In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law. This legislation prohibited racial discrimination in voting, by banning literacy tests and other discriminatory provisions.
Within the past few years, justices on the Supreme Court have removed sections of this law that have allowed states with a history of racial discrimination to change voting laws without federal permission.
Over the last few years, the following have occurred in several states: government-issued IDs required at voting polls, early voting being entirely cut or reduced, criminalizing turning in ballots for others, despite having permission, mass purges of voter rolls, polling place closures, felony disenfranchisement, and gerrymandering.
According to the ACLU, the above practices disproportionately impact communities of color, students, elderly populations, and people with disabilities. ABA Services of Colorado strives to spread social awareness about the oppression of marginalized identities and fight injustice in the community at large.
