ESSENCE, October 18, 2018, by Rev. Dr. William Barber II

"Our most fundamental constitutional right in the United States of America is the right to vote. Voting in our democracy is so sacred that people in this country have marched, faced fire hoses and police batons, and even given their lives to win and protect access to the ballot box. ...

For decades, grandfather clauses, poll taxes, and literacy tests were enacted to disenfranchise Black voters. Today, voter suppression continues to hide behind the letter of the law. My home state of North Carolina has become ground zero for the fight against voter suppression in this country. ...

Ultimately, in 2016, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously voted to overturn most of the restrictive provisions of the law, admonishing the legislature for “imposing cures to problems that did not exist.” Our efforts are documented in the upcoming film, Capturing the Flag. ...

While our victory came ahead of the 2016 elections, voters in North Carolina still faced barriers to the ballot box. Districts remained racially gerrymandered and North Carolinians found themselves purged from voter rolls. This problem isn’t unique to North Carolina – voter suppression persists in every corner of our country. ..."

READ MORE: https://www.essence.com/news/politics/voter-suppression-is-not-dead/