Democracy Docket Opinion Writers Covered Crucial Voting Rights Issues in 2024
Democracy Docket’s opinion writers range from professors to activists to lawyers, creating exclusive content just for our readers. They’ve provided their unique perspectives on a variety of topics like President-elect Donald Trump’s tactics to weaken our democratic system, voter ID laws, U.S. Supreme Court rulings and reform, ballot initiatives, the role of sheriffs in democracy and more.
Here are all of the guest columns published on our website throughout 2024.
Cameron Tiefenthaler
Tiefenthaler is a student at Miami University in Ohio and a Dr. Anne Moses fellow for IGNITE National.
Ohio’s Voter ID Law Doesn’t Just Harm Students Like Me
Instead of cracking down on so-called voter fraud, Tiefenthaler wishes Ohio’s state legislature was enacting voter-friendly policies, such as same-day voter registration, something over 20 states already offer.
Cathy Albisa
Albisa is the vice president of Institutional and Sectoral Change at Race Forward.
Autocrats Are Hiding Behind the Robes of Justice
The Supreme Court is simultaneously the least democratic institution of our three branches of government and the final bulwark tasked with protecting our democracy. It plays a deeply contradictory and essential role, which depends on maintaining an increasingly fragile legitimacy.
Ceridwen Cherry
Cherry is the legal director of VoteRiders, the nation’s leading organization focused on voter ID.
New Research Ahead of 2024 Confirms Voter ID Laws Impact Millions
Throughout a career as a voting rights litigator, Cherry has repeatedly seen the impact of tightening ID restrictions on voters. The myth perpetuated by some legislators that “everyone has an ID” is simply not based in reality.
Christina Harvey
Harvey is the executive director of Stand Up America, a proud daughter of labor and a native of West Virginia. She now lives in New York City with her 13-year-old daughter and husband.
Why One Parent Has Become a “Supreme Court Voter”
During September’s debate, Trump bragged about appointing the three right-wing justices to the Supreme Court who overturned Roe v. Wade, ensuring Harvey’s 13-year-old daughter and millions of other girls will grow up in a country where the government has more control over their reproductive health and future than they do.
Dawn Penich
Penich is the communications director for Arizona for Abortion Access.
Abortion Is On The Ballot in Arizona
Today, the vast majority of Arizonans support the freedom to make their own health care decisions about pregnancy and abortion with their doctors, but extremist politicians have imposed dangerous abortion bans that put politicians, not women, in control of reproductive health care.
Deborah Franzblau
Franzblau was a mathematics professor at CUNY/College of Staten Island from 1996 to 2021. In April 2023, she and Jim Brennan, former member of the NY State Assembly wrote the article, ”Does Voting by Mail in New York Really Require a Constitutional Amendment?,” which analyzes the Massachusetts and Pennsylvania decisions.
Can the New York Early Mail Voter Act Survive Its Constitutional Challenge?
Since 2020, mail-in voting has become a charged partisan issue. Predictably, a group of Republicans, led by U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), filed a constitutional challenge immediately after the bill was signed.
Greta Bedekovics
Bedekovics is the associate director of democracy at the Center for American Progress and a former policy advisor for U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) on the Senate Rules Committee.
How the Freedom to Vote Act Could Have Changed the 2024 Election
In January 2022, Bedekovics watched from the U.S. Senate floor as the Freedom to Vote Act was defeated by a filibuster after the majority of senators voted to pass the legislation. It was a surreal culmination of years of tireless work for her colleagues, herself and many representatives and advocates.
Janai Nelson
Nelson is the president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.
A Strong Democracy Requires True Representation
In the preview for the forthcoming biopic about Shirley Chisholm’s trailblazing 1972 presidential run, an audience member interrupts Chisolm’s address by calling out cynically, “You sound just like every other politician.” Chisolm shoots back: “Do I look like every other politician?”
Jessica Pishko
Pishko is an independent journalist and lawyer who focuses on how the criminal justice system and law enforcement intersect with political power. As a contributor to Democracy Docket, Pishko writes about the criminalization of elections and how sheriffs in particular have become a growing threat to democracy.
Every Vote Counts Unless the GOP Doesn’t Like It
Caddo Parish, Louisiana shows that Americans don’t need to wait for increased bouts of disinformation or the presence of armed militias at ballot boxes. Voter suppression is already happening, aided and abetted by local GOP parties, state and county officials and the courts.
In Arizona’s Most Populous County, There’s a New Sheriff in Town
This kind of election, one where the incumbent sheriff has resigned and enabled a chosen replacement to take office, subverts the democratic process and shows how sheriff elections, while nominally the voter’s choice, often offer no choice at all.
Kari Lake Wants Arizona Sheriffs To Enforce Abortion Ban
After complaining that Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes (D) had vowed not to enforce the state’s 1864 law banning abortion, Kari Lake said, “The only people who can enforce that law are our sheriffs. And we need to start asking the sheriffs if they’re willing to enforce that. I don’t think they are.”
Can Sheriffs Endorse Candidates While in Uniform? This One Thinks He Can
The day after a New York jury found Trump guilty of 34 felonies, on the opposite coast in California, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco filmed what he would later describe as an “impromptu” video in what appears to be his official sheriff car, a vehicle paid for by taxpayers.
The Arizona Sheriff Behind Trump’s Extreme Immigration Plan
Ex-Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio was allowed to run amuck for over 20 years and deported tens of thousands of people thanks to state and federal laws that enabled his reign of terror.
True the Vote, Sheriffs and the Big Grift
Not only is there no cause for law enforcement to involve themselves in election administration, but these sitting sheriffs are aligning themselves with people who spread lies and steal money for a fake cause.
Sheriffs Are Ready To Challenge Election Results
In March of 2024, at the Ahern Luxury Boutique Hotel in Las Vegas, “constitutional sheriffs” like Washington State’s Sheriff Bob Songer and Michigan’s Sheriff Dar Leaf took to a makeshift stage, stood next to the stars and stripes and proclaimed that they were ready to challenge the 2024 presidential election results, using force if necessary.
Katy Shanahan
Shanahan is an attorney and activist in her home state of Ohio where she continues to fight for fair maps and expansive voting laws in the Buckeye State. As a contributor to Democracy Docket, Shanahan writes about the state of voting rights in Ohio as well as redistricting both in Ohio and across the country.
Ohio’s New Motto: Give Us The Ballot
Give us the ballot and we will elect leaders who reflect our values under maps that meet the needs of our communities. Give us the ballot and we will chart a course for our beloved Ohio that aligns with the people’s vision, not that of out-of-touch extremist politicians.
Ohio AG Pulls Out the Stops to Block Voting Rights Amendment
It’s a tale as old as time in Ohio, but Republican officials are again using their authority to thwart efforts to expand the people’s power. But unlucky for them, the coalition behind an expansive voting rights amendment isn’t backing down from the fight.
Ohio’s Democracy Pays the Price for LaRose’s Political Ambition
Frank LaRose lurched to the right, flipped on democracy issues to tow the party line, rigged our maps, tried to undermine majority rule and it still wasn’t enough. And along his path of unbridled political ambition, our democracy has paid the ultimate price.
Keith Thirion
Thirion is the interim co-president and vice president of strategy at Alliance for Justice. As a contributor to Democracy Docket, Thirion writes about the U.S. Supreme Court, judicial reform and the importance of state courts.
Between Yachts and Flags, It’s Time for Supreme Court Accountability
Maya Angelou warned us: “When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.” Just how many times do the conservative Supreme Court justices have to show us who they are before we respond accordingly?
The Supreme Court Only Cares About the Wealthy and Powerful
If you don’t already have money and power, the current Supreme Court majority doesn’t care about you. That must be our major takeaway from the 2023–24 term, because it not only explains almost every egregious decision the Court made, but also speaks to why the current ethics corruption on the Court is such an urgent concern.
The Supreme Court’s Next Attack on Medical Decision-Making
This upcoming term, the U.S. Supreme Court is poised in the name of conservative extremism to do even more damage to our ability to make decisions with our own doctors — and like in Dobbs, the Court might gut one of its own precedents in the process.
What Apathetic Death Penalty Rulings Tell Us About the Supreme Court
If justice means anything to our country, it should at least mean that we don’t execute people who are likely innocent. As the Supreme Court’s conservatives have made it harder to fight the death penalty over the years, we’ve learned more about their warped sense of justice.
The Last Chance To Confirm Biden’s Fair and Qualified Judges
With the election of Trump to once again serve as president, the next few weeks are the last opportunity to confirm President Joe Biden’s nominees to our district and circuit courts. Every judge the Senate confirms during the lame duck is one fewer vacancy Trump can fill when he takes office.
Lala Wu
Wu is the executive director and cofounder of Sister District.
How This Season’s SCOTUS Rulings Could Give Conservatives More Power Over State Policy
An under-the-radar consequence of the Supreme Court’s 6-3 conservative supermajority is that it is poised to hand over unprecedented power to state governments, many of which are — not coincidentally — controlled by Republicans.
Lauren Popper Ellis
Popper Ellis is general counsel at The States Project (TSP). Her experience at TSP preparing for the 2020 presidential election, including researching the role of state legislatures in the 2000 Bush v. Gore election, has been a driving factor in TSP’s research and strategy to protect democracy through work in state legislatures.
This November’s State Legislative Elections Are Key To Protecting the Presidential Election
When Trump went back on the ballot, conventional wisdom swung right back where it started: underestimating the danger posed by state legislatures. As in 2020, that view is dangerously myopic but, with enough attention and resources, this significant risk could still be reduced.
Martin Luther King III
King is the oldest son of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King. As a global human rights activist, King III continues his father’s legacy by leading the Drum Major Institute.
Sounding the Alarm: The 8th Circuit’s Discordant Note on Voting Rights
Limiting citizens’ avenues to challenge voting discrimination, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision obstructs the very progress ardently pursued by King’s father and others.
Meghan Meehan-Draper
Meehan-Draper is the executive director of the Democratic Governors Association.
Democratic Governors’ Judicial Appointments Have Never Mattered More
In 2022, we watched as the majority Republican-appointed U.S. Supreme Court ended nearly 50 years of legal precedent by overturning Roe v. Wade in their Dobbs decision, meaning the battle over the future of abortion rights is once again taking place in the states.
Noah Bookbinder
Bookbinder is the president of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), which brought the 14th Amendment case against Trump on behalf of six Republican and unaffiliated Colorado voters.
The 14th Amendment’s Disqualification Clause Was Made for This Moment
The U.S. Constitution sets out the rules of our democracy. It is no more anti-democratic to say Trump can’t run because he engaged in insurrection than it is to say Zendaya can’t run because she is 27 or George W. Bush can’t run because he already served two terms.
Peter Robins-Brown, William Most
Robins-Brown is the executive director of Louisiana Progress and Most is an attorney at Most & Associates, a civil rights law firm based in Louisiana that brought this lawsuit.
The Lawsuit Fighting for Fair Representation in Louisiana’s Capital City
Without a legal remedy, the people of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana’s most populous county, will have to spend at least the next six years living under a misrepresentative local district map that stifles their political voice and exacerbates the parish’s many difficulties, including high poverty and crime rates.
Rakim Brooks
Brooks is a public interest appellate lawyer and served as the president of Alliance for Justice until this past summer. As a contributor to Democracy Docket, Brooks writes about issues relating to our state and federal courts as well as reforms to our judicial systems.
Where Are the Judges Who Know How To Fight for Workers?
An Alliance for Justice report from 2022 examining the nation’s circuit courts found that 68% of appellate judges were former corporate attorneys and 28% were former prosecutors. By contrast, just 6% of the federal judiciary was made up of what we called “economic justice” judges.
The Justices Must Choose: Trump or the Constitution
The U.S. Supreme Court heard Trump’s appeal from the Colorado Supreme Court decision disqualifying him from the state primary ballot. When the justices decided to take up Trump’s disqualification, the matter immediately became the biggest case of the term.
Alabama’s IVF Ruling Is Exactly What Conservatives Have Been Promising for Years
Citizens in state after state have affirmed that they don’t want the government in their bedrooms or making decisions about their bodies. Still, the elected justices of the Alabama Supreme Court saw an opportunity to take the next step in their crusade for fetal personhood ruling that embryos are entitled to the same legal protections as a minor child.
Supreme Court Mifepristone Case Forecasts Decisions Worse Than Dobb
Brooks can still feel the painful blow Justice Clarence Thomas struck in his Dobbs concurrence. After the conservative majority had already stripped away a half-century-old right protecting bodily autonomy (with the weakest of legal arguments), Thomas just couldn’t let the win sit.
The Supreme Court Homelessness Case Threatens Our Basic Humanity
Is homelessness, in and of itself, a crime? That is the question that has risen to the highest levels of our judicial system. And sadly, the same forces that told you the government shouldn’t be able to force you to buy health care seem poised to say every person must have a landlord — or face imprisonment.
Between Yachts and Flags, It’s Time for Supreme Court Accountability
Maya Angelou warned us: “When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.” Just how many times do the conservative Supreme Court justices have to show us who they are before we respond accordingly?
Robert J. McWhirter
McWhirter is a constitutional law expert and a practicing criminal defense and civil rights lawyer in Maricopa County, Arizona. In 2022, he published a book, “Fixing the Framers’ Failure: The 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments and America’s New Birth of Freedom,” an analysis of how individual liberty has evolved in the U.S. Constitution.
How Far Can Democracy Bend Before It Breaks?
Trump whined to the U.S. Supreme Court that it was “undemocratic” to take him off the ballot after he tried to undemocratically disenfranchise the majority of Americans who voted against him in 2020. Now, Trump crows about his “beautiful” Supreme Court win that he gets to stay on the ballot despite being an insurrectionist.
Sara Hadad
Hadad is the chief campaigns officer for Run for Something.
Redefining “Politicians” in 2024
The need for diverse and representative leadership to create real change and inspire future leaders has never been more pressing than it is now. We’ve seen attempts to limit representation play out in states like Alabama, Georgia and Louisiana, where the GOP-controlled state legislatures gerrymandered district maps and violated the Voting Rights Act.
Sena Mohammed
Mohammed is the executive director of Our Voice, Our Vote Arizona, a member-led organization committed to advocating for sustainable progressive public policies that address the most pressing issues in Arizona’s Black communities.
Black Voters in Arizona Could Be the Reason Harris Wins in 2024
Pundits and politicians have, in recent years, spent a lot of time talking about the Black vote in Georgia and the Latinx vote in Arizona. Rarely do they focus on the Latinx vote in Georgia and the Black vote in Arizona — but they should.
Rep. Terri A. Sewell (D-Ala.) and Brian Lemek
Sewell represents Alabama’s 7th Congressional district and is the ranking member of the Elections Subcommittee on the House Administration Committee. She is the author of the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. Lemek is the founder and executive director of Defend the Vote Action Fund.
Trump’s Nomination and Immunity Affirm the Need for Pro-Democracy Bills
In Trump’s rambling speech at the Republican National Convention, he — as did many of his surrogates — repeated lies about the 2020 election. It was another disturbing reminder of the threats to our democracy, to our right to vote and to fair representation.
Tiffany Muller
Muller is the president of End Citizens United / Let America Vote, the leading anti-corruption and voting rights organization with more than four million members nationwide.
The Legitimacy of the Supreme Court is at Stake in November
Since Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, the American people have felt an impending sense of doom.
