Moyers On Democracy recently published a new oped by FSFP Legal Director Ron Fein, FSFP President John Bonifaz, and FSFP Board Chair and Senior Legal Advisor Ben Clements on the growing threats to voting rights across the country and the urgent need to pass the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.

“Over 250 bills have been introduced in 43 states to make it harder to register and/or vote. These bills aim to disenfranchise millions of Americans — especially people of color,” say the authors.

The co-authors go on to identify the following tactics state legislators backing these voter suppression bills are trying to use to prevent millions of Americans from exercising their constitutional right to vote:

• Block people from voting early or by mail
• Block people from voting in person 
• Block people from registering to vote
• Purge people from the voting rolls

They also identify a separate tactic used by voter suppression forces: voter intimidation. And, as one example, they cite how “a private mercenary company…was recruiting ex-special forces operatives to patrol polling places in Minnesota,” illegal voter intimidation under the Voting Rights Act which Free Speech For People challenged in federal court on the eve of the election last November and stopped.

“We must fight on several fronts: defensively against state legislation to make it harder to register or vote; affirmatively for federal (including both the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act) and state legislation to expand or make permanent measures that make it easier for all citizens to vote; and affirmatively in court to enforce the laws vigorously to protect the right to vote,” say the authors.

Read the entire piece here.