable practices when it outlawed state-sanctioned voter suppression.
Black voter registration increased by nearly 70% after it was passed. But despite its success, the Supreme Court struck down the Voting Rights Act in 2013 and now allows states to change voting laws without federal government clearance.
Since then, we have seen a resurgence of voter ID laws, strategic shuttering of polling places, and purge of voter rolls -- all of which disproportionately impact Americans of color. And now, the Trump administration is forcing voters to choose between their well-being and their vote by mounting an attack on vote-by-mail and the USPS during a global pandemic.
That’s why now, 100 years after women won the right to vote, we must continue the fight to protect the right to vote for ALL Americans.
Thank you for standing with us.
-A Woman’s Place
