Rumor vs Reality

This card was produced in partnership with the Stop Digital Voter Suppression Project.

There are many tactics that are used to suppress votes and change election outcomes. While the 1965 Voting Rights Act aimed to end many of these racial discrimination practices in the Southern states especially, in 2013, the Supreme Court overturned a key part that said that states needed Federal ‘preclearance’ before changing voting laws.

Since then, several states have added new rules that affect Black and brown people more than others. These include requiring government-issued IDs, limiting early voting, voter list purges, closing polling places, USPS slow-downs, and fake ballot boxes.

Online, ‘bad actors,’ spread false information about voting times, places, and dates. They create or amplify false candidate and party websites. All of these actions are an attempt to control election outcomes and suppress the Black and brown vote.