Who can I donate to to specifically fight voter suppression?

November 6, 2020 6:44 AM

I want to give lots more money to make sure everyone has the right to vote since voter suppression remains a huge problem. What organizations should I be donating to? Feel free to be generous with the definition of voter suppression, for instance I would include gerrymandering as a form of suppression.
posted by Tehhund to Law & Government (12 answers total)

Fair Fight is Stacy Abrams's organization, and they seem to be performing miracles in Georgia. Given that there are probably going to be two senators up for grabs in the Georgia run-off in early January, that's probably a good place to concentrate short-term efforts.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 6:48 AM on November 6, 2020 [23 favorites]

For a very liberal definition of suppression: check out FairVote.org

Basically my angle here is all votes are more effective and gerrymandering and traditional suppression matter much less if we use any of the objectively superior ranked voting methods.
posted by SaltySalticid at 6:49 AM on November 6, 2020 [1 favorite]

I strongly agree with voting reform, and fairvote and instant runoff/ranked choice is objectively a better system, so I like moving there.

HOWEVER. There is a newer system that fixes a LOT of Ranked Choice Voting problems, and that is STAR voting. (Score than automatic runoff). It's two steps better than "approval voting".

There's a LOT of money and political effort around RCV, but it would be very impactful to get STAR voting a bit more voice. You can learn more at https://www.starvoting.us/
posted by bbqturtle at 7:16 AM on November 6, 2020 [1 favorite]

Stacey Abrams deserves a significant amount of credit for the Georgia vote. Her organization is fairfight.com/. She lost the Governor's race due to Voter Suppression took action. highly recommend.
posted by theora55 at 7:43 AM on November 6, 2020 [6 favorites]

League of Women Voters. It's a nonpartisan org that is specifically focused on voting rights, and its definition of voting rights is quite broad. Here's a link. I'm very active in my local chapter and really couldn't speak more highly of the LWV.
posted by rue72 at 7:49 AM on November 6, 2020 [5 favorites]

The Florida Rights Restoration Coalition

Via Twitter:

A quick note on Florida:

Biden lost by about 400K votes. Gov. DeSantis worked VERY hard to maintain the disenfranchisement of the *1.4 million* formerly incarcerated folks that Florida voters said should have their rights back.

@FLRightsRestore did a TON of work to get fines and fees paid and folks registered and turned out after hard rulings.

posted by Winnie the Proust at 8:19 AM on November 6, 2020 [7 favorites]

For nation-wide efforts to protect voting rights, I recommend three organizations.

1. Brennan Center for Justice. They are the legal and policy wonks for ensuring people have the right to vote.
2. ACLU. They have an active and effective voting rights arm that does more on the ground support.
3. Democracy Docket, Marc Elias' legal group. The join individual voting rights lawsuits. Elias is a hell of a loudmouth but it is effective.

There are also many state and regional organizations. Stacey Abrams is the hero of the day!
posted by Nelson at 8:23 AM on November 6, 2020 [2 favorites]

Texas Civil Rights Project does work fighting for voting rights in Texas.

I recommend following Ari Berman on twitter. He highlights where the current fights are and who is involved. It's his full time focus, so it won't peter out after election season.
posted by tofu_crouton at 9:39 AM on November 6, 2020 [1 favorite]

Another great Twitter follow is Marc Elias. He led the dozens of lawsuits that were filed around the country in state and federal courts to protect voting rights over the last year, and somehow he still managed to find time to have a great Twitter feed.
posted by Winnie the Proust at 10:39 AM on November 6, 2020

I rerouted my giving to Fair Fight, which is doing a great job. The two senate run-offs in Georgia mean everything and I hope Stacey Abrams and her organization can make a difference.
posted by Avalow at 8:52 PM on November 6, 2020

Echoing the suggestions of Fair Fight--they will be crucial to the anti-suppression and GOTV efforts for the special and runoff elections in Georgia. If we pick up both those seats the Dems will have 50 and Harris can provide the tiebreaker vote. It means the difference between passing laws and McConnel obstructionism. Please, please, at least in the short term give them the money.
posted by Anonymous at 6:17 AM on November 7, 2020

In Michigan, a group called Voters Not Politicians led a successful 2018 campaign to create a nonpartisan congressional districting commission, and continues to work for greater voter access.
posted by yarntheory at 9:02 AM on November 7, 2020 [1 favorite]