Well, basically they felt it was important to have the election. By 1968, 385 Black people had been elected to office across the South. I asked the Republican Party chair in Wisconsin to explain his thinking at the time, why they were so intent on in-person voting. It's not slowing down. States have a responsibility to run elections, and each has a different policy on mail-in ballots. They said it best in the episode: if your vote didnt matter, they wouldnt be trying to keep you from voting. The Florida law against ex-cons voting as well as Trumps inaccurate statement about voter fraud are two different ways of suppressing votes. Many of the experts we spoke to were hopeful that we may be at an inflection point heightened awareness and renewed will might have the power to bring about significant reform. Here's how recounts work. Whose Vote Counts, Explained is a three-part limited series that's a part of the larger Explained franchise produced by Vox. Im running for the Supreme Court to stop. I'm not going to feed into what they want us to do, which is not vote. Leonardo DiCaprio, Selena Gomez and John Legend lend their voices to this incisive, informative deep dive into U.S. voting. We are marching today to dramatize to the nation and dramatize to the world that hundreds and thousands of Negro citizens are denied the right to vote. if(typeof ez_ad_units != 'undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[580,400],'studybreaks_com-medrectangle-4','ezslot_2',120,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-studybreaks_com-medrectangle-4-0');The Voting Rights Act of 1965 outlawed poll taxes and established government oversight of voter registration if an area had less than 50% non-white people registered to vote. Look at whats going on right now! Are mail-in votes actually fraudulent? Voting is an American right, or at least we would like to believe it is. But Will They Cast Ballots? Explain how the vote by mail process works. This time around, Leonardo DiCaprio, Selena Gomez and John Legend. We are simultaneously faced with a global pandemic, climate change, systemic racism/inequality, and a lack of competent leadership in the White House. States that were notorious for voter suppression now had to get federal approval if they wanted to change any laws regarding voting. You can also contribute via. What marginalized populations? The first is a formal way of not letting a certain group of people vote, and the latter is an attempt to discourage people from trusting the voting system. Why is the right to vote in America still a fight? 1867. When I heard Melody McCurtis say that, the drama in Wisconsin came into sharp focus. We're talking about uncharted territory tonight, gone from the Democrats to the Republicans. And I don't claim that there is massive voter fraud in the United States. In the electoral college system, the candidate with a majority of votes in a state will receive all of the states electoral votes. One of these ways would be through challenging Black voters absentee ballots through accusations of fraud. You almost have to be an attorney in order to understand how to register and vote successfully in Wisconsin. And then that's what's required for the ballot to be counted on Election Day. Remove these ten words. That closely watched contest between Jill Karofsky and Daniel Kelly was hanging in the balance. Im celebrating social distance-wise [cheering] with my friends and my colleagues. The series is narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio, Selena Gomez, and John Legend. We believe in peaceful/non-violent protests and I would like to request the rest of media to focus on 95% of the protests that are peaceful and working effectively with positive changes happening daily. On Sept. 10, he tweeted Sending out 80 MILLION BALLOTS to people who arent even asking for a Ballot is unfair and a total fraud in the making. But not every vote is created equal. Issues voters are concerned about like gun control, education and student-debt forgiveness are not being solved because the party in power does not represent the majority of the population. At the end of the day, when you look at the problems, they're in the large, urban areas. I kind of debated back and forth between going to the polls, not going to the polls. I was too afraid that what if I got sick? 2023 Hollywood Insider News Entertainment & Culture. There's no end in sight." I think were seeing elected officials, specifically on the Republican side, that are playing politics with peoples lives. He's never had any actions, never done anything in the area of trying to investigate or go after election fraud." If the person is registered to vote, why is it unfair to send them a ballot? Stars Arnold Schwarzenegger Carol Anderson Carol Berkin I was born on Bloody Sunday. But when I was at the Justice Department, I worked in the Civil Rights Division, and my job there was enforcing federal voting rights laws, including the Voting Rights Act. The right to vote is at the foundation of America's democracy. ANDREW HITT, Chmn., Republican Party of WI: We believed that with the right amount of preparation, we could hold a safe election. Wisconsin Recount Targets 2 Democratic Strongholds, Home to Black and Hispanic Voters, Threats to Election Officials Piled Up as President Trump Refused to Concede, As Biden Clinches Pennsylvania, Securing a Presidential Win, the Trump Campaign Promises More Litigation, Election Commission 'Not Aware of Any Irregularities' as Trump Campaign Calls for Wisconsin Recount. According to Whose Vote Counts, Explained, 18 of the 25 countries with the highest turnout rates hold elections on weekends, unlike the U.S. Belgium, Australia, Mexico and Greece consider voting to be a duty similar to jury duty. In a world plagued by ghosts, three teens band together as paranormal investigators, risking what little they have to unravel a diabolical conspiracy. It's going to lead to a tremendous fraud, and we're trying to stop it. The unsolicited ballots refer to the ones sent automatically to registered voters in nine different states, as well as Washington DC. Especially when it comes to such a hot-button topic. Hank Sanders represented the defendants in one such case brought by the U.S. attorney in Alabama at the time, Jeff Sessions. That was the landscape in the days leading up to the April 7 election as more than 1.3 million voters in Wisconsin were requesting absentee ballots. Those are real hurdles for people, particularly in a pandemic. JILL KAROFSKY, Candidate for WI Supreme Court: Im Jill Karofsky. 10 months ago. It would take a week for election officials to tally the ballots. The electoral college has become the source of heated debate, with many calling for it to be abolished and for the use of a simple popular vote. We sat down in September for an at-times tense interview. Trump and Others Disagree. These are the ones that Trump has a problem with. An example is ex-convicts, a group represented in the episode by Florida resident Desmond Meade. I dont know that Ive seen anything as reckless and irresponsible with the public health, Bernie Sanders saying holding this election amid the coronavirus outbreak is dangerous. Look who, right there. How does the system work, and can it be fixed? When people say "the south side," that's code for "Latinx folks.". gives an in-depth examination of how important it is to vote. These modes of suppression arent used by accident, its because people in power dont want citizens to vote against them, as they state in the episodes. CLAIRE WOODALL-VOGG, Exec. I'm not seeing it right now.. People on the other side of this equation have frequently said, we have an issue with voter suppression in the United States, not an issue with voter fraud. For April 7, a lot of people was not able to vote, so thats why we're trying to avoid this and we're not trying to have April 7 happen again. Although a presidents term is only four years, the Supreme Court justices he or she selects serve for life, often for decades after the presidents term ends. All of a sudden the possibility of inclusion began to just grow. Good morning, folks, and thanks for joining us on this Monday, April 6. They had been helping Black residents fill out their ballots and mailing them. Well, I got interested in this topic in the 1990s, when I was first a poll watcher. Many of the same kinds of problems showed up in other states that held elections in the months that followed. Or requiring a witness address for an absentee ballot. It was my impression that Jeff Sessions thought that those legal cases would stop Black folks from not only using absentee vote, but would stop Black folks from voting in the numbers that Black people were voting. Each and every voter ID law is a real threat to voting rights in America. Last edited on 19 November 2022, at 00:44, "Whose Vote Counts, Explained review a star-endorsed exploration of a crucial topic", "Netflix's Whose Vote Counts, Explained Review: The Grim Reality of the Voting System", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Whose_Vote_Counts,_Explained&oldid=1122684721, This page was last edited on 19 November 2022, at 00:44. Whose Vote Counts, Explained debuted on Netflix on September 28, 2020. Areas like Milwaukee, where we'd been talking to anxious voters. Leonardo DiCaprio, Selena Gomez and John Legend lend their voices to this incisive, informative deep dive into U.S. voting. Leonardo DiCaprio, Selena Gomez and John Legend lend their voices to this incisive, informative deep dive into U.S. voting. Browse more videos. The crush of absentee ballot applications added chaos to an election that included not just the presidential primary but thousands of local races as well. Kansas voters sided with abortion rights in August. The law barred voting discrimination and originally targeted seven Southern states that had a pattern of disenfranchisement. Voting by mail is wrought with fraud and abuse and people don't get their ballots. 2. Downloads available on all plans except Basic with ads. The final margin was over 10 points, and if someone had told me before the election that we were going to win by more than 10 points, I would have told them they were absolutely crazy. He worked around the clock to get the state government to allow ex-cons to vote. If youre not aware of which one is which between Trump and Joe Biden, then youve got some work to do. In our months of reporting, elections officials told us they were underfunded and overworked and increasingly fearful of what would happen in November. It tapped into a fear that the push for absentee ballots would favor Democratic turnout, and Wisconsin became their early battleground to resist it. On this particular issue with voter ID, yes, he was wrong. I do believe that there is an attack on our democracy right now. In 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Shelby County. Joshua Valdez is an entertainment journalist who likes to write about the complexities of his favorite movies and TV shows, often relating them to real-world issues. There was basically no interest. How did this come to be so prominent a part of the conversation, if as you say there's been scant evidence? Its one thing to be attacked by the local power structure. A few days before we interviewed von Spakovsky, one of the most prominent Republican lawyers, Ben Ginsberg, who oversaw the 2000 Bush-Gore recount, publicly criticized the database and rejected the notion that fraud was a big problem. They absolutely do not exist. Scott Walker led an onslaught of voting changes in the state. At every chance he got, he was talking about voter fraud, voter fraud. We are simultaneously faced with a global pandemic, climate change, systemic racism/inequality, and a lack of competent leadership in the White House. The series does an okay job of explaining the voting system. Not allowing someone to vouch for another voter. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); 2022 Hollywood Insider Corp. All rights reserved. Half a dozen changes after the Shelby decision. Youve given us a mandate for true reform and I appreciate that. Although the registration date has passed in most states, some have same-day registration. How can the system be fixed? Sign up for the Learning about the different ways politicians suppress voting could leave viewers discouraged, but knowing how far we have come could also be empowering. Most of the bills that I've worked on have been making sure that dates and times and processes and procedures are in place. And he insisted that the database shows a wide variety of election fraud cases. He has no idea what he's talking about. In the April primary, these Wisconsin voters faced barriers to casting their ballots. Ive been studying American elections for years, but Ive never seen anything like this moment: the threat of a constitutional crisis over an election where the votes of many Americans, especially people of color, may not count. If the person is registered to vote, why is it unfair to send them a ballot? All Rights Reserved. Whose Vote Counts, Explained was released on September 28, 2020, on Netflix. Rather than gossip, he focuses on how events in the entertainment world reflect on society at large. Subscribe toHollywood InsidersYouTube Channel, by clicking here. Our starting point: March 17, the day Wisconsin said the coronavirus pandemic would not affect its upcoming primary election, scheduled for just three weeks away. Unless Congress can rework that formula. Whose Vote Counts, Explained S01 E01. We are a severely poor community. But the idea that absentee ballots were susceptible to widespread fraud would live on. In all these states that we've looked at, studies have shown. Wisconsin is very, very likely to be the tipping point of the presidential election in November. You can read our recap of the show's previous one-off special episode by clicking these words. like Indiana, which have had photo ID laws in place now for more than six years. And when people in the Bush administration got in there, very ideological, very right-wing people, they began to change the mandate of the Department of Justice from instead of protecting voters who were facing disenfranchisement, they started talking about voter fraud. Take a look at how long the lines already are in Milwaukee of voters waiting to cast their ballots. FRANK C. "BUTCH" ELLIS JR., Shelby County Attorney: I think the Voting Rights Act made a tremendous change. Some states have created drop-off boxes to restore faith in the system. The series consists of three half-hour episodes: The Right to Vote, Can You Buy an Election?, and Whose Vote Counts. The first one, narrated by, writes And even when they get the right, legislators (mostly white males) create laws to make it difficult if not impossible for those marginalized populations to actually cast a vote., Lets face it: this upcoming election is unlike any other. How key Democratic Senate candidates would tackle Covid-19, Kamala Harriss controversial record on criminal justice, explained, Watch: Who the Electoral College really benefits, A definitive case against the Electoral College, 11 ways to fix Americas fundamentally broken democracy, To achieve racial justice, Americas democracy must be fixed, The real fix for gerrymandering is proportional representation, Watch: Why America needs automatic voter registration, How to fix Americas voter registration system so more people can vote, The Supreme Court is about to hit an undemocratic milestone. Jon and Jo Ann Hagler on behalf of the Jon L. Hagler Foundation. In the presidential debate, he campaigned for solicited ballots, which refers to requested absentee ballots. Well, actually that's not true of the majority of African Americans. We decided that they were "voter persecution cases. Simple mistakes like using the wrong color ink or not signing on the envelope can cause your ballot to be discarded. . The ballots must be postmarked by Election Day, otherwise somebody could cast their ballot on the day after the election.". Legislators knew at the time the law was passed that some Wisconsinites didn't have those forms of ID, they knew it was on the order of several hundred thousand people and they knew that people of color were even less likely to have those kinds of ID. Thats about 44 million ballots not 80 million and they will be going to Republicans as well as Democrats and independents. Dir., Black Leaders Organizing for Communities: Milwaukee is incredibly segregated. On top of that, Ellis said, even making small changes like the location of a polling place required time-consuming paperwork and costly legal fees, a hardship for the county. that's what the Voting Rights Act was intended to stop, and it does. Gerrymandering. Additional funding forWhose Vote Countsis provided by the Jonathan Logan Family Foundation. States across the country have postponed their primary elections because of the coronavirus pandemic, but not Wisconsin. I texted our election services coordinator, Mike, and said, "Hey, dude, where are you? But not every vote is created equal. October 20, 2020 As the country has become more divided, fraud and voter suppression have become part of each party's get-out-the-vote mechanism and inspiration and motivation to get its voters out. In Milwaukee, home to the state's heaviest concentration of Black voters, the pandemic was steadily shutting down the election system itself. stated mail ballots will be sent automatically to eligible registered voters in only nine states and the District of Columbia. What specifically did they say in response to those proposals? Three new Explained episodes on the ways our democracy is broken. Please also read our Privacy Notice and Terms of Use, which became effective December 20, 2019. There are cases of voter fraud here and there, but it doesn't happen in the numbers necessary to show that there's some sort of great conspiracy out there to steal elections through voter fraud. As a DC resident, I was sent a ballot without formally requesting it, and I didnt think it was unfair. We have seen a lot of changes to election law over the past 10 years. The Right to Vote: With George F. Will, Stacey Abrams, Carol Anderson, Carol Berkin. The really significant shifts that we began to see were a closure of many of the sites that we used for voting and a mass exodus of our election workers due to concern about the pandemic. That kind of outcome where its driven by the minority is okay as long as its infrequent, said Danielle Allen, a political scientist from Harvard. It was not just a bureaucratic burden. He also enjoys writing about current events in the entertainment landscape, and is always looking for interesting topics to cover. Sanjay Leela Bhansali brings his majestic signature flair to stories of love and betrayal in the lives of courtesans in pre-independence India. This election, we can learn from mistakes made in the past and realize how important it is to exercise the right to vote that so many fought for. We found the names of residents who had their ballots rejected and showed them to Melody and Danell. These episodes would be helpful when discussing the Electoral College, gerrymandering, voter suppression, disenfranchisement, 3 Products $ 3.50 $ 4.50 Save $ 1.00 View Bundle It's a very bad system. Only two states have same-day voter registration and North Dakota does not have a registration process. Hes a former Justice Department lawyer and an architect of the Republican position on voter fraudand a frequent speaker at events like CPAC, the Conservative Political Action Conference, where I met him last winter. It goes back all the way to our nations infancy when voting was considered a privilege, not a right. She's so vibrant. Rather than gossip, he focuses on how events in the entertainment world reflect on society at large. How does the system work, and can it be fixed? And we're seeing those things collide. Google Pay. The series consists of three half-hour episodes: "The Right to Vote," "Can You Buy an Election?," and "Whose Vote Counts." The first one, narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio, analyzes voter suppression. Our goal for today is going to be getting people registered to vote, and then also having people request their absentee ballots for. With their constituents at risk from in-person voting, Democrats began pushing for something that would ignite a political firestorm: an absentee ballot drive. Finally, decide how to submit the ballot. I thought, "Im going to have some problems, how am I going to solve them?" We will continue reporting on this major issue of police brutality and legal murders of Black people to hold the system accountable. I figured that if Im going to be constantly watching things, I might as well learn something in the process. Republican lawmakers almost immediately sue. Untangling fears about the voting process being rigged by powerful donors and corporations, gerrymandering, the Electoral College, voter suppression, fraud at the ballot box, and the ways votes. And we woke up the next day and I saw a sight I didn't ever imagine seeing. Now theyre fighting for their vote to count in the presidential election. You know, I was not, but I had a absentee ballot. Normally it would be the exact opposite. I tried for a couple of weeks to convince the Legislature to changing around, make it an all-mail ballot or at least push it out to a different date. We have the space and time for all your stories. My dad, who's a Democrat, he said, "Well, what's wrong with that? Whose Vote Counts, Explained - Se1 - Ep02 - Can You Buy an Election HD Watch Stream English Do you agree with Desmond Meade, ex-felon from Florida, who argued that determining who had the right to vote was too much power in the hands of one . is provided by the Jonathan Logan Family Foundation. It does a great job of misleading the viewer with out-of-context statistics. I've been involved in recounts and contests, which all involve kicking open the hood of the American engine to look at what happens in polling places. Against this backdrop, Republicans, led by President Trump, have been relentlessly attacking absentee ballots. Elvis trades in his jumpsuit for a jetpack when he joins a secret government spy program to help battle the dark forces that threaten the country. Look who got rejected. She was drawing a line straight back to the post-Civil War era, when African Americans risked their lives for the right to vote. The pandemic has brought unprecedented strains on American voting systems, and new opportunities for unfair play. We had real conversations in my house. These 16 FRONTLINE documentaries offer context on some of the biggest challenges the new administration faces. In the presidential debate, he campaigned for solicited ballots, which refers to requested absentee ballots. So I think you can look at various moments in history, but to me the critical moment was the election of President Obama and the ensuing internal civil war within the Republican Party about what to do about it. As many as 75% of the ballots did not go through the first time. In Whose Vote Counts, Explainedseries, fears about the voting process being rigged by powerful donors and corporations, gerrymandering, the Electoral College, voter suppression, fraud at. And what's your response to that? I just couldn't sleep thinking about how fast the requests were coming in, and ever since then, nothing has been normal. America ranks 26th in the world when it comes to voter turnout rates, with only 55.7% of all eligible voters participating. You can also change your preferences at any time by clicking on Cookie Preferences in the footer of each page. Tony Evers, a Democrat whod been elected on a razor-thin margin, had wanted to delay. So I started calling different companies and asking them if they could supply me with a thousand masks or a thousand sets of gloves. One, I'll ask you, do you think that Congressman John Lewis, who was bludgeoned in the attempt to secure the right to vote, was wrong? Hey, how you doing? We didn't really have very good checks and balances in place. Voting is the direct reflection of our neighborhood's ability to thrive. The U.S. Supreme Court weighing in late, a 5-4 ruling. Three of those states (Colorado, Oregon, and Washington) have done the same thing in past elections, and two others (California and Utah) have done something similar.. Well guide you through requesting an absentee ballot online. Neil Albrecht took us to the room where theyre kept. How does the system work, and can it be fixed? I was making dinner for my two kids when I learned about the United States Supreme Court case, and it was just a little while after learning about the Wisconsin state Supreme Court case. Open that door! Then we talked about reducing those to 45. The documentary miniseries, produced by Vox Media and distributed by Netflix, examines the various aspects of democracy in the United States, the way our representatives are selected and the history Dir., Equal Justice Initiative: The first lesson that Black people had to navigate in this country was that voting is dangerous. Its been a roller coaster in the last few hours. Remove these ten wordsfrom your vocabulary| Transform your life INSTANTLY, Whose Vote Counts Explained, Whose Vote Counts Explained, Whose Vote Counts Explained, Whose Vote Counts Explained, Whose Vote Counts Explained, Whose Vote Counts Explained, Whose Vote Counts Explained, Whose Vote Counts Explained, Whose Vote Counts Explained, Whose Vote Counts Explained, Whose Vote Counts Explained, Whose Vote Counts Explained. Hank Sanders was elected state senator in Alabama thanks to the Voting Rights Act. Transcript Whose Vote Counts View film JELANI COBB, Correspondent: I'm a journalist and historian. It's a lot of names on here that are pretty active in the community that we're in a relationship with. And I said to them, "I don't know that we have a path to win this election. But is France truly ready for a Black president? Your audio is fine, Jelani, on this side. Running for office is expensive, but deep pockets alone can't secure a win. That virus has now mutated and has become much, much more concerning because it is now orthodoxy within the Republican Party. We find them through newspaper accounts of people getting convicted. It was really my job as chairman of the party to make sure that all the rules were followed, that we preserved the integrity of our vote, because changing things at the last minute, changing the laws on the fly, can lead to so many problems. Whose Vote Counts, Explained gives viewers important information about the history of voting in America and modern-day struggles with the ballot. We find them through press releases from law enforcement officials, state attorney generals and others. With reporters from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and USA Today, we examined the voting, especially the absentee ballots, how they were used and counted, and the political and legal fights around them. Throughout U.S. history, many have fought to extend the right to vote to all adults. Limited Time Offer FREE Subscription toHollywood Insider Click here to read more onHollywood Insidersvision, values and mission statement here Media has the responsibility to better our world Hollywood Insiderfully focuses on substance and meaningful entertainment, against gossip and scandal, by combining entertainment, education, and philanthropy. Its tempting to see them as three distinct concerns, but they're inextricably linked to a legacy of inequality and an ongoing struggle. You can watch all three episodes over on Netflix, launching on Monday, September 28. Voting is going to be met with violent resistance, particularly in regions where there are enough Black people to actually have impacts on outcomes. What exactly is at stake? The reason voter suppression exists is that people in power often like to resist progress for the general population in favor of their own selfish agendas. This series explores voter suppression, campaign spending and how the system seems to be rigged to give some groups less powers . When marginalized people show up at polling places, the status quo changes. Just 170 of Kentuckys 3,700 locations will be up and running today. The 15th amendment, made following the Civil War, defends peoples right to vote from race-based discrimination but said nothing about education, economic status or criminal history. Claire Woodall-Vogg was second in command at the Milwaukee Election Commission when the absentee ballot requests started coming in. You are ordered to disperse. Something went wrong. The state of ex-felons voting rights, explained, Watch: The man who rigged Americas election maps, A Biden presidency: The Democratic nominees policy vision, explained, Yes, Russia is interfering in the 2020 election. A lot of Democrats believe you, too, should provide identification that you are who you say you are. But not every vote is created equal. Whose Vote Counts, Explained Episode 1 - Right to Vote Directions: Watch the Netflix show here and answer the questions as you go. As we traveled the state, we met other local officials who had similar concerns about going through with voting. I started focussing on the state because of its pivotal and deeply partisan natureits split down the middle between Republicans and Democrats, and it gave Donald Trump the presidency in 2016 by the exceedingly thin margin of 22,000 votes. 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I signed on as a co-sponsor of photo ID to help with the election administration and to make sure people are who they say they are. For the rest of the country, voters have to request a mail-in ballot and give a reason as to why they cannot vote in person; in four states, the pandemic is not a valid reason to vote by mail. NEIL ALBRECHT, Exec. It was a giant risk because so few people had ever voted absentee in our state. That people felt that their vote was being suppressed by having to go out and potentially contract the illness by going to a polling place. My campaign manager called and he said, "If you're in fleece and jeans," which is what I was in, "You need to put something nicer on because you're about to go on TV, and you're going to be the next justice on the Wisconsin state Supreme Court.". If you care about these issues, then use your power as a citizen and vote. When filling out the ballot, read the instructions carefully. That decision to me felt like voter suppression. It diminishes the electoral voice that one person, one vote for those who live in the cities, said Carol Anderson, author of the book One Person, No Vote.. This march will not continue. Now Wisconsin Voters Are Trying to Make Sure Their Ballots Count, Students Registered. You'll receive access to exclusive information and early alerts about our documentaries and investigations. We do have discriminatory conduct that sometimes happens still in the voting context, and that's what the Voting Rights Act. This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. Walker took office. Dir., Metcalfe Park Community Bridges: Metcalfe Park is a neighborhood in the center of Milwaukee, right in the heart. And thats what Voxs new Netflix special series Whose Vote Counts is about. But when our reporting team examined it, we found it included misleading and overstated information, charges that von Spakovsky said are false. We decided to go 100% virtual and to focus 100% on helping people cast absentee ballots. Or a change in the deadline to request an absentee ballot. Folks on one side of this are constantly saying, "Oh, there's no massive voter fraud in the United States." 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I looked up Angela Lang, a source of mine who is a voting rights activist in Milwaukee. Albert, you can see thats him right there. They can immediately change their voting laws and their procedures without having to come here to Washington to get approval first. Learn more about our use of cookies and information. Actually, in my district, it is not a partisan issue. The Democrats favorite, Jill Karofsky, had won, the unexpected result of the wave of absentee ballots. The job of making that happen fell to numerous appointed officials like Neil Albrecht. 3. Both of us was indicted, myself and my wife, and another friend, Spencer Hogue, were indicted on 29 counts of what is called vote fraud. We sent a crew to Wisconsin to understand what had been happening on the ground. Watch: What long voting lines in the US really mean, How the Supreme Court revived Jim Crow voter suppression tactics, Chief Justice Robertss lifelong crusade against voting rights, explained, The Supreme Court will hear a case that could destroy what remains of the Voting Rights Act, Watch: When voting rights werent for all women. The right to vote is precious, almost sacred. MELODY McCURTIS, Dep. Kathy Bernier was elected to the State Assembly the year Gov. JUSTIN CLARK, Dep. Funding for FRONTLINE is provided through the support of PBS viewers and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. However, issues remain Texas recently decreased the number of ballot drop-off boxes to just one per county, and in California, unofficial ballot drop-off boxes have been placed throughout the state by the Republican Party. As Meade said, Vote like your life depends on it., An excerpt from the love letter:Hollywood InsidersCEO/editor-in-chiefPritan Ambroaseaffirms,Hollywood Insiderfully supports the much-needed Black Lives Matter movement. In eight states, ballots are mailed to every registered voter. Here you have the governor, in the morning, to issue an order to delay the election. Under the banner of combating voter fraud, von Spakovsky had spent years advocating for restrictions on voting, such as laws requiring photo ID in order to register or cast a ballot, outraging many Democrats. FRONTLINE tells the story of Vladimir Putins clashes with American presidents as hes tried to rebuild the Russian empire. As the coronavirus upends their lives, two detectives doggedly pursue those responsible for an abduction they realize is part of a sinister pattern. Can anything change Americans minds about Donald Trump? People steal them out of mailboxes. 1. A president winning the electoral college but not the popular vote has become increasingly common. Jan. 6, Two Years Later: 10 Documentaries to Watch, How American Politics Reached This Fraught Moment: 12 Documentaries to Watch Ahead of the Midterms, 'Whose Vote Counts' Wins FRONTLINEs Second Peabody Award of 2021, Taking Office in a Time of Crisis: 16 Documentaries on Key Issues Biden Inherits. Netflixs recently released a docu-series made by Vox called Whose Vote Counts, Explained in late September 2020. In Wisconsin, Scott Walker and the Republicans began passing a flurry of new voting laws. We dont need to be trying to have an election in the middle of a pandemic. WHOSE VOTE COUNTS, EXPLAINED explores different aspects of the United States's national elections. Throughout that hundred-year history between the end of Reconstruction and the Civil Rights movement, the inability to vote is what shaped Black life. In 2010, Republicans swept the midterm elections. With the election underway, I interviewed both candidates. newsletter. The long struggle came to a head in 1965 with the march from Selma to Montgomery, which the future Congressman John Lewis helped organize. Just hours later, the U.S. Supreme Court dealt another blow to the Democratsthey would not intercede to extend the deadline for absentee ballots. Related article:The Power of Positivity: Ikorodu Bois + Chris Hemsworth + Russo Brothers + Sam Hargrave. We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has put a strain on the voting system. It goes back all the way to our nation's infancy when voting was considered a privilege, not a right. FRONTLINE is a registered trademark of WGBH Educational Foundation. In Wisconsin, for decades considered a bastion of progressive politics, Republicans won both houses of the Legislature and a conservative Republican governor was elected. Cities are underrepresented and suburban and rural communities are overrepresented even though they are not a significant portion of the population. Now we'd come with the 1965 Voting Rights Act, they couldn't deny it outright, so you find ways to try to suppress it. Open that door! In fact, I thought it was completely fair to not have to risk getting COVID-19 by going to vote in person. Whose Vote Counts, Explained is an American documentary series that is a three-part limited series that's a part of the larger Explained franchise produced by Vox. And then it finally came down to five voting centers for in-person voting on Election Day. The U.S. Supreme Court comes in and says, "We have to have a postmark requirement. Additional funding is provided by the Abrams Foundation; the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; Park Foundation; the Heising-Simons Foundation; and the FRONTLINE Journalism Fund with major support from Jon and Jo Ann Hagler on behalf of the Jon L. Hagler Foundation, and additional support from Koo and Patricia Yuen. early on. Well, voter suppression is a made-up term that's used by those who oppose very common sense measures to make sure that, one, everybody who's eligible is able to vote. Web Site Copyright 1995-2023 WGBH Educational Foundation. Currently, only 19 U.S. states have automatic voter registration. Campaign Manager, Trump campaign: When you radically change the way people vote, what ends up happening is you create confusion, you create chaos and you disenfranchise voters because you're not allowing them to vote in the way they traditionally would. And then the witness signs, provides their address as well. The elimination of late-arriving absentee ballots. In fact, I think the correct assessment of this is going back to the Jimmy Carter-James Baker commission. Today's decision effectively puts it on hold. But not every vote is created equal. Whether one plans on voting in-person, early or by mail-in ballot, it is important to decide ahead of time which method you plan on using. Netflix supports the Digital Advertising Alliance Principles. Millions turn to Vox to educate themselves, their family, and their friends about whats happening in the world around them, and to learn about things that spark their curiosity. I talked about it with author Ari Berman, whos written extensively on voting rights. 1. Earlier today, I signed Executive Order 74 to suspend in-person voting for the spring election until June 9. Always having to provide proof of residence when you register to vote. Find out behind the scenes facts in the full commentary and In-depth analysis of the cinematic masterpiece, A Tribute To The Academy Awards: All Best Actor/Actress Speeches From The Beginning Of Oscars 1929-2019| From Rami Malek, Leonardo DiCaprio To Marlon Brando & Beyond | From Olivia Colman, Meryl Streep To Bette Davis & Beyond, Why Queen Elizabeth II Is One Of The Greatest Monarchs |Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of United Queendom of Great Britain & Northern Ireland, Compilation: All James Bond 007 Opening SequencesFrom 1962 Sean Connery to Daniel Craig, In the 32nd Year Of His Career, Keanu Reeves Face Continues To Reign After Launching Movies Earning Over $4.3 Billion In Total John Wick, Toy Story 4, Matrix, And Many More, Want GUARANTEED SUCCESS? But here's the problem: When you try to fundamentally alter a system by which people vote right before an election like Gov. So you have polling locations across the state, and they're all local, so in these smaller communities, we know who the locals are. They Faced a Chaotic Primary. Many countries have automatic registration eligible voters are registered whenever they interact with a government agency. Just a reminder, that the Black Lives Matter movement is about more than just police brutality and extends into banking, housing, education, medical, infrastructure, etc. Explore a selection of FRONTLINE's reporting related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. For us, 80% of our voters voted by mail, 20% voted in person. Hans von Spakovsky. You should be able to prove who you are when you go to vote." He keeps of a database of alleged voter fraud cases that fuel the Republicans' claims. If youve been reading the news, you know that President Trump has denounced mail-in voting as a scam ahead of next months election. Wisconsin is moving forward with its election this morning. Is someone on your end recording the Zoom call? Justin Clark, the Trump campaigns senior counsel, led the Republican strategy in Wisconsin. We apparently have only seven years left to start taking climate change seriously, so go research which candidate does and which one doesnt. The series criticizes the outdated electoral college, explaining how the popular vote would be a fairer method to use in elections. The important part is that we have the safeguards in place to make sure that people have confidence in the electoral process and that our electoral process has integrity. One series that caught my eye was . When your consent is required, you can accept, refuse or personalise your choices. Seeing the White House behind a chain-link fence, the fence itself a memorial to African Americans killed by police, made me think about the connections between Wisconsin, the countrys history of disenfranchisement and the coronavirus. Voting for candidates that are closest aligned to your ideals is the way to use your power as a citizen to fight against this suppression. BRYAN STEVENSON, Exec. Can we count on you to remind three friends to return their absentee ballots before Election Day? So why don't you guys look at that and see what you make of it. We apparently have only, left to start taking climate change seriously, so go research which candidate does and which one doesnt. Please enter a valid email and try again. Hearing the constant refrain of fraud led me back to Hans von Spakovsky. Lets face it: this upcoming election is unlike any other. "Whose Vote Counts, Explained" takes a close look at the United States' political system and attempts to get voters engaged and informed before the 2020 general election. Funding for FRONTLINE is provided through the support of PBS viewers and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. We didn't really have a verification of, is this the person? And those contacts help people to navigate a system that was designed to shut them out and help people to cast absentee votes. It's just, the conditions that we were faced with in 1965 no longer exist. I think that you've got to give the Voting Rights Act credit for some of the change that's occurred through the South. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. Up to that point, the Department of Justice, particularly the voting section of the Department of Justice, was focused on enforcing the Voting Rights Act. These brave, brave people who went to the polls in Milwaukee despite the pandemic. Please consider making a one-time contribution to Vox today. We clashed over the competing studies and arguments around all of this. [1] [2] Contents 1 Episodes 2 Release 3 References 4 External links Episodes [ edit] Release [ edit] Whose Vote Counts, Explained was released on September 28, 2020, on Netflix . As America chooses its next president in the midst of a historic pandemic, FRONTLINE investigates whose vote counts and. PBS is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization. On Sept. 10, he. One of them was a closely watched contest for a seat on the state Supreme Court. Are Aging Politicians and Supreme Court a Rising Gerontocracy. Every state runs its own election process, and as Wisconsin was moving forward, others were pulling back. The violence that takes place, the trauma that takes place, the lynching that takes place, the mass migration of Black people from the Deep South to the North and the West that takes place, which will also have political implications, it's all a result of this violent opposition to allowing Black people to vote. And that's what Vox's new Netflix special series Whose Vote Counts is about. Since then, the process has become much more inclusive, but still flawed and unfair. Dir., Milwaukee Election Comm. 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