Our Time Is Now: Power, Purpose, and the Fight for a Fair America

by Stacey Abrams

At the core of our American democracy is the theory of representation. We believe the people should elect the leaders who give voice to their values and ambitions. The right to vote is the cornerstone of our democratic republic, yet we have seen partisanship overtake patriotism in our process—where one party maintaining power is used to justify stripping voters of constitutional rights. Across the country, Republicans have passed laws designed to block, deflect, and deny access to the ballot. Since 2010, according to the Brennan Center, twenty-five states have heightened voting restrictions—almost entirely authored by Republican officials. Voter suppression typically targets the marginalized, the disadvantaged, and the inconvenient—those whose decisions challenge the established order of things, like college students or ex-offenders. But the effect is broader and exponentially more pronounced. These communities tend to share a common belief that political leaders should pass laws to guarantee equity and justice, and they vote that way. However, the disenfranchisement of individuals and entire populations from democracy through the booby traps of registration, access to the ballot, and ballot counting works to divide groups, often leaving the privileged unscathed by the process but hurt by the outcomes. Representative democracy is a brute force exercise, where who counts matters. Rigging the game affects all the players on the team, even those who are not targeted. Consider...