By Prentiss Smith
For decades, I have watched America present itself as the world’s great experiment in democracy — imperfect, often hypocritical, but forever moving toward a more inclusive union. As a political chronicler and observer, I see that promise under assault.
Across this country, Republican legislatures and conservative legal organizations are engaged in a coordinated effort to weaken, dismantle, and ultimately neutralize the protections of the 1965 Voting Rights Act — one of the most important pieces of legislation ever passed in my lifetime or in American history, for that matter.
When lawmakers aggressively close polling places in Black neighborhoods, purge voter rolls, restrict mail voting, slash early voting, eliminate drop boxes, redraw districts to dilute Black political influence, and make it harder for poor and elderly citizens to vote, they are not protecting democracy.
The Voting Rights Act was born out of blood, sweat and tears, mostly blood and tears. People were beaten on the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Citizens were terrorized, jailed, humiliated, and murdered simply for demanding the right to vote.
The Voting Rights Act changed America because it finally forced the nation to confront the truth: certain states could not be trusted to protect voting rights on their own. And now, sixty years later, we are watching a slow-motion attempt to return to that era — not with billy clubs and fire hoses, but with lawsuits, legislative maneuvers, and carefully crafted talking points.
Rather than expanding its appeal to meet that reality, too many Republican leaders have chosen a different strategy — reduce participation. I call it picking your voters, instead of your voters picking the politicians.
If your ideas cannot win in a fully functioning democracy, the temptation becomes limiting who gets to participate in that democracy. That is dangerous territory.
And Democrats are not blameless in this situation, they must also stop responding with weakness and procedural niceties. Stop whining and get to work building coalitions. Voting rights cannot remain a seasonal talking point dusted off every election cycle. If democracy itself is on the line, then leaders must act like it, and give it the urgency it deserves.
I believe that Congress should restore the full power of the Voting Rights Act. Federal protections should automatically trigger when states demonstrate repeated patterns of voter suppression. Election Day should become a national holiday. Early voting should be expanded, not restricted. These are the changes that many people, including me, have asked for.
History teaches us something uncomfortable: democracies rarely collapse overnight. They erode piece by piece. One court ruling. One district map. One closed polling location. One purged voter roll at a time. That’s what I am seeing every day, and it’s troubling.
Here in Louisiana, we have already seen warning signs that should concern every citizen regardless of political party. Efforts to challenge or suspend legally cast ballots after the fact, confusion surrounding voter eligibility, and constant battles over district maps all contribute to growing public distrust in the electoral process.
And let’s be honest about who is most affected when uncertainty and barriers are introduced into voting: working people, elderly citizens, poor communities, and voters of color who often lack the resources, flexibility, or legal support to fight back. Every time legally cast votes are placed under suspicion, democracy itself suffers a wound. Let’s hope it is not a fatal wound! And that’s my take. smithpren@aol.com