Preemption of Voting Rights

This is one in a series of LSSC toolkits aimed at providing a one-stop-shop for all of the messaging, media, legal, and research resources associated with individual issue areas that are commonly preempted. View all of the guides here.

This document was last updated in April 2022.

Messaging 101

*A coalition of organizations including Voting Rights Lab, the Leadership Conference, the Center for Cultural Power, We Make the Future, Fair Representation in Redistricting, ASO Communications, Frameshift, and Into Act!on have done significant messaging work on this topic. This suggested messaging draws heavily from their guidance.

• Most Americans can agree that for democracy to work for everyone, it must include everyone.

  • That’s especially true locally - where local elected officials know their communities best and are accountable to their neighbors.

• But over the last year, we’ve seen a number of state legislatures move to curb the long-fought for, hard-won right to vote. 

  • Many of these bills, which are rooted in dangerous and false claims of fraud in the 2020 election, limit and undermine the power of local elected officials. Some of the measures are even punitive, threatening local officials with felony charges, fines, and funding cuts.

  • These local elected officials conducted secure elections in the midst of a pandemic, while simultaneously working to protect the health of their communities. Now, many state officials are intent to punish them simply for doing their jobs.

• These new laws deliberately create barriers that make it harder for BIPOC Americans, immigrants, and others to register and vote. 

  • Simultaneously, many of these legislatures are moving to enact other policies that keep power out of the hands of local communities and create disproportionate harm - such as undermining the authority of public health agencies, blocking paid sick leave and minimum wage measures, and overriding equitable housing policies.

• The widespread efforts to preempt voting rights are indicative of how many state legislatures are using preemption to harm BIPOC communities, immigrants, LGBTQ people, women, and workers in low-wage industries.

Media Examples

• Georgia Republicans Are Trying to Undo Democracy in Local Elections | Truthout, 2/13/22

• Vote-by-mail rejections are testing integrity of Texas Republicans’ voting law | Texas Tribune, 1/24/22

• Commentary: How Republicans Are Using Preemption to Advance Voter Suppression | Route Fifty, 1/20/22

• Voting Battles of 2022 Take Shape as G.O.P. Crafts New Election Bills | New York Times, 12/4/21

• There are two kinds of GOP attacks on democracy — and one is much worse | Vox, 6/3/21

• Leaked Video: Dark Money Group Brags About Writing GOP Voter Suppression Bills Across the Country | Mother Jones, 5/13/21

Legal Resources

• State Voting Bills Tracker | Brennan Center for Justice