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Downloaded from
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Official YIFY movies site:
YTS.MX

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♪ ♪

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NEWSWOMAN:
It might be a race

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for the Governor’s Mansion
in Georgia,

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but this is one that
the entire country is watching.

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NEWSWOMAN:
And if ever one vote counted,

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it certainly is going to count
in this particular race.

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CROWD (chanting):
Stacey! Stacey! Stacey!

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-Stacey! Stacey! Stacey!
-(cheering)

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NEWSWOMAN:
The controversy surrounding

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Georgia’s governor’s race
is not dying down.

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Both candidates dug in today.

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NEWSWOMAN:
Republican Brian Kemp

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and Democrat Stacey Abrams are
locked in a virtual dead heat.

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NEWSWOMAN:
Everybody wants to know

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what’s happening in Georgia.

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Still a toss-up there,
as we’re waiting

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for a number of votes
to come in.

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They believe there are tens of
thousands of absentee ballots

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that have not yet been counted.

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NEWSWOMAN:
Voter suppression has become

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a national talking point,

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and Brian Kemp has become
a focal point.

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All of the votes in this race
have not been counted.

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BRIAN KEMP: On Tuesday,
as you know, we earned

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a clear and convincing
victory at the ballot box,

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and today we’re beginning
the transition process.

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NEWSMAN:
Kemp was leading

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Democratic opponent
Stacey Abrams

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by a narrow margin, and
it grew more and more narrow

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in the days
following the election.

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Abrams filed multiple lawsuits

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but ultimately dropped out
of the race.

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STACEY ABRAMS:
I acknowledge

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that former Secretary of State
Brian Kemp

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will be certified as the victor

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in the 2018
gubernatorial election.

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But to watch
an elected official

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who claims to represent
the people and the state

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baldly pin his hopes
for election on the suppression

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of the people’s
democratic right to vote

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has been truly appalling.

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So, let’s be clear.

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This is not a speech
of concession.

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Because concession means
to acknowledge

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an action is right,
true or proper.

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As a woman of conscience
and faith,

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I cannot concede that.

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(beeps)

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♪ ♪

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ABRAMS: The fundamental
power of democracy

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lies in the right to vote.

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If you protect that right,

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you create possibilities
for everything else.

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Too many Americans take
for granted the right to vote

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and don’t understand that

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unless we fight
for the right to vote,

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unless we try to include
as many people as possible,

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our democracy is put at risk.

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CAROL ANDERSON:
This right to vote is bloody.

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It is contested.

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And the reason it is contested
is because the vote matters.

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♪ ♪

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♪ Register,
inform yourself and vote ♪

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♪ Register, inform yourself
and vote ♪

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♪ A country
doesn’t run itself ♪

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♪ Every voter is a help... ♪

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ABRAMS:
There are those who argue

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that America is not
a democracy or a republic.

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We are a democratic republic

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because we use democracy
to elect our representatives.

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♪ ♪

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FRANCES FOX PIVEN:
What is democracy?

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Democracy is a system
in which the voters

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choose the people
that govern them.

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I vote for every,
every election.

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I don’t care what it is.

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I don’t miss voting.

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And my voice,
I want to be heard.

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That’s what it’s
supposed to be.

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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says
she is determined

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to push for mail-in voting
across the country

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in the next relief bill.

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DONALD TRUMP: The things
they had in there were crazy.

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Uh, they had things, uh,

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levels of voting that,
if you ever agreed to it,

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you’d never have a Republican
elected in this country again.

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When elected officials
feel like they may not have

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the power anymore,
they have two choices.

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They can either be more
responsive to those they lead,

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or they can eliminate
the people

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they have to answer to.

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I registered to vote at DMV
about nine months ago.

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I found out three weeks ago
that I wasn’t registered.

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MICHAEL WALDMAN:
Progress doesn’t only

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go in one direction.

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We’ve had expansions
of American democracy,

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but we’ve also had times when
things have moved backwards,

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where people have lost
the right to vote.

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DIANE SAWYER: A monumental
decision by the Supreme Court,

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changing the Voting Rights Act,

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the law of the land
for 48 years.

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WALDMAN: History is never
a straight line.

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It’s always a fight.

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JAYLA ALLEN:
If everybody’s vote

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was important and equal,

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then why are certain people

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in certain areas,
of certain backgrounds,

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why is their vote
being limited?

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-CROWD: We’re here to stay!
-NEWSMAN: Now, some call it

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a safeguard for the integrity
of New Hampshire elections.

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Others see it
as a political ploy

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to try and keep voters away
from the polls.

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ANN COULTER:
I just think it should be

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a little more difficult
to vote.

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There’s nothing
unconstitutional

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about-about literacy tests.

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The fight over voting rights
is ultimately about power.

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Districts have been scrambled

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all over the state of Texas
in the past,

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and they elected white people
and nobody questioned it.

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INTERVIEWER:
Do you believe that

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democracy exists in America?

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Well, I’ve lived in America
all my life,

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and I’ve never seen
democracy yet,

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so I don’t know what the hell
you’re talking about.

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People in Washington know
nothing about reality.

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They know nothing
about what’s happening

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to little people
in the community.

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But you add it all up,
and all of a sudden,

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p-people look at
their government,

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think,
"It doesn’t represent me."

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And in many cases
these days, uh,

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for a lot of reasons,
it really doesn’t.

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NEWSWOMAN:
In Wisconsin, voters headed

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to the polls today,
the first state

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to hold a major election
with in-person voting

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in the midst
of a stay-at-home order.

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Do they expect us to go
against public safety?

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The United States is
the only country

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that makes it so difficult for
communities to own their power

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by requiring them
to jump through hoops

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to simply participate
in basic elections.

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It’s pernicious
because it convinces you

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that maybe it’s not
worth trying again.

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And when entire communities
become convinced

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that the process
is not for them,

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we lose their participation
in our nation’s future,

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and that’s dangerous
to everyone.

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ANDERSON: You cannot understand
where we are right now

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unless you understand
the history of voting rights

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and the struggle
for voting rights.

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Past is prologue.

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Those forces that are
systematically determined

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to keep American citizens
from voting,

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they have been
laying the seeds over time.

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When we started as a country,
it wasn’t really anything

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like what we would consider
a democracy.

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Only white men
who owned property

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had the right to vote.

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That was a very small segment
of the country even then.

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The Constitution begins with
the words, "We the people."

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And yet, who were the people?

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It doesn’t include slaves.
It doesn’t include women.

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Doesn’t include
Native Americans.

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Doesn’t include young people.

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So, the notion of "the people"
is very restricted.

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ANDERSON:
You won’t find sitting anywhere

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in the articles of the
Constitution where it says,

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"American citizens have
the right to vote."

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When you have the-the founders

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writing in the language
of Enlightenment,

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dealing with getting rid
of monarchy

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and getting rid of kings

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and-and having this wonderful,
beautiful republic,

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and then you have six percent
who are eligible to vote.

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White male property owners.

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It tells you we had
a lot of work to do.

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♪ ♪

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ABRAMS: I grew up
in Gulfport, Mississippi.

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My dad was a shipyard worker.

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My mom was the head librarian
at William Carey College.

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Both of my parents were first
in their family.

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My mom’s the only one
of her siblings

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to finish high school and,
let alone, go to grad school.

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My dad was the first man
in his family to go to college.

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♪ ♪

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My mom and dad
were very prolific.

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I am the second
of six children.

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My parents were
very intentional with us.

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And we had three jobs.

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You had to go to church.

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Had to go to church.

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And you had to go to school.

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Go to school
and take care of each other.

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And in the meantime,
you had to do something

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-to help someone else.
-Help somebody else.

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ABRAMS:
We would volunteer

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at soup kitchens
and homeless shelters.

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If there was someone in need,
my parents found a way

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to make sure
we were there to help.

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Which was odd to us because,

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we would point out,
we were poor, too.

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Why are we serving
other people?

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They would say, "Having nothing

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is not an excuse
for doing nothing."

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CAROLYN:
And I’ll tell you what,

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when those kids
were growing up,

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every time we voted,
we took them with us,

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and they saw us
cast our ballot.

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ABRAMS: And we’d sort of
trail out of the voting booth

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like Make Way for Ducklings

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because there were
so many of us.

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But they wanted us to see them
in the act of casting a vote.

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♪ ♪

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My parents were admitted
to Emory University in 1989

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to become
United Methodist ministers.

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I was 15, so I was unhappy
with the world around me,

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so I was very excited
about moving to Atlanta.

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I attended
Avondale High School,

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and I became the valedictorian
of my high school.

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When you’re valedictorian
in Georgia,

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you get invited to meet
the governor of Georgia.

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It was a Sunday morning.

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We got dressed,
put on our best clothes

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and got on the bus
because we didn’t have a car.

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We get to the guard gate,
and the guard looks at me,

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and he looks at my parents,
and he says,

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"This is a private event.
You don’t belong here."

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My dad says, "No, no,
this is my daughter Stacey.

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She’s one of
the valedictorians."

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But the guard doesn’t check
his checklist.

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He instead...
I remember very clearly

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him looking over our shoulders
at the bus that’s pulling away,

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and he looks back at us,
and he basically says,

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he’s like, "No," like,
"you don’t belong here."

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The story he told himself
was that

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these three Black people
getting off a bus,

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they can’t possibly belong
in the Governor’s Mansion

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on this day that’s celebrating
success and opportunity.

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-♪ Let ’em know ♪
-♪ Uh, yeah, we winnin’ now ♪

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♪ Yeah, we risin’ to the top,
new beginning now ♪

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-♪ Yeah ♪
-♪ And we never gonna stop ♪

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♪ Yeah, we grinnin’ now ♪

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♪ Never been here, wow ♪

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00:12:03.181 --> 00:12:05.267
♪ But we in here now,
holla black, yeah... ♪

248
00:12:05.350 --> 00:12:07.727
ABRAMS:
My parents had a very engaged

249
00:12:07.811 --> 00:12:09.479
and spirited discussion
with this gentleman

250
00:12:09.563 --> 00:12:10.939
about his
decision-making skills,

251
00:12:11.022 --> 00:12:12.482
about his reading
comprehension.

252
00:12:12.566 --> 00:12:13.984
Robert had to have
a few choice words.

253
00:12:14.067 --> 00:12:16.611
It was explained to him
in a certain way that,

254
00:12:16.695 --> 00:12:18.155
if you want to stay healthy...

255
00:12:18.238 --> 00:12:19.823
-Well...
-...you look at the list.

256
00:12:19.906 --> 00:12:21.992
I won’t go no further
than that.

257
00:12:22.075 --> 00:12:23.869
♪ Yeah, we’re here now,
uh, uh ♪

258
00:12:23.952 --> 00:12:25.287
♪ Yeah, we’re here now... ♪

259
00:12:25.370 --> 00:12:26.913
ABRAMS:
What I remember about that day

260
00:12:26.997 --> 00:12:28.999
is not meeting the governor.

261
00:12:29.082 --> 00:12:31.793
Don’t remember meeting
my fellow valedictorians.

262
00:12:33.003 --> 00:12:35.088
All I remember is this man
standing in front

263
00:12:35.172 --> 00:12:37.048
of the most powerful place
in Georgia,

264
00:12:37.132 --> 00:12:39.176
telling me
I don’t belong inside.

265
00:12:39.259 --> 00:12:42.471
And that was my first encounter
with the governor of Georgia.

266
00:12:42.554 --> 00:12:45.140
♪ Stand up, stand up,
stand up ♪

267
00:12:45.223 --> 00:12:48.977
♪ No time to hide,
we can’t be denied, nah. ♪

268
00:12:49.060 --> 00:12:53.482
It never occurred to me
to think I could be governor.

269
00:12:53.565 --> 00:12:56.026
I had simply never seen it.

270
00:12:56.109 --> 00:12:57.611
When I started running,

271
00:12:57.694 --> 00:13:00.697
that story for me
was an important narrative

272
00:13:00.780 --> 00:13:02.574
because it reminded
people that,

273
00:13:02.657 --> 00:13:04.659
just as I was told
I don’t belong here,

274
00:13:04.743 --> 00:13:09.080
so much of what voting is about
is whether you belong,

275
00:13:09.164 --> 00:13:10.707
whether you have value.

276
00:13:13.710 --> 00:13:16.963
James Baldwin said that
"people are trapped in history

277
00:13:17.047 --> 00:13:19.299
and history is trapped
in people."

278
00:13:19.382 --> 00:13:22.344
We can’t escape
where we come from,

279
00:13:22.427 --> 00:13:23.929
but it’s our responsibility

280
00:13:24.012 --> 00:13:26.681
to reshape
what that story looks like.

281
00:13:30.268 --> 00:13:31.937
ERIC FONER:
After the Civil War,

282
00:13:32.020 --> 00:13:36.983
the number-one question was:
What is gonna replace slavery?

283
00:13:37.067 --> 00:13:39.361
What system of labor?
What system of politics?

284
00:13:39.444 --> 00:13:41.947
What system of race relations?

285
00:13:42.030 --> 00:13:44.658
Reconstruction is
the nation’s effort

286
00:13:44.741 --> 00:13:49.079
to come to terms
with the abolition of slavery.

287
00:13:51.456 --> 00:13:53.166
ANDERSON: They were trying
to figure out,

288
00:13:53.250 --> 00:13:55.001
"How do we heal this nation?

289
00:13:55.085 --> 00:13:56.711
How do we stitch it
back together?"

290
00:13:56.795 --> 00:13:59.839
And then you’ve got
four million freed people.

291
00:13:59.923 --> 00:14:01.550
"How do we do this?"

292
00:14:05.595 --> 00:14:08.890
FONER: The three amendments--
the 13th, 14th and 15th--

293
00:14:08.974 --> 00:14:11.142
were not just
small-scale changes

294
00:14:11.226 --> 00:14:13.395
in an existing structure.

295
00:14:15.355 --> 00:14:18.275
They made the Constitution,
for the first time,

296
00:14:18.358 --> 00:14:22.779
a vehicle through which people
could claim greater equality.

297
00:14:22.862 --> 00:14:25.532
They actually transformed
the Constitution

298
00:14:25.615 --> 00:14:28.118
into something new
and different.

299
00:14:30.704 --> 00:14:33.331
They took slavery out
of the Constitution,

300
00:14:33.415 --> 00:14:35.584
where it had been embedded.

301
00:14:38.628 --> 00:14:40.088
They created
for the first time

302
00:14:40.171 --> 00:14:42.424
a national definition
of citizenship

303
00:14:42.507 --> 00:14:44.718
and insisted
that all those citizens

304
00:14:44.801 --> 00:14:46.553
and other persons
in the country

305
00:14:46.636 --> 00:14:49.014
had to be treated equally.

306
00:14:51.600 --> 00:14:54.686
And they mandated
that African American men

307
00:14:54.769 --> 00:14:56.605
must have the right to vote.

308
00:14:56.688 --> 00:14:59.274
DAVID PEPPER:
That amendment in 1870 said

309
00:14:59.357 --> 00:15:01.818
the right to vote "shall not
be denied or abridged"

310
00:15:01.901 --> 00:15:03.737
on the basis "of race, color

311
00:15:03.820 --> 00:15:05.614
or previous condition
of servitude."

312
00:15:05.697 --> 00:15:10.118
ANDERSON: The state shall not
abridge the right to vote

313
00:15:10.201 --> 00:15:13.038
"on account of race, color

314
00:15:13.121 --> 00:15:16.124
or previous condition
of servitude."

315
00:15:16.207 --> 00:15:18.627
FONER: The idea of
a national standard for voting

316
00:15:18.710 --> 00:15:20.420
was very controversial.

317
00:15:20.503 --> 00:15:23.298
During the debates
on the 15th Amendment,

318
00:15:23.381 --> 00:15:26.176
even Northern states
wanted to keep control

319
00:15:26.259 --> 00:15:28.011
of the voting qualifications,
because there were

320
00:15:28.094 --> 00:15:29.763
people in their state
they didn’t want voting.

321
00:15:29.846 --> 00:15:31.264
And it’s not about blacks.

322
00:15:32.974 --> 00:15:36.770
California and Oregon did not
ratify the 15th Amendment,

323
00:15:36.853 --> 00:15:38.897
because they were afraid that

324
00:15:38.980 --> 00:15:41.566
it might let
Chinese people vote.

325
00:15:45.320 --> 00:15:49.240
But by 1870, when the
15th Amendment was ratified,

326
00:15:49.324 --> 00:15:51.826
Black men now had
the right to vote

327
00:15:51.910 --> 00:15:54.746
in every state in the union
for the first time.

328
00:15:54.829 --> 00:15:57.290
And indeed,
also to hold office.

329
00:15:57.374 --> 00:16:00.502
♪ ♪

330
00:16:00.585 --> 00:16:02.962
ABRAMS:
What Reconstruction offered

331
00:16:03.046 --> 00:16:05.298
was a fresh start for America.

332
00:16:06.633 --> 00:16:08.760
You had this moment where

333
00:16:08.843 --> 00:16:12.347
Black citizens
enjoyed citizenship.

334
00:16:14.140 --> 00:16:17.727
That was evidenced by Black men
going to the U.S. Senate.

335
00:16:22.732 --> 00:16:25.902
ANDERSON: You start having
Black elected officials

336
00:16:25.985 --> 00:16:29.155
in these amazingly high spaces

337
00:16:29.239 --> 00:16:32.492
where you would not
have imagined them

338
00:16:32.575 --> 00:16:34.119
20 years earlier.

339
00:16:34.202 --> 00:16:36.204
That was the power
of Reconstruction,

340
00:16:36.287 --> 00:16:38.707
and that was the power
of the vote.

341
00:16:45.088 --> 00:16:47.173
(quiet chatter)

342
00:16:49.884 --> 00:16:53.888
MAN: Please welcome
the first lady of our movement,

343
00:16:53.972 --> 00:16:57.600
Mrs. Coretta Scott King.

344
00:16:57.684 --> 00:16:59.853
(cheering and applause)

345
00:17:03.481 --> 00:17:07.527
Hi. Welcome, all of you,
my brothers and sisters,

346
00:17:07.610 --> 00:17:11.698
to this 30th-anniversary
March on Washington.

347
00:17:12.615 --> 00:17:15.201
Dr. King’s spirit is with us.

348
00:17:15.285 --> 00:17:18.329
ABRAMS: When I spoke at the
March on Washington, I was 19.

349
00:17:18.413 --> 00:17:22.041
I was terrified,
and I do not recall to this day

350
00:17:22.125 --> 00:17:23.877
actually giving that speech.

351
00:17:25.545 --> 00:17:27.839
I’m delighted now to introduce

352
00:17:27.922 --> 00:17:31.593
our next speaker,
Stacey Abrams,

353
00:17:31.676 --> 00:17:35.263
who is a junior
at Spelman College in Atlanta.

354
00:17:35.346 --> 00:17:39.517
She has helped mobilize
students to be here today,

355
00:17:39.601 --> 00:17:45.273
and we are very, very proud
of our sister, Stacey Abrams.

356
00:17:45.356 --> 00:17:46.441
-Stacey.
-(applause)

357
00:17:46.524 --> 00:17:49.152
ABRAMS:
There was a guy with a clock

358
00:17:49.235 --> 00:17:52.280
who told me, "You only have
X amount of time to speak."

359
00:17:52.363 --> 00:17:54.616
And I remember him saying,
"Start."

360
00:17:54.699 --> 00:17:57.786
Jobs, justice, peace.

361
00:17:57.869 --> 00:17:59.746
This is a theme that
we’ve been hearing today

362
00:17:59.829 --> 00:18:01.539
over and over again.

363
00:18:01.623 --> 00:18:02.665
This is a theme...

364
00:18:02.749 --> 00:18:04.667
ABRAMS:
When you walk onto the stage

365
00:18:04.751 --> 00:18:07.504
and you look out
over the Reflecting Pool,

366
00:18:07.587 --> 00:18:12.133
I’d never seen that many people
in one place in my entire life.

367
00:18:12.217 --> 00:18:16.262
Today we come before you,
walking on the road to jobs,

368
00:18:16.346 --> 00:18:19.224
the road to peace,
the road to justice.

369
00:18:20.183 --> 00:18:21.518
ABRAMS:
When I was in college,

370
00:18:21.601 --> 00:18:25.188
I was very involved
in voter registration.

371
00:18:25.271 --> 00:18:28.274
What I was concerned about
as a young person was

372
00:18:28.358 --> 00:18:30.568
how many people
weren’t taking advantage

373
00:18:30.652 --> 00:18:32.695
of this right, of this power.

374
00:18:32.779 --> 00:18:35.240
I set up voter registration
opportunities,

375
00:18:35.323 --> 00:18:38.576
and I would annoy my friends,
and they did not care.

376
00:18:38.660 --> 00:18:42.038
But I knew how important it was
to have this right to vote,

377
00:18:42.121 --> 00:18:45.041
because I’d remembered my
parents teaching me about this.

378
00:18:45.124 --> 00:18:46.918
I’d seen what it meant.

379
00:18:47.001 --> 00:18:51.422
At Spelman, I used to go
to city council meetings.

380
00:18:51.506 --> 00:18:54.300
I was starting to understand
how government worked,

381
00:18:54.384 --> 00:18:57.804
but I was also becoming very
aware of how it didn’t work.

382
00:19:00.682 --> 00:19:02.767
I was protesting.

383
00:19:02.851 --> 00:19:05.353
I burned the Georgia state flag

384
00:19:05.436 --> 00:19:07.939
because it had
a Confederate emblem on it.

385
00:19:09.691 --> 00:19:11.860
We first tried to get
a meeting with the governor

386
00:19:11.943 --> 00:19:13.945
to talk about it,
and when that wasn’t fruitful,

387
00:19:14.028 --> 00:19:17.991
we decided to bring attention
to it by setting it on fire.

388
00:19:18.074 --> 00:19:19.993
Now, I got a burn permit
for it,

389
00:19:20.076 --> 00:19:21.786
so everyone knew
I was doing it.

390
00:19:21.870 --> 00:19:23.413
I’m like, "I don’t
have to break the law

391
00:19:23.496 --> 00:19:24.581
to make my point."

392
00:19:24.664 --> 00:19:28.501
Stacey Yvonne Abrams,
magna cum laude.

393
00:19:28.585 --> 00:19:31.004
ABRAMS:
I learned at Spelman College

394
00:19:31.087 --> 00:19:33.840
I didn’t have to limit my goals

395
00:19:33.923 --> 00:19:36.676
to what I’d seen
other people do.

396
00:19:38.177 --> 00:19:40.805
Today, I come to you
as a young person,

397
00:19:40.889 --> 00:19:44.058
as a young woman,
as a young Black woman,

398
00:19:44.142 --> 00:19:46.144
to ask you to use us.

399
00:19:46.227 --> 00:19:49.272
Use the young people
of the United States of America

400
00:19:49.355 --> 00:19:51.900
to pave a road
that will last forever.

401
00:19:51.983 --> 00:19:54.235
(cheering and applause)

402
00:19:58.615 --> 00:20:00.700
♪ ♪

403
00:20:07.540 --> 00:20:09.375
WALDMAN:
The first great protest march

404
00:20:09.459 --> 00:20:10.877
on the nation’s capital ever

405
00:20:10.960 --> 00:20:13.379
was for the right to vote
for women.

406
00:20:14.756 --> 00:20:19.594
In 1913, the day before
the presidential inauguration,

407
00:20:19.677 --> 00:20:22.597
5,000 women marched
down Pennsylvania Avenue.

408
00:20:26.601 --> 00:20:28.937
It took pushing
and pushing and pushing.

409
00:20:29.020 --> 00:20:31.481
It took hunger strikes,

410
00:20:31.564 --> 00:20:33.983
picketing in front
of the White House.

411
00:20:35.276 --> 00:20:37.403
All these creative,
nonviolent protests--

412
00:20:37.487 --> 00:20:39.030
that was new to this country.

413
00:20:39.113 --> 00:20:42.158
This was before Gandhi had done
a lot of these things.

414
00:20:42.241 --> 00:20:44.911
But the women’s movement and
the fight for women’s suffrage

415
00:20:44.994 --> 00:20:47.372
introduced them
to the United States.

416
00:20:47.455 --> 00:20:50.541
ANDERSON:
We get to the 19th Amendment

417
00:20:50.625 --> 00:20:54.545
that guarantees women
the right to vote.

418
00:20:59.008 --> 00:21:00.927
PEPPER:
When you look back at how long

419
00:21:01.010 --> 00:21:03.638
women fought
for the right to vote...

420
00:21:05.014 --> 00:21:06.849
We’re used to movements now--

421
00:21:06.933 --> 00:21:09.477
ten or 20 years,
and the change happens.

422
00:21:09.560 --> 00:21:11.396
Women spent
their entire lifetimes

423
00:21:11.479 --> 00:21:13.523
fighting for
the 19th Amendment.

424
00:21:16.192 --> 00:21:17.694
ABRAMS:
Black women were instrumental

425
00:21:17.777 --> 00:21:20.571
in the passage
of the 19th Amendment,

426
00:21:20.655 --> 00:21:22.782
and they had been part
of this conversation

427
00:21:22.865 --> 00:21:24.701
from its beginning.

428
00:21:24.784 --> 00:21:26.536
Women who were helping

429
00:21:26.619 --> 00:21:30.790
shape opportunity for
white women and for Black men,

430
00:21:30.873 --> 00:21:33.543
and yet, in each
of these conversations,

431
00:21:33.626 --> 00:21:36.170
Black women were left out
of the narrative.

432
00:21:37.213 --> 00:21:39.298
And then, post-Reconstruction,

433
00:21:39.382 --> 00:21:43.845
Black men, who had suddenly
become part of the body politic,

434
00:21:43.928 --> 00:21:46.180
were once again
disenfranchised.

435
00:21:58.192 --> 00:22:01.279
ARI BERMAN: The greatest
moments of progress

436
00:22:01.362 --> 00:22:04.907
are followed by
the most intense periods

437
00:22:04.991 --> 00:22:06.743
of retrenchment.

438
00:22:06.826 --> 00:22:09.162
That’s what happened
after the Civil War.

439
00:22:09.245 --> 00:22:11.789
Reconstruction was a high point
for voting rights,

440
00:22:11.873 --> 00:22:14.959
and it was followed by nearly
a hundred years of Jim Crow.

441
00:22:16.919 --> 00:22:18.963
ANDREW YOUNG:
The decision to remove

442
00:22:19.047 --> 00:22:20.757
the troops from the South

443
00:22:20.840 --> 00:22:24.719
was a decision made by one vote
in the Congress.

444
00:22:24.802 --> 00:22:29.891
One vote put an end
to Reconstruction

445
00:22:29.974 --> 00:22:33.770
and started the era of violence

446
00:22:33.853 --> 00:22:39.484
and bloodshed
and Klan-led catastrophes.

447
00:22:39.567 --> 00:22:42.195
♪ ♪

448
00:22:42.278 --> 00:22:44.822
ANDERSON: The South was
trying to figure out,

449
00:22:44.906 --> 00:22:48.659
"How do we stop all of
these Black folk from voting?

450
00:22:48.743 --> 00:22:53.456
If they continue to vote,
we’re in trouble."

451
00:22:53.539 --> 00:22:55.833
How do you say, "We don’t want
Black folks to vote,"

452
00:22:55.917 --> 00:22:57.126
without writing a law saying,

453
00:22:57.210 --> 00:22:59.003
"We don’t want
Black folks to vote"?

454
00:23:00.379 --> 00:23:02.507
Mississippi said,
"Oh, we’ve got this.

455
00:23:02.590 --> 00:23:06.677
"We have figured out how to
get around the 15th Amendment,

456
00:23:06.761 --> 00:23:11.808
while systematically denying
the vote to African Americans."

457
00:23:11.891 --> 00:23:14.602
And that was
the Mississippi Plan of 1890.

458
00:23:20.441 --> 00:23:22.652
What Mississippi
came up with was:

459
00:23:22.735 --> 00:23:26.322
We are going to use the
societally imposed conditions

460
00:23:26.405 --> 00:23:28.324
on African Americans

461
00:23:28.407 --> 00:23:33.496
and make those conditions
the access to the ballot box.

462
00:23:34.664 --> 00:23:37.500
What you say is:
Democracy is expensive.

463
00:23:37.583 --> 00:23:39.669
Elections are expensive.

464
00:23:40.545 --> 00:23:42.004
And if you’re really invested,

465
00:23:42.088 --> 00:23:44.465
you should be willing
to pay a small fee.

466
00:23:46.092 --> 00:23:48.052
A poll tax.

467
00:23:48.136 --> 00:23:50.096
It’s not too much.

468
00:23:50.179 --> 00:23:51.681
It sounds so reasonable.

469
00:23:51.764 --> 00:23:56.394
But when you begin to think
about what that means...

470
00:23:56.477 --> 00:24:00.690
You can pay for food,
or you can vote.

471
00:24:00.773 --> 00:24:04.110
You can pay for some clothes
for your children,

472
00:24:04.193 --> 00:24:06.154
or you can vote.

473
00:24:14.787 --> 00:24:17.832
And then the literacy test.

474
00:24:22.003 --> 00:24:23.629
DEBO ADEGBILE:
The literacy tests

475
00:24:23.713 --> 00:24:25.173
are misnamed, in a sense,

476
00:24:25.256 --> 00:24:28.134
because they weren’t really
tests of one’s literacy.

477
00:24:28.217 --> 00:24:29.677
They were traps.

478
00:24:29.760 --> 00:24:31.971
They were designed
to never let you

479
00:24:32.054 --> 00:24:34.307
be able to answer them
correctly.

480
00:24:36.184 --> 00:24:37.727
PEPPER:
I actually took out

481
00:24:37.810 --> 00:24:40.229
one of the old literacy tests
from Alabama.

482
00:24:40.313 --> 00:24:43.024
My class of second-
and third-year law students

483
00:24:43.107 --> 00:24:47.111
could not pass
the literacy test.

484
00:24:47.195 --> 00:24:49.238
ABRAMS: There were
literacy tests, poll taxes.

485
00:24:49.322 --> 00:24:50.573
PEPPER:
Grandfather clauses,

486
00:24:50.656 --> 00:24:52.450
all-white primaries,
property clauses.

487
00:24:52.533 --> 00:24:54.660
ANDERSON: If this one doesn’t
get you, this one will.

488
00:24:54.744 --> 00:24:56.704
If this one doesn’t get you,
this one will.

489
00:24:58.831 --> 00:25:01.834
ABRAMS: There were
this raft of different laws

490
00:25:01.918 --> 00:25:04.128
that were called
the Black Codes.

491
00:25:04.212 --> 00:25:07.215
And those laws criminalized
basic normal behavior.

492
00:25:07.298 --> 00:25:10.635
It was a crime to be
on a city street

493
00:25:10.718 --> 00:25:12.762
without having a place to go.

494
00:25:12.845 --> 00:25:14.680
It was a crime
not to have a job

495
00:25:14.764 --> 00:25:17.183
even if what you were doing
was looking for work.

496
00:25:17.266 --> 00:25:19.227
If you were caught loitering,

497
00:25:19.310 --> 00:25:21.646
meaning you were waiting
for your wife in a store,

498
00:25:21.729 --> 00:25:24.273
that could be a pretext
for arresting you,

499
00:25:24.357 --> 00:25:25.483
incarcerating you

500
00:25:25.566 --> 00:25:27.485
and permanently
disenfranchising you.

501
00:25:35.534 --> 00:25:38.162
ANDERSON:
That felony disfranchisement

502
00:25:38.246 --> 00:25:41.791
coming out of Florida in 1868--

503
00:25:41.874 --> 00:25:47.129
what that does is it strips you
of your right to vote.

504
00:25:47.213 --> 00:25:51.968
It is a way to-to neutralize
the 15th Amendment.

505
00:26:01.102 --> 00:26:03.187
♪ ♪

506
00:26:04.563 --> 00:26:06.607
PEPPER:
Virtually overnight,

507
00:26:06.691 --> 00:26:08.734
African Americans
are eliminated

508
00:26:08.818 --> 00:26:11.112
from the electorate
in the South.

509
00:26:11.195 --> 00:26:14.865
So, you go from having
Black governors and senators

510
00:26:14.949 --> 00:26:18.369
to having almost no--
if not any-- Black voters

511
00:26:18.452 --> 00:26:20.621
that were able to participate
in elections.

512
00:26:20.705 --> 00:26:23.457
ANDERSON: In Mississippi,
during Reconstruction,

513
00:26:23.541 --> 00:26:28.713
African American voter
registration was almost 67%.

514
00:26:29.839 --> 00:26:32.258
By the time
we have fought the Nazis

515
00:26:32.341 --> 00:26:34.010
and we are moving
into the Cold War

516
00:26:34.093 --> 00:26:36.053
where the U.S.
is really holding up

517
00:26:36.137 --> 00:26:38.681
as the leader
of the free world,

518
00:26:38.764 --> 00:26:42.643
only three percent of
age-eligible African Americans

519
00:26:42.727 --> 00:26:45.563
were registered to vote
in the South.

520
00:26:45.646 --> 00:26:48.149
Three percent.

521
00:26:52.445 --> 00:26:54.905
MAN: The word says,
"Great is the Lord

522
00:26:54.989 --> 00:26:57.199
and greatly to be praised."

523
00:26:57.283 --> 00:27:00.494
♪ I’m gonna praise him,
I got to get it out... ♪

524
00:27:00.578 --> 00:27:03.539
♪ ♪

525
00:27:05.207 --> 00:27:08.836
DESMOND MEADE:
My name is Desmond Meade.

526
00:27:08.919 --> 00:27:11.630
I grew up in Miami, Florida.

527
00:27:11.714 --> 00:27:13.966
I am what we call
a returning citizen.

528
00:27:14.050 --> 00:27:15.593
(cheering)

529
00:27:15.676 --> 00:27:17.595
Returning citizens are people

530
00:27:17.678 --> 00:27:19.597
with previous
felony convictions.

531
00:27:19.680 --> 00:27:22.433
You know, I used to tell people
that my story

532
00:27:22.516 --> 00:27:26.020
didn’t have a happy ending
because I lived in Florida,

533
00:27:26.103 --> 00:27:28.147
where over 1.68 million people

534
00:27:28.230 --> 00:27:31.859
had a lifetime ban from voting
and other things.

535
00:27:31.942 --> 00:27:34.153
MEADE:
After graduating high school,

536
00:27:34.236 --> 00:27:36.947
I went into the service.

537
00:27:37.031 --> 00:27:41.869
When I returned home,
I was addicted to drugs,

538
00:27:41.952 --> 00:27:44.955
and I was in and out of jail,

539
00:27:45.039 --> 00:27:48.167
and I ended up checking myself
into drug treatment.

540
00:27:48.250 --> 00:27:50.586
I experienced a transformation.

541
00:27:50.669 --> 00:27:54.131
What have I done with my life,
uh, to make a difference?

542
00:27:54.215 --> 00:27:56.133
♪ ♪

543
00:27:56.217 --> 00:27:57.802
NEWSMAN:
Florida leads the nation

544
00:27:57.885 --> 00:28:01.389
in denying the right to vote
to one specific group: felons.

545
00:28:03.516 --> 00:28:07.269
MEADE: For years,
we have lobbied politicians

546
00:28:07.353 --> 00:28:09.855
to change these old
Jim Crow laws,

547
00:28:09.939 --> 00:28:12.233
and we were not able
to accomplish anything.

548
00:28:12.316 --> 00:28:14.652
RICHARD HARRISON:
If there’s a million and a half

549
00:28:14.735 --> 00:28:15.945
convicted felons in Florida

550
00:28:16.028 --> 00:28:20.116
and they’re suddenly all
qualified to vote,

551
00:28:20.199 --> 00:28:22.743
that universe of people
are probably gonna be

552
00:28:22.827 --> 00:28:25.955
more inclined to favor
the Democratic Party.

553
00:28:26.038 --> 00:28:28.040
What data is there
to support that?

554
00:28:28.124 --> 00:28:29.792
-None.
-Mm.

555
00:28:29.875 --> 00:28:32.211
So, if the politicians
did not have

556
00:28:32.294 --> 00:28:34.547
the political strength
or courage

557
00:28:34.630 --> 00:28:36.841
to actually change
the policies,

558
00:28:36.924 --> 00:28:39.510
then the next best thing
was to let the citizens,

559
00:28:39.593 --> 00:28:41.595
uh, take it
into their own hands.

560
00:28:41.679 --> 00:28:46.267
CROWD: Let my people vote!
Let my people vote!

561
00:28:47.184 --> 00:28:50.563
MEADE:
In October of 2014,

562
00:28:50.646 --> 00:28:53.441
we launched
the ballot initiative.

563
00:28:54.483 --> 00:28:55.943
All of the experts thought

564
00:28:56.026 --> 00:28:59.238
that it was impossible
to even get it on the ballot.

565
00:28:59.321 --> 00:29:02.741
But this was an organic
grassroots movement.

566
00:29:02.825 --> 00:29:04.702
We knocked on a lot of doors.

567
00:29:04.785 --> 00:29:06.620
-We’re gonna change
the history. -All right.

568
00:29:06.704 --> 00:29:07.955
MEADE:
We made a ton of phone calls.

569
00:29:08.038 --> 00:29:09.540
WOMAN: We’re talking to voters
about Amendment 4,

570
00:29:09.623 --> 00:29:10.624
the voting restoration
amendment

571
00:29:10.708 --> 00:29:12.042
on the ballot this November.

572
00:29:12.126 --> 00:29:13.335
Have you heard about it?

573
00:29:13.419 --> 00:29:14.920
And our message
was very simple.

574
00:29:15.004 --> 00:29:16.881
When the debt is paid,
it’s paid.

575
00:29:16.964 --> 00:29:19.925
Uh, and that this was
an all-American issue

576
00:29:20.009 --> 00:29:22.261
that impacted people
from all walks of life.

577
00:29:22.344 --> 00:29:24.889
I’m a 20-plus-year
conservative Republican.

578
00:29:24.972 --> 00:29:27.349
I bring that up
not to make an issue of it

579
00:29:27.433 --> 00:29:29.602
but to actually not make
an issue of it.

580
00:29:29.685 --> 00:29:31.103
This issue isn’t
about politics.

581
00:29:31.187 --> 00:29:32.354
It’s about people.

582
00:29:32.438 --> 00:29:34.231
Out of all the civil rights,

583
00:29:34.315 --> 00:29:36.775
nothing speaks more
to citizenship

584
00:29:36.859 --> 00:29:38.486
than being able to vote.

585
00:29:38.569 --> 00:29:41.071
Today is midterm Election Day.

586
00:29:41.155 --> 00:29:43.365
Voting’s gonna be in full swing
here in just a few hours.

587
00:29:43.449 --> 00:29:45.993
Voters in Florida are preparing
to vote on a measure

588
00:29:46.076 --> 00:29:47.661
that would restore
voting rights

589
00:29:47.745 --> 00:29:49.997
to 1.4 million people,

590
00:29:50.080 --> 00:29:52.958
one in five African Americans
in Florida

591
00:29:53.042 --> 00:29:55.836
and ten percent of the state’s
adult population.

592
00:29:55.920 --> 00:29:58.506
NEWSWOMAN: Amendment 4,
if it passes, is expected to

593
00:29:58.589 --> 00:30:01.091
change the shape of Florida’s
electorate for decades to come.

594
00:30:01.175 --> 00:30:02.885
NEWSMAN: Millions of votes
already cast here in Florida,

595
00:30:02.968 --> 00:30:05.137
but millions more
will vote today.

596
00:30:05.221 --> 00:30:07.014
NEWSWOMAN: It looks like
Amendment 4 will pass.

597
00:30:07.097 --> 00:30:09.016
NEWSWOMAN: Amendment 4
passing by a wide margin.

598
00:30:09.099 --> 00:30:10.643
64% there.

599
00:30:10.726 --> 00:30:12.102
(cheering)

600
00:30:12.186 --> 00:30:13.562
CROWD (chanting):
Get the vote!

601
00:30:13.646 --> 00:30:16.524
Get the vote! Get the vote!

602
00:30:16.607 --> 00:30:19.527
I need every returning citizen
here on this stage.

603
00:30:19.610 --> 00:30:20.861
-WOMAN: That’s right.
-(cheering)

604
00:30:20.945 --> 00:30:22.905
MEADE:
When Amendment 4 passed,

605
00:30:22.988 --> 00:30:26.742
there was a feeling
of joy and appreciation

606
00:30:26.825 --> 00:30:28.536
for folks to be able to...

607
00:30:28.619 --> 00:30:30.454
to participate
in our democracy.

608
00:30:30.538 --> 00:30:31.914
We did it!

609
00:30:31.997 --> 00:30:35.543
Oh, my God, I am...
I am feeling, like,

610
00:30:35.626 --> 00:30:38.170
on cloud nine right now.

611
00:30:38.254 --> 00:30:39.672
ABRAMS:
That population in Florida

612
00:30:39.755 --> 00:30:41.006
and around the country,

613
00:30:41.090 --> 00:30:42.758
they are the legacy
of the Black Codes.

614
00:30:42.841 --> 00:30:44.927
They are the legacy of
the Mississippi Plan.

615
00:30:45.010 --> 00:30:46.637
They are the legacy of attempts

616
00:30:46.720 --> 00:30:49.139
to permanently disenfranchise
African Americans

617
00:30:49.223 --> 00:30:51.725
and to block
their participation in society.

618
00:30:51.809 --> 00:30:54.061
♪ ♪

619
00:31:17.751 --> 00:31:20.004
FONER:
Birth of a Nation-- it’s based

620
00:31:20.087 --> 00:31:22.089
on a novel called The Clansman,

621
00:31:22.172 --> 00:31:24.842
which is a glorification
of the Ku Klux Klan.

622
00:31:25.843 --> 00:31:27.595
Why is the Ku Klux Klan
glorified?

623
00:31:27.678 --> 00:31:30.097
Because it saved the South
from the horrors

624
00:31:30.180 --> 00:31:33.934
of Black men holding office
and, uh, being corrupt.

625
00:31:34.018 --> 00:31:36.145
♪ ♪

626
00:31:37.688 --> 00:31:40.399
ADEGBILE:
You get to the early 1900s,

627
00:31:40.482 --> 00:31:45.237
and you have the reign of
terror from the Ku Klux Klan.

628
00:31:46.447 --> 00:31:49.825
And what you see is
almost a total purge

629
00:31:49.908 --> 00:31:52.911
in lots of the former states
of the Confederacy

630
00:31:52.995 --> 00:31:55.789
of Black political
participation...

631
00:31:57.249 --> 00:31:58.667
...at the butt of a gun,

632
00:31:58.751 --> 00:32:01.128
at the butt of threats
of violence,

633
00:32:01.211 --> 00:32:03.464
through lynching and chaos.

634
00:32:04.506 --> 00:32:06.383
FONER:
There was terrorist violence

635
00:32:06.467 --> 00:32:09.136
on a massive scale
in the South.

636
00:32:10.054 --> 00:32:12.890
Between 1880 and 1950,

637
00:32:12.973 --> 00:32:15.267
somewhere around 4,000
Americans are lynched--

638
00:32:15.351 --> 00:32:18.228
and almost all of them
African Americans.

639
00:32:19.730 --> 00:32:23.651
ANDERSON: So, let me tell you
a story about Maceo Snipes.

640
00:32:23.734 --> 00:32:27.154
Maceo Snipes was
a World War II veteran.

641
00:32:27.237 --> 00:32:29.490
When you have fought fascists

642
00:32:29.573 --> 00:32:32.701
and you have fought
for democracy,

643
00:32:32.785 --> 00:32:35.704
you want some of that democracy
for yourself.

644
00:32:37.206 --> 00:32:38.999
He came home to Georgia,

645
00:32:39.083 --> 00:32:42.294
and Maceo was
determined to vote.

646
00:32:43.379 --> 00:32:45.381
There was an election going on,

647
00:32:45.464 --> 00:32:48.175
and Eugene Talmadge
was running for governor.

648
00:32:48.258 --> 00:32:50.135
(cheering)

649
00:32:50.219 --> 00:32:52.680
The federal government
is working consistently

650
00:32:52.763 --> 00:32:54.598
to tear down states’ rights.

651
00:32:54.682 --> 00:32:57.184
And Talmadge was running
on the platform

652
00:32:57.267 --> 00:33:01.355
to, as he said, keep
the Negroes where they belong.

653
00:33:01.438 --> 00:33:04.483
And so Maceo goes down,
and there’s a sign

654
00:33:04.566 --> 00:33:06.860
that says something
to the effect of:

655
00:33:06.944 --> 00:33:08.570
"First Negro that votes,

656
00:33:08.654 --> 00:33:11.323
that’ll be the last thing
he ever does."

657
00:33:11.407 --> 00:33:14.284
Maceo was like,
"(scoffs) I fought fascists.

658
00:33:14.368 --> 00:33:15.786
What you got?"

659
00:33:15.869 --> 00:33:17.788
(laughs):
And so Maceo went in there,

660
00:33:17.871 --> 00:33:20.040
and he cast his ballot.

661
00:33:21.542 --> 00:33:25.295
He was the only Black person
in Taylor County, Georgia,

662
00:33:25.379 --> 00:33:28.924
that voted in 1946.

663
00:33:29.007 --> 00:33:31.009
Maceo goes home.

664
00:33:31.093 --> 00:33:33.971
Nothing happens for a few days.

665
00:33:34.054 --> 00:33:35.764
And then...

666
00:33:37.266 --> 00:33:39.351
He goes to his door.

667
00:33:39.435 --> 00:33:41.895
White man says, "Could you step
out on the porch?"

668
00:33:41.979 --> 00:33:43.981
Maceo’s like, "Sure."

669
00:33:44.064 --> 00:33:45.983
And then he sees
three additional white men.

670
00:33:46.066 --> 00:33:48.068
And then he hears...
(imitates guns cocking)

671
00:33:48.152 --> 00:33:51.488
And it was a firing squad,

672
00:33:51.572 --> 00:33:55.868
and they laid Maceo out.

673
00:33:57.202 --> 00:33:59.580
The message was really clear.

674
00:33:59.663 --> 00:34:02.291
You vote, you die.

675
00:34:11.675 --> 00:34:15.721
Election Day terrorism
was designed

676
00:34:15.804 --> 00:34:19.725
to provide
the kind of intimidation

677
00:34:19.808 --> 00:34:22.102
that said,
"If all of the pieces

678
00:34:22.186 --> 00:34:25.355
"of the Mississippi Plan
can’t stop you,

679
00:34:25.439 --> 00:34:29.151
we’ve got some bullets
and a rope that will."

680
00:34:29.234 --> 00:34:33.989
And this is why you see
the kind of insurgency

681
00:34:34.072 --> 00:34:36.325
happening in
the Black community

682
00:34:36.408 --> 00:34:39.495
that leads into
the civil rights movement.

683
00:34:39.578 --> 00:34:41.705
This kind of... (sighs)

684
00:34:41.789 --> 00:34:43.957
"I shall not be moved."

685
00:34:44.041 --> 00:34:49.922
♪ Soon it will be done ♪

686
00:34:50.005 --> 00:34:55.093
♪ Trouble of the world... ♪

687
00:34:55.177 --> 00:34:57.054
MAN:
My name is Roosevelt Lee.

688
00:34:57.137 --> 00:34:59.723
I went out to Liberty
to try to register,

689
00:34:59.807 --> 00:35:02.142
and the next day,
when I went back to my job,

690
00:35:02.226 --> 00:35:03.393
the man fired me.

691
00:35:06.355 --> 00:35:09.650
MAN: After being questioned,
I was carried into a room

692
00:35:09.733 --> 00:35:13.946
where a police officer came in
and got a rope and said,

693
00:35:14.029 --> 00:35:16.406
"Okay, nigger,
get up in here and let’s go.

694
00:35:16.490 --> 00:35:18.492
"We’re going to have
a hanging here tonight,

695
00:35:18.575 --> 00:35:20.077
and you’re going to be first."

696
00:35:20.160 --> 00:35:25.123
♪ No more ♪

697
00:35:25.207 --> 00:35:26.959
-(camera clicking)
-(clamoring)

698
00:35:27.042 --> 00:35:30.504
♪ Weepin’ and wailin’ ♪

699
00:35:32.381 --> 00:35:37.928
♪ No more ♪

700
00:35:38.011 --> 00:35:43.141
♪ Weepin’ and wailin’ ♪

701
00:35:43.225 --> 00:35:46.603
♪ Going home ♪

702
00:35:46.687 --> 00:35:49.439
♪ To live ♪

703
00:35:49.523 --> 00:35:52.025
♪ With my Lord ♪

704
00:35:56.530 --> 00:36:01.910
♪ Soon it will be done ♪

705
00:36:01.994 --> 00:36:03.745
♪ Trouble of the world... ♪

706
00:36:03.829 --> 00:36:05.873
ABRAMS: In my life,
I never would’ve imagined

707
00:36:05.956 --> 00:36:07.791
I would have the honor
to stand here.

708
00:36:07.875 --> 00:36:11.003
-(congregation murmuring)
-And when I got the request,

709
00:36:11.086 --> 00:36:14.172
my very next moment
was to call my mom and my dad.

710
00:36:14.256 --> 00:36:15.591
(congregation murmuring)

711
00:36:15.674 --> 00:36:18.218
My parents,
Reverend Robert Abrams

712
00:36:18.302 --> 00:36:20.095
and Reverend Carolyn Abrams.

713
00:36:20.178 --> 00:36:22.556
(cheering and applause)

714
00:36:22.639 --> 00:36:25.309
You see, my father was arrested
at the age of 14

715
00:36:25.392 --> 00:36:27.936
in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

716
00:36:28.020 --> 00:36:32.107
He was arrested for helping to
register Black people to vote.

717
00:36:32.190 --> 00:36:33.483
My mother was doing
the same work.

718
00:36:33.567 --> 00:36:35.402
She was just smart enough
not to get caught, but...

719
00:36:35.485 --> 00:36:36.695
(laughter, applause)

720
00:36:36.778 --> 00:36:39.489
All of that started
here in Selma.

721
00:36:39.573 --> 00:36:44.828
♪ No more... ♪

722
00:36:44.912 --> 00:36:48.081
WOMAN: Selma, Alabama,
is located in Dallas County.

723
00:36:48.165 --> 00:36:51.543
17,000 of the county’s
residents are Negroes.

724
00:36:51.627 --> 00:36:56.256
However, only 1.7% of these
are registered voters.

725
00:36:56.340 --> 00:36:59.676
The Negroes of Selma, Alabama,
want to vote.

726
00:36:59.760 --> 00:37:02.387
C.T. VIVIAN: We’re willing
to be beaten for democracy,

727
00:37:02.471 --> 00:37:05.223
and you misuse democracy
in the street.

728
00:37:05.307 --> 00:37:07.935
You beat people bloody
in order that they will not

729
00:37:08.018 --> 00:37:09.728
have the privilege to vote.

730
00:37:09.811 --> 00:37:11.063
You can turn your back now,

731
00:37:11.146 --> 00:37:13.023
and you can keep the club
in your hand,

732
00:37:13.106 --> 00:37:15.150
but you cannot beat down
justice.

733
00:37:15.233 --> 00:37:17.069
And we will register to vote

734
00:37:17.152 --> 00:37:18.737
because, as citizens
of these United States,

735
00:37:18.820 --> 00:37:20.280
we have the right to do it.

736
00:37:20.364 --> 00:37:23.575
You’re under arrest
for contempt of court.

737
00:37:24.409 --> 00:37:27.079
(quiet, indistinct chatter)

738
00:37:27.162 --> 00:37:29.289
♪ ♪

739
00:37:31.500 --> 00:37:35.170
YOUNG: Selma really
awakened the nation.

740
00:37:36.088 --> 00:37:39.299
In Selma, Sheriff Jim Clark

741
00:37:39.383 --> 00:37:43.011
was refusing to let them
register to vote.

742
00:37:44.721 --> 00:37:47.808
They wouldn’t even pretend
to go through the motions.

743
00:37:47.891 --> 00:37:50.560
MARTIN LUTHER KING:
I want to start out

744
00:37:50.644 --> 00:37:55.607
by commending you,
the Negro citizens of Selma,

745
00:37:55.691 --> 00:37:58.402
for standing up.

746
00:37:58.485 --> 00:38:01.446
Sooner or later,
Sheriff Clark will understand

747
00:38:01.530 --> 00:38:06.618
that he’s dealing with a people
that will not stop

748
00:38:06.702 --> 00:38:09.746
until they have full freedom
and human dignity.

749
00:38:12.749 --> 00:38:16.128
NEWSMAN: Dr. King and a large
number of Selma Negroes marched

750
00:38:16.211 --> 00:38:18.130
through the city streets
in small groups

751
00:38:18.213 --> 00:38:20.132
to the county courthouse.

752
00:38:20.215 --> 00:38:21.675
(siren wailing)

753
00:38:21.758 --> 00:38:23.760
One woman, Mrs. Amelia Boynton,

754
00:38:23.844 --> 00:38:26.805
was grabbed by the sheriff
and hustled along the sidewalk

755
00:38:26.888 --> 00:38:29.349
into the custody of deputies.

756
00:38:34.187 --> 00:38:38.066
YOUNG: Dr. King and I,
we had been working together

757
00:38:38.150 --> 00:38:40.777
to get a civil rights bill
passed.

758
00:38:40.861 --> 00:38:45.032
We went back, and we met
with President Johnson,

759
00:38:45.115 --> 00:38:48.785
and he said, "Well, I know
you need voting rights,

760
00:38:48.869 --> 00:38:51.913
"but we just had
a civil rights bill passed.

761
00:38:51.997 --> 00:38:53.957
"I just don’t have the power

762
00:38:54.041 --> 00:38:57.586
"to go back to Congress
for another civil rights bill.

763
00:38:57.669 --> 00:39:01.256
I know it’s needed, but, uh,
I don’t have the power."

764
00:39:01.339 --> 00:39:04.384
And he must have said,
"I don’t have the power,"

765
00:39:04.468 --> 00:39:06.428
half a dozen times.

766
00:39:08.305 --> 00:39:13.477
When we left, I asked Dr. King,
"Well, what are you gonna do?"

767
00:39:13.560 --> 00:39:16.271
He said, "We’re gonna get
the president some power."

768
00:39:24.279 --> 00:39:25.947
Uh, the Student Nonviolent
Coordinating Committee

769
00:39:26.031 --> 00:39:27.616
has a statement.

770
00:39:27.699 --> 00:39:30.452
We, the Negro citizens
of Dallas County

771
00:39:30.535 --> 00:39:33.038
and other Alabama
Black Belt counties,

772
00:39:33.121 --> 00:39:35.999
are marching today
from Selma to Montgomery.

773
00:39:37.250 --> 00:39:39.544
YOUNG: A couple of hundred
people showed up.

774
00:39:41.004 --> 00:39:44.091
John Lewis led the march.

775
00:39:44.174 --> 00:39:47.803
LEWIS: We’re marching today
to dramatize to the nation,

776
00:39:47.886 --> 00:39:49.429
dramatize to the world

777
00:39:49.513 --> 00:39:52.682
the hundreds and thousands
of Negro citizens of Alabama,

778
00:39:52.766 --> 00:39:55.018
but particularly here
in the Black Belt area,

779
00:39:55.102 --> 00:39:57.187
denied the right to vote.

780
00:40:01.108 --> 00:40:03.735
ANDERSON: Then they get
to the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

781
00:40:04.945 --> 00:40:06.988
It’s real quiet.

782
00:40:07.072 --> 00:40:10.033
They’re like,
"Where is everybody?"

783
00:40:13.954 --> 00:40:15.747
♪ ♪

784
00:40:15.831 --> 00:40:19.709
YOUNG: The Alabama state patrol
and Sheriff Jim Clark

785
00:40:19.793 --> 00:40:23.296
were on the other side
of the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

786
00:40:23.380 --> 00:40:25.841
OFFICER: It’ll be detrimental
to your safety

787
00:40:25.924 --> 00:40:27.968
to continue this march,
and I’m saying

788
00:40:28.051 --> 00:40:30.262
that this is
an unlawful assembly.

789
00:40:30.345 --> 00:40:32.389
You are ordered to disperse.

790
00:40:32.472 --> 00:40:35.058
Go home or go to your church.

791
00:40:35.142 --> 00:40:38.311
This march will not continue.

792
00:40:38.395 --> 00:40:41.148
You’ve got two minutes
to turn around

793
00:40:41.231 --> 00:40:43.525
and go back to your church.

794
00:40:43.608 --> 00:40:46.486
Is that clear to you?

795
00:40:46.570 --> 00:40:48.905
JOHN LEWIS:
Major, may I have a word?

796
00:40:48.989 --> 00:40:51.950
OFFICER: I’ve got nothing
further to say to you.

797
00:40:52.033 --> 00:40:56.955
Troopers here,
advance toward the group.

798
00:40:57.038 --> 00:41:01.418
See that they turn around
and disperse.

799
00:41:07.465 --> 00:41:10.760
(people screaming)

800
00:41:20.395 --> 00:41:22.689
ANDERSON:
You see people just stumbling.

801
00:41:22.772 --> 00:41:24.649
You see them being trampled.

802
00:41:24.733 --> 00:41:27.277
And the cameras are rolling.

803
00:41:27.360 --> 00:41:30.530
-(weapon blasts)
-(whistling, screaming)

804
00:41:44.794 --> 00:41:47.672
YOUNG: That Sunday,
everybody was watching

805
00:41:47.756 --> 00:41:50.467
the movie
Judgment at Nuremberg,

806
00:41:50.550 --> 00:41:53.511
which was about Hitler’s
slaughter of the Jews.

807
00:41:55.680 --> 00:41:58.266
ANDERSON: They cut into
their movie of the week

808
00:41:58.350 --> 00:42:01.478
to show the footage
of Bloody Sunday.

809
00:42:01.561 --> 00:42:04.981
The nation was appalled
because one of the ways

810
00:42:05.065 --> 00:42:08.652
that Jim Crow worked
so smoothly and so effectively

811
00:42:08.735 --> 00:42:10.528
is that you didn’t
have to see it.

812
00:42:10.612 --> 00:42:15.116
But when you see the violence
raining down on people

813
00:42:15.200 --> 00:42:18.745
who are just fighting
for the right to vote,

814
00:42:18.828 --> 00:42:21.039
it tells you that something
is systemically,

815
00:42:21.122 --> 00:42:23.959
fundamentally wrong
in this democracy.

816
00:42:25.001 --> 00:42:27.629
It-it was just...

817
00:42:27.712 --> 00:42:32.217
it was ruthless
and brutal and...

818
00:42:32.300 --> 00:42:34.803
and criminal.

819
00:42:34.886 --> 00:42:37.722
But it was what...

820
00:42:39.683 --> 00:42:43.812
It was what changed the South
on voting rights.

821
00:42:43.895 --> 00:42:47.232
(crowd clapping,
chanting indistinctly)

822
00:42:47.315 --> 00:42:49.150
WALDMAN:
A nationwide movement

823
00:42:49.234 --> 00:42:51.778
for voting rights
erupted that week.

824
00:42:51.861 --> 00:42:53.571
All over the country,
there were protests,

825
00:42:53.655 --> 00:42:55.073
there were sit-ins.

826
00:42:57.575 --> 00:42:59.160
LUCI BAINES JOHNSON:
My father saw it

827
00:42:59.244 --> 00:43:03.623
as a pivotal moment
to seize upon America’s angst

828
00:43:03.707 --> 00:43:05.250
so that Americans
would come and say,

829
00:43:05.333 --> 00:43:08.795
"Yes, the cause is just.
The time is now."

830
00:43:08.878 --> 00:43:11.047
(applause)

831
00:43:14.467 --> 00:43:16.428
♪ ♪

832
00:43:16.511 --> 00:43:18.888
LYNDON B. JOHNSON: Many of
the issues of civil rights

833
00:43:18.972 --> 00:43:22.600
are very complex
and most difficult.

834
00:43:22.684 --> 00:43:28.523
But about this, there can
and should be no argument.

835
00:43:28.606 --> 00:43:32.027
Every American citizen

836
00:43:32.110 --> 00:43:36.031
must have
an equal right to vote.

837
00:43:39.367 --> 00:43:42.912
What happened in Selma is
part of a far larger movement

838
00:43:42.996 --> 00:43:45.707
which reaches
into every section

839
00:43:45.790 --> 00:43:47.667
and state of America.

840
00:43:47.751 --> 00:43:50.420
Because it’s not just Negroes,

841
00:43:50.503 --> 00:43:56.092
but really, it’s all of us
who must overcome

842
00:43:56.176 --> 00:44:00.305
the crippling legacy
of bigotry

843
00:44:00.388 --> 00:44:02.724
and injustice.

844
00:44:02.807 --> 00:44:05.769
And we shall overcome.

845
00:44:05.852 --> 00:44:08.772
(applause)

846
00:44:18.531 --> 00:44:20.575
YOUNG:
He ended his speech with:

847
00:44:20.658 --> 00:44:23.411
"And we shall overcome."

848
00:44:23.495 --> 00:44:25.955
That’s the only time
I saw Martin Luther King,

849
00:44:26.039 --> 00:44:27.957
uh, shed a tear.

850
00:44:29.584 --> 00:44:32.712
We gave him the power.

851
00:44:33.505 --> 00:44:37.092
All of us working together

852
00:44:37.175 --> 00:44:39.594
got the Voting Rights Act
passed.

853
00:44:39.677 --> 00:44:42.555
ABRAMS:
Lyndon Johnson understood that,

854
00:44:42.639 --> 00:44:46.810
while he had been an impediment
to civil rights for decades,

855
00:44:46.893 --> 00:44:50.230
the time had changed and
it was time for him to change.

856
00:44:50.313 --> 00:44:52.023
But more importantly,
he understood that if

857
00:44:52.107 --> 00:44:55.985
the power of the right to vote
was truly made available,

858
00:44:56.069 --> 00:44:57.821
it would change the future
of this nation.

859
00:44:57.904 --> 00:45:00.323
♪ ♪

860
00:45:25.890 --> 00:45:29.102
I’m the product
of the Voting Rights Act.

861
00:45:29.185 --> 00:45:30.395
(congregation murmuring
in agreement)

862
00:45:30.478 --> 00:45:32.063
An act that was bought
and paid for

863
00:45:32.147 --> 00:45:34.607
-on Edmund Pettus Bridge.
-(murmuring, clapping)

864
00:45:34.691 --> 00:45:36.192
With foot soldiers who believed

865
00:45:36.276 --> 00:45:38.486
that they had
the right to be there.

866
00:45:38.570 --> 00:45:40.989
Because when you stood up
and went across that bridge,

867
00:45:41.072 --> 00:45:43.199
those were the wings
of the eagles

868
00:45:43.283 --> 00:45:45.118
-that Isaiah talked about.
-WOMAN: Yes.

869
00:45:45.201 --> 00:45:47.704
It may have looked like feet
marching across the bridge,

870
00:45:47.787 --> 00:45:49.247
but that was flight.

871
00:45:54.127 --> 00:45:57.630
BERMAN: Days after the
Voting Rights Act was passed,

872
00:45:57.714 --> 00:45:59.757
there were federal officials
in the South

873
00:45:59.841 --> 00:46:03.094
registering African Americans
to vote for the first time

874
00:46:03.178 --> 00:46:04.679
in counties where Black people

875
00:46:04.762 --> 00:46:07.015
hadn’t been able to register
for decades.

876
00:46:07.098 --> 00:46:09.350
This was truly revolutionary.

877
00:46:13.062 --> 00:46:18.026
ANDERSON: By 1967, two years
after the Voting Rights Act,

878
00:46:18.109 --> 00:46:22.280
almost 60% of Black adults
in Mississippi

879
00:46:22.363 --> 00:46:24.532
registered to vote.

880
00:46:25.742 --> 00:46:27.535
Game changer.

881
00:46:46.471 --> 00:46:48.306
ABRAMS:
September of 2018,

882
00:46:48.389 --> 00:46:51.059
I went home to visit
my grandmother.

883
00:46:52.101 --> 00:46:54.187
♪ ♪

884
00:46:57.440 --> 00:47:01.778
And Grandma had a recliner
that sat right next to her bed.

885
00:47:03.988 --> 00:47:06.241
When you go to visit
my grandma, you sat down

886
00:47:06.324 --> 00:47:07.951
because you did not want
to interrupt

887
00:47:08.034 --> 00:47:10.245
whatever it was
she was watching.

888
00:47:11.955 --> 00:47:14.999
And so, I sat on the bedside
waiting for her attention,

889
00:47:15.083 --> 00:47:19.128
and, uh, she turned to me.

890
00:47:19.212 --> 00:47:21.172
And unprompted, my grandmother
reached for my hand,

891
00:47:21.256 --> 00:47:24.926
and she started telling me
about the first time she voted.

892
00:47:26.344 --> 00:47:27.679
It was three years after

893
00:47:27.762 --> 00:47:30.223
the adoption
of the Voting Rights Act.

894
00:47:30.306 --> 00:47:32.642
But it was the first time
for most African Americans

895
00:47:32.725 --> 00:47:34.394
that they really would
have a chance

896
00:47:34.477 --> 00:47:36.062
to participate in an election.

897
00:47:38.064 --> 00:47:39.357
And this was during a time

898
00:47:39.440 --> 00:47:40.900
where you put on
your Sunday best

899
00:47:40.984 --> 00:47:44.195
and you would make an event
out of going to vote.

900
00:47:45.530 --> 00:47:47.699
My grandfather called for her
from the front room.

901
00:47:47.782 --> 00:47:48.866
Her name was Wilter.

902
00:47:48.950 --> 00:47:50.201
And he’s like,
"Wilter, come on!"

903
00:47:50.285 --> 00:47:51.786
She didn’t respond.

904
00:47:51.869 --> 00:47:53.246
Her nickname was Bill.

905
00:47:53.329 --> 00:47:55.790
And so then he yelled out,
"Bill, it’s time to go."

906
00:47:55.873 --> 00:47:59.294
And my grandmother said...
she still didn’t say anything.

907
00:47:59.377 --> 00:48:03.590
So he came back to find out
why she hadn’t responded.

908
00:48:03.673 --> 00:48:07.802
And she was frozen.
She was afraid to go.

909
00:48:09.512 --> 00:48:11.264
I remember her
squeezing my hand

910
00:48:11.347 --> 00:48:14.976
and the feel
of that paper-thin skin

911
00:48:15.059 --> 00:48:16.978
and the fragile bones

912
00:48:17.061 --> 00:48:19.022
but this grip that she had
on my hand

913
00:48:19.105 --> 00:48:22.025
where she said that it wasn’t
that she didn’t want to vote;

914
00:48:22.108 --> 00:48:23.568
she was afraid of it.

915
00:48:23.651 --> 00:48:25.612
(clamoring)

916
00:48:25.695 --> 00:48:28.323
She was afraid
of the billy clubs

917
00:48:28.406 --> 00:48:31.618
and the hoses and the dogs,
and she did not believe

918
00:48:31.701 --> 00:48:34.037
that this time would be
any different.

919
00:48:34.120 --> 00:48:37.457
She didn’t believe
that the power of democracy

920
00:48:37.540 --> 00:48:39.459
was finally hers.

921
00:48:41.085 --> 00:48:44.088
And my grandfather told her
that she had to get up,

922
00:48:44.172 --> 00:48:46.007
that her children
had been in trouble

923
00:48:46.090 --> 00:48:47.592
trying to guarantee this right

924
00:48:47.675 --> 00:48:50.094
and that she owed it to them,
if not to herself,

925
00:48:50.178 --> 00:48:51.638
to get up and vote.

926
00:48:51.721 --> 00:48:53.348
And she said
she was still terrified,

927
00:48:53.431 --> 00:48:56.017
she was still deeply afraid
of this moment,

928
00:48:56.100 --> 00:48:58.061
but she was also ashamed
of herself.

929
00:48:58.144 --> 00:49:01.314
She was ashamed that she didn’t
want to reach for this power.

930
00:49:05.193 --> 00:49:07.195
She got up,
she finished getting dressed,

931
00:49:07.278 --> 00:49:09.447
and they went to vote.

932
00:49:12.742 --> 00:49:14.535
And as squeezed my hand,
she said, "But, Stacey,

933
00:49:14.619 --> 00:49:16.245
I’ve never missed
another election."

934
00:49:32.470 --> 00:49:34.222
PAUL B. JOHNSON JR.:
Mississippi and the other

935
00:49:34.305 --> 00:49:39.018
Southern states are engaged
in a life-and-death fight

936
00:49:39.102 --> 00:49:41.229
with the federal government.

937
00:49:41.312 --> 00:49:44.107
What is this fight all about?

938
00:49:44.190 --> 00:49:47.944
The Voting Rights Act of 1965.

939
00:49:48.027 --> 00:49:51.864
Insofar as the Negro
is concerned,

940
00:49:51.948 --> 00:49:56.828
it will suspend
all literacy requirements

941
00:49:56.911 --> 00:49:59.038
of the Mississippi law.

942
00:49:59.122 --> 00:50:01.416
Georgia has no problem

943
00:50:01.499 --> 00:50:04.127
with reference
to voter registration.

944
00:50:04.210 --> 00:50:07.922
We do not need federal
registrars in this state.

945
00:50:08.005 --> 00:50:11.718
I am unalterably opposed
and will fight to the end

946
00:50:11.801 --> 00:50:14.178
any attempts to reshape
or mold our state

947
00:50:14.262 --> 00:50:16.556
to conform
to the prescription written

948
00:50:16.639 --> 00:50:19.726
by dictatorial left-wing
integrationist social planners

949
00:50:19.809 --> 00:50:22.478
daydreaming on the bank
of the Potomac.

950
00:50:22.562 --> 00:50:24.439
BERMAN:
The Southern states challenged

951
00:50:24.522 --> 00:50:26.524
the Voting Rights Act
immediately

952
00:50:26.607 --> 00:50:28.985
in the courts
as unconstitutional.

953
00:50:29.068 --> 00:50:30.278
But they fail.

954
00:50:30.361 --> 00:50:33.072
The Supreme Court
upholds the law eight-to-one.

955
00:50:33.156 --> 00:50:35.408
♪ ♪

956
00:50:38.035 --> 00:50:40.037
ADEGBILE:
If you frame the argument,

957
00:50:40.121 --> 00:50:41.497
"Who doesn’t believe
that people

958
00:50:41.581 --> 00:50:43.124
should be allowed to vote?"

959
00:50:43.207 --> 00:50:45.960
while there will be some people
that will raise their hand,

960
00:50:46.043 --> 00:50:47.587
most Americans believe

961
00:50:47.670 --> 00:50:50.131
that citizens should be
allowed to vote.

962
00:50:51.424 --> 00:50:52.633
(applause)

963
00:50:52.717 --> 00:50:55.511
GERALD FORD:
The bill that I will sign today

964
00:50:55.595 --> 00:50:58.055
extends the temporary
provisions of the act

965
00:50:58.139 --> 00:51:02.351
for seven more years
and broadens the provisions

966
00:51:02.435 --> 00:51:06.481
to bar discrimination against
Spanish-speaking Americans,

967
00:51:06.564 --> 00:51:09.776
American Indians,
Alaskan Natives

968
00:51:09.859 --> 00:51:12.528
-and Asian Americans.
-(applause)

969
00:51:12.612 --> 00:51:14.989
ABRAMS:
The Voting Rights Act began

970
00:51:15.072 --> 00:51:16.949
with the former
Confederate states,

971
00:51:17.033 --> 00:51:19.452
but this was a law
that understood

972
00:51:19.535 --> 00:51:22.580
that discrimination
could crop up anywhere.

973
00:51:22.663 --> 00:51:24.540
The state of Arizona
was such a bad actor

974
00:51:24.624 --> 00:51:27.126
that in 1975
the U.S. Justice Department

975
00:51:27.210 --> 00:51:31.255
added Arizona to the process
because of their long history

976
00:51:31.339 --> 00:51:34.300
of discrimination against
Latinos and Native Americans.

977
00:51:34.383 --> 00:51:36.385
(indistinct chanting)

978
00:51:37.887 --> 00:51:41.307
BERMAN: Hispanics were facing
some of the same kind of things

979
00:51:41.390 --> 00:51:44.644
in Arizona, in Texas,
across the Southwest,

980
00:51:44.727 --> 00:51:48.231
that African Americans faced
in the segregated South.

981
00:51:50.650 --> 00:51:54.737
Things like literacy tests,
voter intimidation.

982
00:51:55.613 --> 00:51:57.824
They said, "We need protection

983
00:51:57.907 --> 00:52:00.535
in the Voting Rights Act
as well."

984
00:52:01.410 --> 00:52:02.995
Maricopa County is the largest

985
00:52:03.079 --> 00:52:05.873
and most important county
in Arizona.

986
00:52:07.083 --> 00:52:10.253
From 1960 to 1964,

987
00:52:10.336 --> 00:52:15.424
William Rehnquist was in charge
of ballot security operations

988
00:52:15.508 --> 00:52:18.177
for the Republican Party
of Maricopa County.

989
00:52:18.261 --> 00:52:20.805
This was called
Operation Eagle Eye.

990
00:52:21.973 --> 00:52:24.141
And what Rehnquist
and others did

991
00:52:24.225 --> 00:52:27.603
was they went
to Democratic parts of Phoenix

992
00:52:27.687 --> 00:52:30.982
and they asked Latino
and African American voters

993
00:52:31.065 --> 00:52:33.067
if they could read
the Constitution.

994
00:52:33.150 --> 00:52:36.320
So, this was
a de facto literacy test.

995
00:52:36.404 --> 00:52:38.030
And if people could not read it

996
00:52:38.114 --> 00:52:40.449
to the satisfaction
of Rehnquist and others,

997
00:52:40.533 --> 00:52:43.369
Rehnquist challenged
their eligibility to vote.

998
00:52:45.663 --> 00:52:47.081
William Rehnquist, the future

999
00:52:47.164 --> 00:52:49.292
chief justice
of the Supreme Court,

1000
00:52:49.375 --> 00:52:52.503
was on the front lines
of voter suppression

1001
00:52:52.587 --> 00:52:57.383
in Maricopa County, Arizona,
all the way back in the 1960s.

1002
00:53:00.636 --> 00:53:04.015
NEWSWOMAN: America’s most
unwelcoming prison regime

1003
00:53:04.098 --> 00:53:06.392
likes to advertise
it always has vacancies.

1004
00:53:06.475 --> 00:53:10.688
JOE ARPAIO: It shows I will
always have room for illegals.

1005
00:53:10.771 --> 00:53:12.690
NEWSWOMAN:
The man who calls himself

1006
00:53:12.773 --> 00:53:14.150
America’s toughest sheriff

1007
00:53:14.233 --> 00:53:16.944
makes his prison
as unpleasant as possible.

1008
00:53:17.028 --> 00:53:19.322
ALEJANDRA GOMEZ:
Arpaio became

1009
00:53:19.405 --> 00:53:23.159
the face of terror
for our community.

1010
00:53:25.244 --> 00:53:28.581
We would see posses
going to neighborhoods

1011
00:53:28.664 --> 00:53:30.333
to do roundups.

1012
00:53:30.416 --> 00:53:35.504
There were checkpoints
to ask people for their papers.

1013
00:53:37.006 --> 00:53:40.009
It created a righteous anger,
saying that we deserve more

1014
00:53:40.092 --> 00:53:44.847
and we do not deserve
to live under this.

1015
00:53:46.182 --> 00:53:49.101
MAN (chanting):
We gotta tell the whole world!

1016
00:53:49.185 --> 00:53:51.395
GROUP:
This is ACE territory!

1017
00:53:51.479 --> 00:53:53.189
I said, my people!

1018
00:53:53.272 --> 00:53:54.357
GROUP:
Yeah!

1019
00:53:54.440 --> 00:53:56.484
-We got a story!
-Yeah!

1020
00:53:56.567 --> 00:53:59.320
We gotta tell the whole world!

1021
00:53:59.403 --> 00:54:01.697
This is ACE territory!

1022
00:54:01.781 --> 00:54:03.908
All right.
How’s everybody doing?

1023
00:54:03.991 --> 00:54:05.284
-GROUP: Good.
-Good?

1024
00:54:05.368 --> 00:54:07.078
How’s everybody doing, y’all?

1025
00:54:07.161 --> 00:54:09.246
-(louder): Good.
-All right, dope.

1026
00:54:09.330 --> 00:54:12.750
About almost three years ago,
it was my first day at LUCHA.

1027
00:54:12.833 --> 00:54:14.377
And Stephanie was up here
at the front,

1028
00:54:14.460 --> 00:54:15.544
and she was talking about

1029
00:54:15.628 --> 00:54:17.254
how we’re gonna register
a lot of people to vote.

1030
00:54:17.338 --> 00:54:19.090
And I remember her giving me
the clipboard, right?

1031
00:54:19.173 --> 00:54:21.467
And she was like, "All right,
we’re gonna go to Walmart."

1032
00:54:21.550 --> 00:54:24.095
-And I was so scared.
-(laughter)

1033
00:54:24.178 --> 00:54:25.888
♪ I’m still hopin’
for the tours wide open... ♪

1034
00:54:25.972 --> 00:54:28.099
GOMEZ: Our volunteers are
standing on the shoulders

1035
00:54:28.182 --> 00:54:31.644
of folks that have paved
the way for us to be able

1036
00:54:31.727 --> 00:54:35.356
to cast that ballot
and become part of

1037
00:54:35.439 --> 00:54:40.319
a power community that is now
impacting policies.

1038
00:54:40.403 --> 00:54:42.363
Hi.

1039
00:54:42.446 --> 00:54:44.240
Are you a registered voter?

1040
00:54:44.323 --> 00:54:45.950
No? How come?

1041
00:54:46.033 --> 00:54:47.576
Are you a citizen?

1042
00:54:47.660 --> 00:54:48.953
Hola.

1043
00:54:49.036 --> 00:54:51.163
(speaking Spanish)

1044
00:54:54.208 --> 00:54:56.794
GOMEZ:
There is always a debate on:

1045
00:54:56.877 --> 00:54:59.630
Why aren’t our communities
participating?

1046
00:54:59.714 --> 00:55:02.299
-I’m already registered.
-Oh, you are? What about y’all?

1047
00:55:02.383 --> 00:55:03.634
No, I’m not.

1048
00:55:03.718 --> 00:55:05.428
No? How come?

1049
00:55:05.511 --> 00:55:06.846
I don’t know. I don’t...

1050
00:55:06.929 --> 00:55:09.390
I don’t trust
poli... politicians.

1051
00:55:09.473 --> 00:55:10.766
No, you’re right.

1052
00:55:10.850 --> 00:55:12.560
And so it’s like,
I’m out here doing my thing.

1053
00:55:12.643 --> 00:55:14.145
No, heck yeah. I feel like...

1054
00:55:14.228 --> 00:55:15.771
I-I mean, that’s how
I thought, too, right?

1055
00:55:15.855 --> 00:55:18.941
GOMEZ: The most important part
of voter registration

1056
00:55:19.025 --> 00:55:21.068
is that human connection

1057
00:55:21.152 --> 00:55:25.072
and being able to understand
why that person

1058
00:55:25.156 --> 00:55:26.907
does not trust.

1059
00:55:26.991 --> 00:55:29.076
(siren wailing)

1060
00:55:30.870 --> 00:55:34.915
Intimidation from
the government is real.

1061
00:55:34.999 --> 00:55:37.418
It is powerful.

1062
00:55:37.501 --> 00:55:40.087
And it is because of
the changing demographics

1063
00:55:40.171 --> 00:55:41.505
in the nation.

1064
00:55:41.589 --> 00:55:47.053
It is the fear of what
this larger vote can mean.

1065
00:55:47.136 --> 00:55:49.305
(cheering and applause)

1066
00:55:52.600 --> 00:55:54.852
("Beautiful Day" by U2 playing)

1067
00:55:54.935 --> 00:55:58.731
♪ It’s a beautiful day ♪

1068
00:55:58.814 --> 00:56:02.818
♪ Don’t let it get away ♪

1069
00:56:02.902 --> 00:56:06.781
♪ Beautiful day ♪

1070
00:56:10.576 --> 00:56:12.453
♪ Touch me... ♪

1071
00:56:12.536 --> 00:56:15.372
If there is anyone out there

1072
00:56:15.456 --> 00:56:19.085
who still doubts
that America is a place

1073
00:56:19.168 --> 00:56:22.463
where all things are possible,

1074
00:56:22.546 --> 00:56:24.590
who still wonders

1075
00:56:24.673 --> 00:56:29.178
if the dream of our founders
is alive in our time,

1076
00:56:29.261 --> 00:56:33.599
who still questions
the power of our democracy,

1077
00:56:33.682 --> 00:56:36.769
tonight is your answer.

1078
00:56:36.852 --> 00:56:38.771
(cheering)

1079
00:56:38.854 --> 00:56:41.732
(fanfare playing)

1080
00:56:44.068 --> 00:56:46.195
BERMAN: Opponents of
the Voting Rights Act

1081
00:56:46.278 --> 00:56:48.322
seized on
Barack Obama’s election

1082
00:56:48.405 --> 00:56:50.116
as a reason why
the Voting Rights Act

1083
00:56:50.199 --> 00:56:52.243
was no longer necessary.

1084
00:56:53.577 --> 00:56:57.623
At the very moment that you see
the ultimate progress,

1085
00:56:57.706 --> 00:57:01.043
you see conservatives
embracing that progress

1086
00:57:01.127 --> 00:57:03.504
as a reason to try
to get rid of the law

1087
00:57:03.587 --> 00:57:06.048
that made Obama’s election
possible.

1088
00:57:07.508 --> 00:57:10.469
ANDERSON: Barack Obama scared
the bejeebers out of them.

1089
00:57:11.971 --> 00:57:16.934
He brought 15 million
new voters to the polls.

1090
00:57:17.017 --> 00:57:18.894
(crowd cheering)

1091
00:57:18.978 --> 00:57:22.022
This is what
we should be celebrating:

1092
00:57:22.106 --> 00:57:25.484
bringing 15 million new people

1093
00:57:25.568 --> 00:57:29.488
into this incredible
civic society,

1094
00:57:29.572 --> 00:57:31.198
engaged in this democracy,

1095
00:57:31.282 --> 00:57:34.201
believing that they have
a stake in this democracy

1096
00:57:34.285 --> 00:57:37.288
and getting out to vote.

1097
00:57:37.371 --> 00:57:41.333
Instead, that Obama coalition

1098
00:57:41.417 --> 00:57:45.546
becomes the hit list
for voter suppression.

1099
00:57:45.629 --> 00:57:49.175
How do we stop
African Americans,

1100
00:57:49.258 --> 00:57:51.927
Hispanics, Asian Americans,

1101
00:57:52.011 --> 00:57:56.140
the young and the poor
from voting?

1102
00:57:57.600 --> 00:58:02.646
The Supreme Court decision,
Shelby County v. Holder,

1103
00:58:02.730 --> 00:58:04.982
allowed that to happen.

1104
00:58:05.065 --> 00:58:07.193
♪ ♪

1105
00:58:11.739 --> 00:58:14.408
BERMAN:
Shelby County, Alabama--

1106
00:58:14.491 --> 00:58:16.577
there was an election there

1107
00:58:16.660 --> 00:58:19.246
in which the districts
were redrawn...

1108
00:58:22.499 --> 00:58:26.170
...so that the only
African American

1109
00:58:26.253 --> 00:58:29.548
city council member
lost his race.

1110
00:58:29.632 --> 00:58:31.759
Voter suppression
and gerrymandering

1111
00:58:31.842 --> 00:58:34.470
are two sides of the same coin:

1112
00:58:34.553 --> 00:58:37.181
efforts by politicians in power

1113
00:58:37.264 --> 00:58:39.183
to try to manipulate
the process

1114
00:58:39.266 --> 00:58:42.186
to benefit themselves
at the expense of others.

1115
00:58:42.269 --> 00:58:43.938
Gerrymandering is
a real problem.

1116
00:58:44.021 --> 00:58:46.482
It’s the practice
of drawing voting districts

1117
00:58:46.565 --> 00:58:48.359
in a way that creates
unfair advantages

1118
00:58:48.442 --> 00:58:50.319
for whoever happens to be
drawing the lines.

1119
00:58:50.402 --> 00:58:52.780
A.E. DICK HOWARD:
In the age of computers,

1120
00:58:52.863 --> 00:58:54.823
you can gerrymander
with scientific precision.

1121
00:58:54.907 --> 00:58:56.617
You can run in and out
of alleys

1122
00:58:56.700 --> 00:58:58.118
and up and down streets

1123
00:58:58.202 --> 00:59:01.121
and carefully include
and exclude whichever voters

1124
00:59:01.205 --> 00:59:03.832
you want in one district
and not in another.

1125
00:59:03.916 --> 00:59:06.335
Shouldn’t all of this
be illegal?

1126
00:59:06.418 --> 00:59:07.711
Well, that’s complicated.

1127
00:59:07.795 --> 00:59:09.171
Because if you are
gerrymandering

1128
00:59:09.255 --> 00:59:10.881
to disadvantage minorities,

1129
00:59:10.965 --> 00:59:14.301
yes, that is illegal
under the Voting Rights Act,

1130
00:59:14.385 --> 00:59:16.553
but if you are gerrymandering
to disadvantage

1131
00:59:16.637 --> 00:59:18.389
voters of an opposing party,

1132
00:59:18.472 --> 00:59:20.683
that has generally
been allowed.

1133
00:59:29.525 --> 00:59:35.114
ANDERSON: Shelby County
willfully violated federal law.

1134
00:59:35.197 --> 00:59:37.658
They didn’t bother to go up
to the Department of Justice

1135
00:59:37.741 --> 00:59:39.368
to check on whether it was okay

1136
00:59:39.451 --> 00:59:42.079
as they were changing
the voting boundaries

1137
00:59:42.162 --> 00:59:44.373
as the Voting Rights Act
required.

1138
00:59:44.456 --> 00:59:47.960
When they got called on it,
when they got sued,

1139
00:59:48.043 --> 00:59:50.170
they said,
"We didn’t do anything wrong.

1140
00:59:50.254 --> 00:59:52.131
The era of racism is over."

1141
00:59:52.214 --> 00:59:54.550
♪ ♪

1142
00:59:54.633 --> 00:59:57.303
ERIC HOLDER:
What had been bipartisan before

1143
00:59:57.386 --> 01:00:02.850
became extremely partisan after
the election of Barack Obama.

1144
01:00:02.933 --> 01:00:07.187
You know, people tend to forget
that Republicans supported it.

1145
01:00:07.271 --> 01:00:09.481
Every reauthorization
of the Voting Rights Act

1146
01:00:09.565 --> 01:00:11.525
was signed by
a Republican president.

1147
01:00:11.608 --> 01:00:13.485
I think that democracy,
if it’s to work,

1148
01:00:13.569 --> 01:00:15.654
then everybody that’s eligible
to be a voter

1149
01:00:15.738 --> 01:00:17.781
should be registered,
and they should vote.

1150
01:00:17.865 --> 01:00:20.909
I am proud to sign
the Voting Rights Act

1151
01:00:20.993 --> 01:00:24.997
Reauthorization
and Amendments Act of 2006.

1152
01:00:25.080 --> 01:00:26.957
ADEGBILE:
Ronald Reagan called it

1153
01:00:27.041 --> 01:00:29.793
the crown jewel
of American democracy,

1154
01:00:29.877 --> 01:00:32.629
but with every subsequent
reauthorization,

1155
01:00:32.713 --> 01:00:34.923
there’s a legal challenge
brought.

1156
01:00:40.888 --> 01:00:43.640
KRISTEN CLARKE: It’s a
seemingly coordinated strategy

1157
01:00:43.724 --> 01:00:46.310
that we have seen waged
by opponents

1158
01:00:46.393 --> 01:00:50.105
to rip out the heart
of the Voting Rights Act.

1159
01:00:50.189 --> 01:00:51.732
It was almost a strategy of,

1160
01:00:51.815 --> 01:00:54.068
"Let’s throw spaghetti
against the wall

1161
01:00:54.151 --> 01:00:56.070
and see which one sticks."

1162
01:00:59.698 --> 01:01:02.534
The Shelby County case
is the one

1163
01:01:02.618 --> 01:01:05.996
that survived the lower courts

1164
01:01:06.080 --> 01:01:11.085
and winded its way
up to the Supreme Court.

1165
01:01:12.669 --> 01:01:14.380
NEWSMAN: The Supreme Court
hears a challenge

1166
01:01:14.463 --> 01:01:17.549
to the Voting Rights Act
of 1965.

1167
01:01:17.633 --> 01:01:18.717
Its detractors say

1168
01:01:18.801 --> 01:01:20.928
the Voting Rights Act
is out of date.

1169
01:01:21.011 --> 01:01:24.306
Its defenders consider it
a needed bulwark for justice.

1170
01:01:24.390 --> 01:01:26.517
SCOTT PELLEY: The Voting Rights
Act requires nine states

1171
01:01:26.600 --> 01:01:29.853
to get federal approval of
changes to their election laws.

1172
01:01:29.937 --> 01:01:31.772
BERT REIN:
From a lawyer’s point of view,

1173
01:01:31.855 --> 01:01:35.943
this is a valid legal case and
it could be honorably argued.

1174
01:01:36.026 --> 01:01:39.988
And that’s the business
we’re in, so we took the case.

1175
01:01:40.072 --> 01:01:41.573
JOHN ROBERTS:
We’ll hear argument first

1176
01:01:41.657 --> 01:01:44.368
this morning in case
Shelby County v. Holder.

1177
01:01:44.451 --> 01:01:46.036
Mr. Rein?

1178
01:01:46.120 --> 01:01:48.705
REIN: Mr. Chief Justice,
and may it please the court...

1179
01:01:48.789 --> 01:01:50.332
We argued that
the Voting Rights Act

1180
01:01:50.416 --> 01:01:53.210
was probably one of
the deepest intrusions

1181
01:01:53.293 --> 01:01:55.421
of the federal government
into areas

1182
01:01:55.504 --> 01:01:57.923
that states
traditionally administered.

1183
01:01:58.006 --> 01:02:00.551
Think that that really
doesn’t mask the need

1184
01:02:00.634 --> 01:02:03.554
for equal treatment
of the sovereign states.

1185
01:02:03.637 --> 01:02:05.639
SONIA SOTOMAYOR: I’m gonna have
a hard time with that.

1186
01:02:05.722 --> 01:02:07.349
You can’t treat states
the same,

1187
01:02:07.433 --> 01:02:08.809
because their problems
are different,

1188
01:02:08.892 --> 01:02:10.185
their populations
are different,

1189
01:02:10.269 --> 01:02:11.437
their needs are different.

1190
01:02:11.520 --> 01:02:12.604
Everything’s different.

1191
01:02:12.688 --> 01:02:14.189
ANTONIN SCALIA:
All of the noncovered states

1192
01:02:14.273 --> 01:02:17.401
are worse in that regard
than the nine covered states.

1193
01:02:17.484 --> 01:02:19.236
-Is that correct?
-ADEGBILE: J-Justice Scalia...

1194
01:02:19.319 --> 01:02:20.863
SCALIA: Every-every one
of them is worse?

1195
01:02:20.946 --> 01:02:22.531
ADEGBILE: Justice Scalia,
it’s-it’s a fair question.

1196
01:02:22.614 --> 01:02:24.199
-It...
-SCALIA: Not just a fair one.

1197
01:02:24.283 --> 01:02:25.784
It’s the crucial question.

1198
01:02:25.868 --> 01:02:27.578
ADEGBILE: The South has changed
and made progress,

1199
01:02:27.661 --> 01:02:29.872
but some things remain
stubbornly the same,

1200
01:02:29.955 --> 01:02:31.790
and the trained effort

1201
01:02:31.874 --> 01:02:34.501
to deny African American voters
the franchise

1202
01:02:34.585 --> 01:02:37.796
is part of Alabama’s history
to this very day.

1203
01:02:37.880 --> 01:02:40.090
ROBERTS: Have there been
episodes-- egregious episodes--

1204
01:02:40.174 --> 01:02:41.925
of the kind
you’re talking about

1205
01:02:42.009 --> 01:02:43.594
in states that are not covered?

1206
01:02:43.677 --> 01:02:45.387
ADEGBILE: Absolutely,
Chief Justice Roberts.

1207
01:02:45.471 --> 01:02:48.015
ROBERTS: Well, then it doesn’t
seem to help you make the point

1208
01:02:48.098 --> 01:02:50.934
that the differential treatment
continues to be justified.

1209
01:02:51.018 --> 01:02:53.854
BERMAN: John Roberts had it out
for the Voting Rights Act

1210
01:02:53.937 --> 01:02:56.565
as far back as 1982.

1211
01:02:56.648 --> 01:03:00.486
Early in his political career,
it was John Roberts’s job

1212
01:03:00.569 --> 01:03:02.696
to try to prevent the Congress

1213
01:03:02.779 --> 01:03:05.324
from reauthorizing
the Voting Rights Act.

1214
01:03:06.241 --> 01:03:07.451
ANDERSON:
John Roberts,

1215
01:03:07.534 --> 01:03:10.370
his mentor was
William Rehnquist.

1216
01:03:10.454 --> 01:03:13.624
This is why this lineage
is so important.

1217
01:03:13.707 --> 01:03:17.294
Because he hated
the Voting Rights Act.

1218
01:03:18.587 --> 01:03:20.964
ADEGBILE: I knew that
this was an important act.

1219
01:03:21.048 --> 01:03:23.091
I knew that it was doing
important work,

1220
01:03:23.175 --> 01:03:25.010
and I knew that
it would be a disaster

1221
01:03:25.093 --> 01:03:27.262
for the court
to strike it down.

1222
01:03:31.475 --> 01:03:34.478
A controversial ruling today
by the Supreme Court.

1223
01:03:34.561 --> 01:03:36.396
GWEN IFILL: Five-to-four,
the U.S. Supreme Court

1224
01:03:36.480 --> 01:03:39.733
took the teeth out of a law
enacted nearly 50 years ago.

1225
01:03:39.816 --> 01:03:42.903
It invalidated a key part
of the Voting Rights Act.

1226
01:03:42.986 --> 01:03:44.488
NEWSWOMAN:
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg,

1227
01:03:44.571 --> 01:03:47.574
joined by the three other
liberal justices, said...

1228
01:04:02.631 --> 01:04:05.759
I am deeply disappointed...
deeply disappointed

1229
01:04:05.842 --> 01:04:08.637
with the court’s decision
in this matter.

1230
01:04:08.720 --> 01:04:09.930
This decision represents

1231
01:04:10.013 --> 01:04:12.057
a serious setback
for voting rights

1232
01:04:12.140 --> 01:04:14.935
and has the potential
to negatively affect

1233
01:04:15.018 --> 01:04:17.563
millions of Americans
across the country.

1234
01:04:17.646 --> 01:04:19.189
I don’t know if
it’s appropriate to say--

1235
01:04:19.273 --> 01:04:20.899
I was pissed off
by what the, uh...

1236
01:04:20.983 --> 01:04:22.109
by what the court did.

1237
01:04:22.192 --> 01:04:24.486
-Thank you.
-It really struck home

1238
01:04:24.570 --> 01:04:26.488
that this was
a political decision

1239
01:04:26.572 --> 01:04:28.365
that the court was making.

1240
01:04:28.448 --> 01:04:30.909
Justice Ginsburg was correct.

1241
01:04:30.993 --> 01:04:32.411
If you have an umbrella

1242
01:04:32.494 --> 01:04:34.913
that keeps you dry in
the middle of a thunderstorm,

1243
01:04:34.997 --> 01:04:36.623
the fact that you are dry
doesn’t mean

1244
01:04:36.707 --> 01:04:38.250
that you don’t need
the umbrella.

1245
01:04:38.333 --> 01:04:40.502
ABRAMS: Every single one
of those states

1246
01:04:40.586 --> 01:04:44.381
that was covered previously by
the Voting Rights Act was told,

1247
01:04:44.464 --> 01:04:46.800
"Never mind. We think
you’re good now. Go forth."

1248
01:04:46.883 --> 01:04:50.345
The floodgates
literally opened in 2013

1249
01:04:50.429 --> 01:04:53.724
when the Supreme Court
issued its ruling.

1250
01:04:53.807 --> 01:04:55.767
The ink on Tuesday’s ruling
wasn’t even dry

1251
01:04:55.851 --> 01:04:58.020
when Texas’s Republican
attorney general declared

1252
01:04:58.103 --> 01:05:00.397
that his state’s controversial
voter I.D. law

1253
01:05:00.480 --> 01:05:03.233
will take effect, quote,
"immediately."

1254
01:05:05.277 --> 01:05:08.363
WALDMAN: Just hours after
the decision came down,

1255
01:05:08.447 --> 01:05:11.450
states began to implement
voter suppression laws

1256
01:05:11.533 --> 01:05:13.201
all across the country.

1257
01:05:15.329 --> 01:05:18.624
ANDERSON: Texas took
the lead on this one.

1258
01:05:18.707 --> 01:05:21.918
It spread like wildfire.

1259
01:05:22.002 --> 01:05:24.087
So, you’re seeing them
in Pennsylvania.

1260
01:05:24.171 --> 01:05:26.715
You’re seeing them in Kansas.

1261
01:05:26.798 --> 01:05:29.635
You’re seeing them
in Wisconsin.

1262
01:05:29.718 --> 01:05:31.553
You’re seeing them in Ohio.

1263
01:05:31.637 --> 01:05:33.930
NEWSWOMAN: Nine more states
are enforcing new laws

1264
01:05:34.014 --> 01:05:37.267
requiring eligible voters
to present a government-issued

1265
01:05:37.351 --> 01:05:38.894
photo I.D. at the polls.

1266
01:05:38.977 --> 01:05:41.146
HANS VON SPAKOVSKY:
Overwhelming majority

1267
01:05:41.229 --> 01:05:45.192
of Americans, regardless
of their political views

1268
01:05:45.275 --> 01:05:47.319
and regardless of their race
or ethnicity,

1269
01:05:47.402 --> 01:05:48.945
support voter I.D. laws.

1270
01:05:49.029 --> 01:05:50.906
This is not Jim Crow.

1271
01:05:50.989 --> 01:05:52.991
This is not a police dog.

1272
01:05:53.075 --> 01:05:54.701
This is not a fire hose.

1273
01:05:54.785 --> 01:05:57.120
When you restrict access
to the right to vote

1274
01:05:57.204 --> 01:06:01.500
by creating a narrow set
of I.D.’s that can be used,

1275
01:06:01.583 --> 01:06:04.461
it’s creating blocks to people
being able to participate.

1276
01:06:04.544 --> 01:06:07.506
They try to make it
seem rational

1277
01:06:07.589 --> 01:06:11.301
and facially neutral,
racially neutral, but it’s not.

1278
01:06:11.385 --> 01:06:14.429
We had voters who were born
in the Jim Crow South

1279
01:06:14.513 --> 01:06:16.515
who had no birth certificates

1280
01:06:16.598 --> 01:06:19.101
because white hospitals
would not allow them

1281
01:06:19.184 --> 01:06:21.561
to give birth
in their facilities.

1282
01:06:21.645 --> 01:06:24.398
I had my Social Security card,
my To Go Pass.

1283
01:06:24.481 --> 01:06:28.110
I had my UnitedHealthcare.

1284
01:06:28.193 --> 01:06:30.404
I had my
red, white and blue card.

1285
01:06:30.487 --> 01:06:32.572
And I had my Ford card.

1286
01:06:32.656 --> 01:06:35.617
And that still wasn’t enough
to vote.

1287
01:06:35.701 --> 01:06:39.788
About 21 million Americans
don’t have strict forms

1288
01:06:39.871 --> 01:06:41.915
of government-issued I.D.

1289
01:06:41.998 --> 01:06:46.086
That works out to about
ten percent of the electorate.

1290
01:06:59.391 --> 01:07:00.851
HOLDER:
You know, you look at Texas.

1291
01:07:00.934 --> 01:07:02.894
If you have a state-issued
photo I.D.

1292
01:07:02.978 --> 01:07:05.188
that says you’re allowed
to carry a concealed weapon,

1293
01:07:05.272 --> 01:07:07.607
that’s sufficient
to allow you to vote.

1294
01:07:07.691 --> 01:07:09.901
If, however, you have
a state-issued photo I.D.

1295
01:07:09.985 --> 01:07:12.279
that says you’re a student
at the University of Texas,

1296
01:07:12.362 --> 01:07:14.072
that’s insufficient.

1297
01:07:15.282 --> 01:07:16.992
MICHAEL PARSONS:
Young people in America,

1298
01:07:17.075 --> 01:07:19.619
they could have the most power

1299
01:07:19.703 --> 01:07:23.165
of any electoral bloc
in the country.

1300
01:07:32.424 --> 01:07:35.093
If you take out
one or two campuses,

1301
01:07:35.177 --> 01:07:37.053
you can swing an election.

1302
01:07:37.137 --> 01:07:39.347
So, that’s exactly what
New Hampshire Republicans

1303
01:07:39.431 --> 01:07:41.016
decided to do.

1304
01:07:41.099 --> 01:07:44.519
ALLEN: Studies will show that
if you can get young adults

1305
01:07:44.603 --> 01:07:47.022
to vote between
the ages of 18 and 24,

1306
01:07:47.105 --> 01:07:48.482
they’re more likely to vote

1307
01:07:48.565 --> 01:07:50.776
going further
into their adulthood.

1308
01:07:54.029 --> 01:07:58.283
Once you strip someone their
access of being able to vote,

1309
01:07:58.366 --> 01:08:03.038
it takes away their role
within our democracy.

1310
01:08:04.498 --> 01:08:06.792
ABRAMS: Voter suppression
has often targeted communities

1311
01:08:06.875 --> 01:08:08.460
that are seen as nonnormative.

1312
01:08:08.543 --> 01:08:11.421
And we saw this come into
sharp relief in North Dakota,

1313
01:08:11.505 --> 01:08:16.051
where a law that required
a residential address

1314
01:08:16.134 --> 01:08:19.221
on driver’s licenses
seemed benign.

1315
01:08:19.304 --> 01:08:21.515
But the reality was that,
for those communities,

1316
01:08:21.598 --> 01:08:23.517
getting a residential address
on a reservation

1317
01:08:23.600 --> 01:08:25.477
required that the state
or local government

1318
01:08:25.560 --> 01:08:28.271
grant that to you,
and it didn’t happen.

1319
01:08:29.856 --> 01:08:31.566
♪ ♪

1320
01:08:31.650 --> 01:08:35.070
A majority of Indian country

1321
01:08:35.153 --> 01:08:37.697
does not have
physical addresses.

1322
01:08:37.781 --> 01:08:40.283
They use post office boxes.

1323
01:08:49.334 --> 01:08:53.880
It became very evident
that the law was created

1324
01:08:53.964 --> 01:08:57.300
to suppress
the Native American vote.

1325
01:08:57.384 --> 01:09:01.096
BARB SEMANS: The only way
to get recognition is to vote.

1326
01:09:01.179 --> 01:09:05.225
And that’s what it is--
a matter of survival.

1327
01:09:08.144 --> 01:09:11.398
BERMAN: In Wisconsin, they put
a new voter I.D. law in effect

1328
01:09:11.481 --> 01:09:13.817
in the run-up
to the 2016 election.

1329
01:09:13.900 --> 01:09:16.570
Lot of Republicans, since 1984,
in the presidential races,

1330
01:09:16.653 --> 01:09:18.530
have not been able to win
in Wisconsin.

1331
01:09:18.613 --> 01:09:20.907
Why would it be any different
for a Ted Cruz

1332
01:09:20.991 --> 01:09:22.534
or a Donald Trump?

1333
01:09:22.617 --> 01:09:24.619
Well, I think Hillary Clinton
is about the weakest candidate

1334
01:09:24.703 --> 01:09:27.372
the Democrats have ever put up,
and now we have photo I.D.,

1335
01:09:27.455 --> 01:09:29.249
and I think photo I.D.
is gonna make

1336
01:09:29.332 --> 01:09:30.917
a little bit
of a difference as well.

1337
01:09:31.001 --> 01:09:35.714
BERMAN:
Up to 23,000 people

1338
01:09:35.797 --> 01:09:38.633
were blocked or deterred
from voting,

1339
01:09:38.717 --> 01:09:41.678
and Donald Trump only won
the state of Wisconsin

1340
01:09:41.761 --> 01:09:44.639
by just over 22,000 votes.

1341
01:09:44.723 --> 01:09:48.643
So, this one restriction
in Wisconsin alone

1342
01:09:48.727 --> 01:09:51.062
had a huge impact
on Donald Trump

1343
01:09:51.146 --> 01:09:53.899
becoming the next president
of the United States.

1344
01:09:58.737 --> 01:10:01.823
PEPPER: Ohio has become, sadly,
the leader in creating

1345
01:10:01.907 --> 01:10:04.284
certain types
of-of voter suppression

1346
01:10:04.367 --> 01:10:06.161
that other states
have followed.

1347
01:10:06.244 --> 01:10:09.456
And there’s no bigger example
of that than purging.

1348
01:10:13.376 --> 01:10:16.630
There is certainly need
to update your voting rolls.

1349
01:10:16.713 --> 01:10:19.132
People pass away.
People move.

1350
01:10:19.215 --> 01:10:22.260
There also are some states that
are really smart about this.

1351
01:10:22.344 --> 01:10:24.512
Things like automatic
voter registration.

1352
01:10:24.596 --> 01:10:26.222
But Ohio does
the exact opposite.

1353
01:10:26.306 --> 01:10:28.058
Ohio’s had a purging process

1354
01:10:28.141 --> 01:10:31.645
where, if you don’t vote
in several elections

1355
01:10:31.728 --> 01:10:33.730
and you don’t respond
to a postcard,

1356
01:10:33.813 --> 01:10:35.607
you’re knocked off the rolls.

1357
01:10:35.690 --> 01:10:37.776
NEWSMAN: When it comes
to the right to vote,

1358
01:10:37.859 --> 01:10:40.403
Ohio is
a "use it or lose it" state.

1359
01:10:40.487 --> 01:10:42.572
In a split
five-to-four decision,

1360
01:10:42.656 --> 01:10:44.950
the Supreme Court ruled
that in Ohio

1361
01:10:45.033 --> 01:10:47.118
you can be dropped
from the voter rolls

1362
01:10:47.202 --> 01:10:50.163
if you do not vote
for about six years

1363
01:10:50.246 --> 01:10:52.207
and do not respond to a card

1364
01:10:52.290 --> 01:10:53.833
the state sends you
in the mail.

1365
01:10:53.917 --> 01:10:55.961
MARCIA FUDGE: They send you
a postcard to your house.

1366
01:10:56.044 --> 01:10:59.047
It really does look
like a piece of junk mail.

1367
01:10:59.130 --> 01:11:02.050
If you don’t send it back,
they assume you’re not there.

1368
01:11:02.133 --> 01:11:03.301
Then they purge you
from the roll.

1369
01:11:03.385 --> 01:11:04.886
They say, "Oh, this person
didn’t send it back.

1370
01:11:04.970 --> 01:11:06.179
We’re gonna drop them."

1371
01:11:06.262 --> 01:11:08.306
They’re not notified
that they have been purged,

1372
01:11:08.390 --> 01:11:09.474
and that-that’s a problem.

1373
01:11:09.557 --> 01:11:12.268
PEPPER: In a state
of less than 12 million,

1374
01:11:12.352 --> 01:11:14.604
two million have been purged.

1375
01:11:14.688 --> 01:11:16.314
A lot of people are
on that list

1376
01:11:16.398 --> 01:11:18.274
’cause they move every year;
they’re poor.

1377
01:11:18.358 --> 01:11:21.569
They’re going from one place
to the next to the next.

1378
01:11:21.653 --> 01:11:23.530
But also, it turns out

1379
01:11:23.613 --> 01:11:25.031
there are thousands
and thousands

1380
01:11:25.115 --> 01:11:28.034
of people on this list
who had voted recently,

1381
01:11:28.118 --> 01:11:30.912
who were not supposed to be
on the purge list.

1382
01:11:30.996 --> 01:11:36.418
20% of those people were on
in error-- government error.

1383
01:11:36.501 --> 01:11:38.128
ABRAMS:
And in the United States,

1384
01:11:38.211 --> 01:11:40.588
the right to vote is
the only right you can lose

1385
01:11:40.672 --> 01:11:41.965
for not using it.

1386
01:11:42.048 --> 01:11:44.342
You can decide not to go
hunting on a Saturday,

1387
01:11:44.426 --> 01:11:46.511
and you don’t lose
your 2nd Amendment rights.

1388
01:11:46.594 --> 01:11:49.222
But in nine states,
it is the law of the land

1389
01:11:49.305 --> 01:11:50.765
that you can lose
your right to vote

1390
01:11:50.849 --> 01:11:52.100
simply for not using it.

1391
01:11:55.603 --> 01:11:57.439
After the Shelby decision,

1392
01:11:57.522 --> 01:12:01.693
we saw over 1,600 precincts
close in the states

1393
01:12:01.776 --> 01:12:04.446
that were once covered
by the Voting Rights Act.

1394
01:12:04.529 --> 01:12:06.406
And when you shut down
a polling place

1395
01:12:06.489 --> 01:12:08.199
where someone
can go a mile to vote,

1396
01:12:08.283 --> 01:12:09.909
and suddenly
they have to go ten miles

1397
01:12:09.993 --> 01:12:12.829
and they don’t have a car,
they will not vote.

1398
01:12:14.539 --> 01:12:17.459
Under Brian Kemp,
214 polling places

1399
01:12:17.542 --> 01:12:20.003
shut down in the state
of Georgia.

1400
01:12:20.086 --> 01:12:22.881
He used the gutting
of the Voting Rights Act

1401
01:12:22.964 --> 01:12:24.632
almost immediately.

1402
01:12:25.550 --> 01:12:27.510
ANDERSON:
Jim Crow 2.0.

1403
01:12:27.594 --> 01:12:29.304
That’s what we’re seeing.

1404
01:12:29.387 --> 01:12:33.433
When you look at Georgia
in 2018,

1405
01:12:33.516 --> 01:12:36.770
it is the rise
of Jim Crow again.

1406
01:12:42.609 --> 01:12:44.277
ABRAMS:
The Shelby decision,

1407
01:12:44.360 --> 01:12:46.321
what it did was
give carte blanche

1408
01:12:46.404 --> 01:12:48.323
to states like Georgia

1409
01:12:48.406 --> 01:12:52.160
to restore
every racist trope they had.

1410
01:12:52.243 --> 01:12:54.454
Had I run for governor in 2012,

1411
01:12:54.537 --> 01:12:57.165
it would have empirically been
an easier election.

1412
01:12:57.248 --> 01:12:59.501
♪ ♪

1413
01:12:59.584 --> 01:13:02.003
By the time I was running
for governor,

1414
01:13:02.087 --> 01:13:04.506
I had had eight years
of watching

1415
01:13:04.589 --> 01:13:07.300
the Secretary of State
Brian Kemp

1416
01:13:07.383 --> 01:13:11.137
build a national reputation
for voter suppression.

1417
01:13:11.221 --> 01:13:13.139
We anticipated
that voter suppression

1418
01:13:13.223 --> 01:13:15.517
was part of
Brian Kemp’s behavior.

1419
01:13:15.600 --> 01:13:17.435
What we couldn’t anticipate
was that

1420
01:13:17.519 --> 01:13:19.896
I was going to be in a fight

1421
01:13:19.979 --> 01:13:23.066
with the very person
who controlled the system.

1422
01:13:23.149 --> 01:13:25.652
(news theme plays)

1423
01:13:25.735 --> 01:13:27.320
I got a big truck

1424
01:13:27.403 --> 01:13:29.864
just in case I need to round up
criminal illegals

1425
01:13:29.948 --> 01:13:31.157
and take ’em home myself.

1426
01:13:31.241 --> 01:13:34.661
-(engine revs)
-Yep, I just said that.

1427
01:13:34.744 --> 01:13:35.954
NEWSMAN:
Yeah, he just said that,

1428
01:13:36.037 --> 01:13:38.123
and he’s joining us now,
the candidate who calls himself

1429
01:13:38.206 --> 01:13:40.917
"a politically incorrect
conservative,"

1430
01:13:41.000 --> 01:13:43.086
current Georgia
Secretary of State Brian Kemp.

1431
01:13:43.169 --> 01:13:44.754
Good morning, sir.

1432
01:13:44.838 --> 01:13:46.798
Morning, guys.
Great to be on with you.

1433
01:13:49.425 --> 01:13:53.471
ABRAMS: Brian Kemp had
the ability to not only be

1434
01:13:53.555 --> 01:13:55.014
the candidate in the race,

1435
01:13:55.098 --> 01:13:57.308
but he was also running
the election.

1436
01:13:57.392 --> 01:14:01.062
He was the constitutionally
authorized election supervisor.

1437
01:14:01.146 --> 01:14:04.732
That would have been illegal
in virtually every other

1438
01:14:04.816 --> 01:14:08.528
advanced democracy
in the entire world.

1439
01:14:10.321 --> 01:14:14.159
We sued Brian Kemp
multiple times

1440
01:14:14.242 --> 01:14:18.621
over his efforts to lock people
out of the ballot box.

1441
01:14:18.705 --> 01:14:22.000
One of his most
nefarious schemes

1442
01:14:22.083 --> 01:14:24.127
was called "exact match."

1443
01:14:24.210 --> 01:14:26.045
NEWSWOMAN: More than 53,000
Georgia residents

1444
01:14:26.129 --> 01:14:28.381
have had their registrations
put on hold

1445
01:14:28.464 --> 01:14:30.925
thanks to a policy that
requires their applications

1446
01:14:31.009 --> 01:14:34.095
to precisely match information
from other state agencies.

1447
01:14:34.179 --> 01:14:37.348
Georgia’s population
is approximately 32% Black,

1448
01:14:37.432 --> 01:14:39.684
but the list
of voter registrations on hold

1449
01:14:39.767 --> 01:14:41.895
is nearly 70% Black.

1450
01:14:41.978 --> 01:14:43.354
(audience laughing)

1451
01:14:43.438 --> 01:14:46.441
Well, well, well.

1452
01:14:46.524 --> 01:14:49.777
My old friend racism.

1453
01:14:49.861 --> 01:14:52.113
I’ve been expecting you.

1454
01:14:53.448 --> 01:14:55.450
The ACLU filed a lawsuit

1455
01:14:55.533 --> 01:14:58.995
because absentee ballots
were being rejected

1456
01:14:59.078 --> 01:15:01.122
because the signature
on the absentee ballot

1457
01:15:01.206 --> 01:15:04.751
purportedly did not match
the signature that was on file.

1458
01:15:04.834 --> 01:15:06.920
The problem is
signatures change.

1459
01:15:07.003 --> 01:15:09.422
It’s one of the worst metrics
to use.

1460
01:15:09.505 --> 01:15:11.299
A lot of people
for whom English

1461
01:15:11.382 --> 01:15:13.301
was not their first language

1462
01:15:13.384 --> 01:15:15.553
will have
an inconsistent signature

1463
01:15:15.637 --> 01:15:19.557
because they have to write
and sign their American name.

1464
01:15:19.641 --> 01:15:22.977
Asian voters,
when they immigrated here,

1465
01:15:23.061 --> 01:15:25.438
they adopted an American name.

1466
01:15:25.521 --> 01:15:29.692
My grandmother had
an American signature,

1467
01:15:29.776 --> 01:15:34.864
and she has not been able
to sign that name consistently.

1468
01:15:34.948 --> 01:15:38.076
The argument for many
of these voter suppression laws

1469
01:15:38.159 --> 01:15:40.036
is this very fallacious
argument

1470
01:15:40.119 --> 01:15:42.330
that it’s necessary
to stop voter fraud.

1471
01:15:42.413 --> 01:15:44.832
The voter fraud is real.
It must be stopped.

1472
01:15:44.916 --> 01:15:46.918
We need every tool
to go after it.

1473
01:15:47.001 --> 01:15:49.671
Voter I.D. laws
stop voter fraud.

1474
01:15:49.754 --> 01:15:52.090
I’ve dedicated my career
to fighting voter fraud

1475
01:15:52.173 --> 01:15:54.467
by doing things
like having photo I.D.

1476
01:15:54.550 --> 01:15:57.553
Every time voter fraud occurs,
it cancels out the vote

1477
01:15:57.637 --> 01:16:01.599
of a lawful citizen
and undermines democracy.

1478
01:16:01.683 --> 01:16:03.518
We can’t let that happen.

1479
01:16:03.601 --> 01:16:05.645
When Donald Trump lost
the popular vote,

1480
01:16:05.728 --> 01:16:07.689
he lost it
by 2.9 million votes,

1481
01:16:07.772 --> 01:16:10.608
and he said three million
people voted illegally.

1482
01:16:10.692 --> 01:16:13.528
And there was no evidence
to back this up,

1483
01:16:13.611 --> 01:16:16.239
but this was
a dramatic assertion

1484
01:16:16.322 --> 01:16:19.951
of voter fraud on
a really unprecedented scale.

1485
01:16:25.790 --> 01:16:28.876
Trump employed this rhetoric
to create his own,

1486
01:16:28.960 --> 01:16:31.754
quote, unquote, "Commission
on Election Integrity."

1487
01:16:34.716 --> 01:16:38.386
There was really an all-star
cast of some of the biggest

1488
01:16:38.469 --> 01:16:41.431
vote suppressors
in the Republican Party today.

1489
01:16:41.514 --> 01:16:44.767
People like Hans von Spakovsky
of the Heritage Foundation

1490
01:16:44.851 --> 01:16:47.895
that had built the case
for voter I.D. laws

1491
01:16:47.979 --> 01:16:50.273
and similar restrictions
on voting.

1492
01:16:51.607 --> 01:16:53.943
VON SPAKOVSKY: The president’s
Advisory Commission

1493
01:16:54.027 --> 01:16:57.989
wanted to get
the voter registration list

1494
01:16:58.072 --> 01:17:00.825
from all the states so they
could start doing comparisons

1495
01:17:00.908 --> 01:17:03.161
and find people
who were still on the list

1496
01:17:03.244 --> 01:17:05.455
who were deceased,
to find individuals

1497
01:17:05.538 --> 01:17:07.957
who were, uh, voting
in more than one state.

1498
01:17:08.041 --> 01:17:10.376
Yesterday, the vice chair
of that commission

1499
01:17:10.460 --> 01:17:14.255
sent a letter to all 50 states,
asking for voter data

1500
01:17:14.339 --> 01:17:17.592
that includes
addresses, party I.D.,

1501
01:17:17.675 --> 01:17:21.095
voter history and
Social Security information.

1502
01:17:21.179 --> 01:17:24.599
This was like
a Big Brother data request.

1503
01:17:24.682 --> 01:17:28.770
There was no evidence that
the administration would insure

1504
01:17:28.853 --> 01:17:32.190
the privacy and security
of this data.

1505
01:17:32.273 --> 01:17:35.985
And moreover, why did they need
to know party affiliation?

1506
01:17:36.069 --> 01:17:37.695
Many states resisted that.

1507
01:17:37.779 --> 01:17:39.947
They refused to provide
that data.

1508
01:17:40.031 --> 01:17:42.200
NANCY CORDES: Opposition
to this is bipartisan,

1509
01:17:42.283 --> 01:17:43.368
to some degree.

1510
01:17:43.451 --> 01:17:45.078
Mississippi’s
Secretary of State,

1511
01:17:45.161 --> 01:17:48.998
a Republican, has called it
a violation of voters’ privacy

1512
01:17:49.082 --> 01:17:51.209
and said that
the commission can, quote,

1513
01:17:51.292 --> 01:17:54.212
"go jump in
the Gulf of Mexico."

1514
01:17:54.295 --> 01:17:56.381
BERMAN: The Commission
on Election Integrity

1515
01:17:56.464 --> 01:17:57.840
that Donald Trump formed

1516
01:17:57.924 --> 01:17:59.967
was a complete
and utter disaster.

1517
01:18:00.051 --> 01:18:03.054
It disbanded
without issuing any findings,

1518
01:18:03.137 --> 01:18:06.099
and it found no evidence
of voter fraud

1519
01:18:06.182 --> 01:18:08.851
during its entire
investigative process.

1520
01:18:15.566 --> 01:18:18.277
We have a database
at the Heritage Foundation

1521
01:18:18.361 --> 01:18:19.779
that we’re constantly
adding to.

1522
01:18:19.862 --> 01:18:22.907
It has a sampling
of proven voter fraud cases,

1523
01:18:22.990 --> 01:18:24.784
uh, from across the country.

1524
01:18:24.867 --> 01:18:28.704
Um, it’s got
almost 1,300 cases in it.

1525
01:18:28.788 --> 01:18:30.081
Here’s what they truly found,

1526
01:18:30.164 --> 01:18:31.833
and let’s put it up again
for people.

1527
01:18:31.916 --> 01:18:35.420
146 million total
registered voters.

1528
01:18:35.503 --> 01:18:40.967
Out of those, there were 2,068
alleged voter fraud cases.

1529
01:18:41.050 --> 01:18:42.927
Okay? So it does happen,

1530
01:18:43.010 --> 01:18:45.555
but it doesn’t happen
on a national scale...

1531
01:18:45.638 --> 01:18:46.722
Doesn’t affect the outcome.

1532
01:18:46.806 --> 01:18:48.099
...that would affect
the outcome.

1533
01:18:48.182 --> 01:18:49.684
So, then you ask yourself,

1534
01:18:49.767 --> 01:18:51.686
why do we have
this architecture

1535
01:18:51.769 --> 01:18:53.729
of all of these obstacles?

1536
01:18:53.813 --> 01:18:56.732
Voter I.D., gerrymandering,

1537
01:18:56.816 --> 01:18:59.944
purging, poll closures.

1538
01:19:00.027 --> 01:19:02.238
Why do we have all of this

1539
01:19:02.321 --> 01:19:06.451
if voter fraud
is virtually nonexistent?

1540
01:19:06.534 --> 01:19:10.913
When you ask that question
that way,

1541
01:19:10.997 --> 01:19:14.167
then it leads you down a path

1542
01:19:14.250 --> 01:19:16.669
where America
must look at itself again

1543
01:19:16.752 --> 01:19:18.504
the way that
it looked at itself

1544
01:19:18.588 --> 01:19:22.341
when it saw the cataclysm
on the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

1545
01:19:34.479 --> 01:19:36.564
♪ ♪

1546
01:19:40.526 --> 01:19:42.403
ABRAMS:
Running for governor

1547
01:19:42.487 --> 01:19:45.656
was about changing
what it meant

1548
01:19:45.740 --> 01:19:47.992
to be a leader in Georgia.

1549
01:19:49.827 --> 01:19:51.454
And there’s nothing
more transformative

1550
01:19:51.537 --> 01:19:54.582
in the Deep South
than a Black woman from poverty

1551
01:19:54.665 --> 01:19:56.834
having opportunity.

1552
01:20:01.130 --> 01:20:03.299
It hadn’t been done before,
so I thought

1553
01:20:03.382 --> 01:20:05.259
I would take advantage
of the freedom

1554
01:20:05.343 --> 01:20:07.803
to try the things
no one else tried.

1555
01:20:09.305 --> 01:20:11.349
We know that voter turnout

1556
01:20:11.432 --> 01:20:14.852
is the best remedy
to voter suppression.

1557
01:20:14.936 --> 01:20:17.688
We decided to go after everyone
who could vote.

1558
01:20:17.772 --> 01:20:19.273
WOMAN:
Y’all already been out to vote?

1559
01:20:19.357 --> 01:20:21.526
We need everybody out there
in droves.

1560
01:20:21.609 --> 01:20:22.652
I’ll make sure they vote.

1561
01:20:22.735 --> 01:20:23.819
Matter of fact,
they ain’t gonna

1562
01:20:23.903 --> 01:20:24.987
work tomorrow
if they don’t vote.

1563
01:20:25.071 --> 01:20:26.239
-Ooh, give me some!
-There you go.

1564
01:20:26.322 --> 01:20:27.657
That’s what you got to do.

1565
01:20:27.740 --> 01:20:29.116
-You got to put it out there
like that. -That’s right.

1566
01:20:29.200 --> 01:20:32.578
I’ve been out here
talking to people who are...

1567
01:20:32.662 --> 01:20:33.871
"Yeah, I’ve never
voted before."

1568
01:20:33.955 --> 01:20:35.790
"Oh, I’ve never had someone
come to my door before."

1569
01:20:35.873 --> 01:20:39.710
Too often, politicians only go
to the people they know,

1570
01:20:39.794 --> 01:20:43.756
and they only engage the people
they can rely on.

1571
01:20:43.839 --> 01:20:45.508
But go out there, man.
We’re trying to make history.

1572
01:20:45.591 --> 01:20:47.343
-You know what I’m saying?
-Yeah, I’m gonna vote.

1573
01:20:47.426 --> 01:20:48.928
All right,
that’s what I want to hear.

1574
01:20:49.011 --> 01:20:50.263
ABRAMS:
Which means you don’t adapt

1575
01:20:50.346 --> 01:20:51.639
to the changing needs
of community.

1576
01:20:51.722 --> 01:20:53.432
Thank you so much
for your time.

1577
01:20:54.517 --> 01:20:56.894
PIVEN:
Among democratic countries,

1578
01:20:56.978 --> 01:20:59.689
the United States stands out

1579
01:20:59.772 --> 01:21:03.734
for having very low
voter turnout.

1580
01:21:03.818 --> 01:21:07.697
Politicians produced the system

1581
01:21:07.780 --> 01:21:11.784
because elections
are easier to manage

1582
01:21:11.867 --> 01:21:14.412
if the electorate is smaller.

1583
01:21:14.495 --> 01:21:15.955
(cheering and applause)

1584
01:21:16.038 --> 01:21:18.457
Hello, Georgia!

1585
01:21:20.626 --> 01:21:22.712
I was asking everybody,
"You know Stacey Abrams?

1586
01:21:22.795 --> 01:21:24.380
-"You know Stacey Abrams?
-(laughter)

1587
01:21:24.463 --> 01:21:25.715
You know Stacey Abrams?"

1588
01:21:25.798 --> 01:21:27.550
Finally, somebody said,
"I know Stacey Abrams."

1589
01:21:27.633 --> 01:21:29.552
And they said,
"I have her cell number."

1590
01:21:29.635 --> 01:21:31.178
I go, "Give it to me."

1591
01:21:31.262 --> 01:21:32.513
(laughter)

1592
01:21:32.597 --> 01:21:34.223
"I will call her up right now."

1593
01:21:34.307 --> 01:21:37.810
So I called Stacey Abrams,
and I said,

1594
01:21:37.893 --> 01:21:40.396
"Stacey, this is Oprah."

1595
01:21:40.479 --> 01:21:42.982
(laughter, cheering)

1596
01:21:43.065 --> 01:21:44.650
You know what she said?

1597
01:21:44.734 --> 01:21:47.486
She said, "Girl, let me pull
over to the side of the road."

1598
01:21:47.570 --> 01:21:49.030
(laughter, applause)

1599
01:21:49.113 --> 01:21:51.490
Ladies and gentlemen,
Stacey Abrams!

1600
01:21:51.574 --> 01:21:54.660
(cheering)

1601
01:21:54.744 --> 01:21:57.288
CROWD (chanting):
Stacey! Stacey! Stacey!

1602
01:21:57.371 --> 01:21:59.582
My name is Stacey Abrams,
and I am running to be

1603
01:21:59.665 --> 01:22:01.626
the next governor
of the great state of Georgia.

1604
01:22:01.709 --> 01:22:03.002
(cheering)

1605
01:22:03.085 --> 01:22:04.837
ABRAMS:
We talked to people.

1606
01:22:04.920 --> 01:22:06.380
We met them at their doors.

1607
01:22:06.464 --> 01:22:08.466
We met them at their churches,
their mosques,

1608
01:22:08.549 --> 01:22:10.760
their temples, their shrines,
their synagogues.

1609
01:22:10.843 --> 01:22:14.555
I went to Dragon Con
and ONE Musicfest.

1610
01:22:14.639 --> 01:22:16.849
I also talked about
real issues.

1611
01:22:16.932 --> 01:22:18.851
I talked about my brother
and his fight

1612
01:22:18.934 --> 01:22:20.895
with drug addiction
and incarceration.

1613
01:22:20.978 --> 01:22:22.271
There are thousands of Walters

1614
01:22:22.355 --> 01:22:23.731
throughout the state
of Georgia...

1615
01:22:23.814 --> 01:22:25.066
-CROWD: Yeah!
-...who only get

1616
01:22:25.149 --> 01:22:26.942
the help they need
when they go to prison.

1617
01:22:27.026 --> 01:22:28.527
-Yeah!
-I’m running for governor

1618
01:22:28.611 --> 01:22:29.779
because I don’t believe
Georgia’s

1619
01:22:29.862 --> 01:22:31.113
just a state of retribution.

1620
01:22:31.197 --> 01:22:33.074
I want to see
a state of redemption!

1621
01:22:33.157 --> 01:22:34.575
CROWD:
Yeah!

1622
01:22:34.659 --> 01:22:36.827
ABRAMS:
Let’s get it done!

1623
01:22:36.911 --> 01:22:39.705
(chanting): Let’s get it done!
Let’s get it done!

1624
01:22:39.789 --> 01:22:43.000
But I also had solutions,
and I talked about the things

1625
01:22:43.084 --> 01:22:45.086
that people care about
every single day.

1626
01:22:45.169 --> 01:22:47.421
Georgia, we need you
to show up and show out.

1627
01:22:47.505 --> 01:22:48.631
(women speaking
foreign languages)

1628
01:22:48.714 --> 01:22:52.093
-...Stacey Abrams...
-...Stacey Abrams...

1629
01:22:52.176 --> 01:22:54.720
We wanted everybody
who could vote to vote

1630
01:22:54.804 --> 01:22:55.888
and to vote for me.

1631
01:22:55.971 --> 01:22:56.972
(cheering)

1632
01:22:57.056 --> 01:23:00.434
LEWIS:
It is in our hands

1633
01:23:00.518 --> 01:23:03.270
to make Stacey Abrams
the next governor

1634
01:23:03.354 --> 01:23:05.606
of the state of Georgia!

1635
01:23:05.690 --> 01:23:08.984
And give it up
for your next governor,

1636
01:23:09.068 --> 01:23:10.736
Stacey Abrams.

1637
01:23:10.820 --> 01:23:13.030
-(cheering)
-CROWD: Stacey! Stacey!

1638
01:23:13.114 --> 01:23:16.909
Stacey! Stacey! Stacey! Stacey!

1639
01:23:16.992 --> 01:23:19.412
Thank you, Georgia.

1640
01:23:22.581 --> 01:23:25.084
One of our missions
in our campaign

1641
01:23:25.167 --> 01:23:28.462
was to focus attention
on early voting.

1642
01:23:28.546 --> 01:23:31.507
And so, by way of example,
I went to vote early.

1643
01:23:31.590 --> 01:23:35.970
I came to my precinct
armed with my I.D.,

1644
01:23:36.053 --> 01:23:37.930
ready to cast my ballot.

1645
01:23:38.013 --> 01:23:40.266
I also had a bunch
of television cameras with me

1646
01:23:40.349 --> 01:23:42.685
because we wanted to publicize
how important this was.

1647
01:23:42.768 --> 01:23:44.103
(crowd cheering)

1648
01:23:44.186 --> 01:23:46.772
I hand my information over,
and the young woman,

1649
01:23:46.856 --> 01:23:49.900
with great trepidation,
tells me that I cannot vote

1650
01:23:49.984 --> 01:23:52.820
because I’ve applied
for an absentee ballot.

1651
01:23:54.238 --> 01:23:57.533
And I lean in quietly,
and I say, "No, I didn’t."

1652
01:23:57.616 --> 01:24:00.536
I’ve voted in the state
of Georgia since 1992.

1653
01:24:00.619 --> 01:24:03.706
I’ve never applied
for an absentee ballot.

1654
01:24:03.789 --> 01:24:06.417
She desperately wants
to be helpful,

1655
01:24:06.500 --> 01:24:07.960
but something had happened,

1656
01:24:08.043 --> 01:24:09.587
and she did not
have good information.

1657
01:24:09.670 --> 01:24:11.380
Her manager came over,
we talked,

1658
01:24:11.464 --> 01:24:14.467
and we were able to figure out
what needed to be done.

1659
01:24:14.550 --> 01:24:17.219
(indistinct chatter)

1660
01:24:19.096 --> 01:24:21.015
-(cheering)
-What worries me

1661
01:24:21.098 --> 01:24:24.059
are the thousands of people
in Georgia who tried to vote

1662
01:24:24.143 --> 01:24:29.106
that didn’t have CNN and MSNBC
standing over their shoulders

1663
01:24:29.190 --> 01:24:32.193
who were told no and who
believed that no was the answer

1664
01:24:32.276 --> 01:24:34.612
because they didn’t have
the authority

1665
01:24:34.695 --> 01:24:36.989
or the knowledge
to demand better.

1666
01:24:37.072 --> 01:24:39.325
We really knew by the last week
of early vote

1667
01:24:39.408 --> 01:24:42.328
that we were seeing
extraordinary turnout,

1668
01:24:42.411 --> 01:24:44.663
um, beyond our projections,

1669
01:24:44.747 --> 01:24:48.125
and we also knew that
we were seeing an extraordinary

1670
01:24:48.209 --> 01:24:49.710
inability of
the election system

1671
01:24:49.794 --> 01:24:51.629
to process the folks.

1672
01:24:51.712 --> 01:24:54.757
It was the very big
warning bell that

1673
01:24:54.840 --> 01:24:57.384
Election Day was
gonna be a problem.

1674
01:25:04.350 --> 01:25:05.768
(quiet chatter, laughter)

1675
01:25:05.851 --> 01:25:08.020
NEWSMAN: We were with
Brian Kemp and his family

1676
01:25:08.103 --> 01:25:09.271
as they showed up to vote.

1677
01:25:09.355 --> 01:25:10.898
It said this was
an invalid card.

1678
01:25:10.981 --> 01:25:13.317
-Okay. You go back in there.
I’ll redo it for you. -Yeah.

1679
01:25:13.400 --> 01:25:15.402
NEWSMAN: And Kemp had
some voting issues.

1680
01:25:15.486 --> 01:25:18.072
His voter card said "invalid."

1681
01:25:18.155 --> 01:25:20.366
(cameras clicking)

1682
01:25:20.449 --> 01:25:21.784
You just went and cast
your ballot there.

1683
01:25:21.867 --> 01:25:23.452
-Yeah. -During your tenure
as Secretary of State here,

1684
01:25:23.536 --> 01:25:24.662
you’ve made it harder for

1685
01:25:24.745 --> 01:25:26.038
tens of thousands of people
in Georgia...

1686
01:25:26.121 --> 01:25:27.331
I would disagree
with that question completely.

1687
01:25:27.414 --> 01:25:28.707
...to cast their ballots
across the state.

1688
01:25:28.791 --> 01:25:30.084
Because you have
no factual basis

1689
01:25:30.167 --> 01:25:31.919
on making it harder
for people to vote.

1690
01:25:32.002 --> 01:25:34.839
It has never been easier
for people to vote in the...

1691
01:25:34.922 --> 01:25:36.924
in the state of Georgia
than it is right now.

1692
01:25:37.007 --> 01:25:38.676
NEWSMAN:
One of the races

1693
01:25:38.759 --> 01:25:40.386
that we’ve been
watching really closely

1694
01:25:40.469 --> 01:25:44.390
is the governor’s race
in the state of Georgia.

1695
01:25:44.473 --> 01:25:45.891
NEWSMAN:
From Midtown to Marietta,

1696
01:25:45.975 --> 01:25:50.271
we’re seeing long lines at
polling places across the area.

1697
01:25:50.354 --> 01:25:53.691
This morning, we got here at--
when the polls opened at 7:00.

1698
01:25:53.774 --> 01:25:56.735
We were told that the machines
weren’t working.

1699
01:25:56.819 --> 01:26:00.948
Finally, at 11:00, they got
machines that were working,

1700
01:26:01.031 --> 01:26:03.242
so we’ve been in line
for five hours.

1701
01:26:03.325 --> 01:26:04.994
NEWSMAN:
How long have you waited

1702
01:26:05.077 --> 01:26:07.454
-in line here this morning?
-About three and a half hours.

1703
01:26:07.538 --> 01:26:09.331
-You gonna go home? Come back?
-I’m-I’m hurting.

1704
01:26:09.415 --> 01:26:11.584
I-I’ll be back.
I got to go take some medicine.

1705
01:26:11.667 --> 01:26:13.043
These lines are insane.

1706
01:26:13.127 --> 01:26:15.296
We had a big fucking problem.

1707
01:26:15.379 --> 01:26:17.798
Um, people are leaving lines
all over.

1708
01:26:17.882 --> 01:26:19.133
I’m getting the reports.

1709
01:26:19.216 --> 01:26:21.594
WOMAN:
My parents are U.S. citizens.

1710
01:26:21.677 --> 01:26:22.928
They’ve voted in the past,
but today,

1711
01:26:23.012 --> 01:26:24.471
when they showed up to vote,
they were told

1712
01:26:24.555 --> 01:26:26.181
that they were purged
from the voter rolls.

1713
01:26:26.265 --> 01:26:28.767
ABRAMS: We’d received
thousands of calls

1714
01:26:28.851 --> 01:26:30.769
to our
Voter Protection Hotline.

1715
01:26:30.853 --> 01:26:32.104
Conversations about people

1716
01:26:32.187 --> 01:26:33.856
being turned away
from the polls.

1717
01:26:33.939 --> 01:26:36.025
I can’t find this one.

1718
01:26:36.108 --> 01:26:38.027
-This is where you would
normally vote? -Yes.

1719
01:26:38.110 --> 01:26:39.486
The name didn’t come up,
in your case.

1720
01:26:39.570 --> 01:26:40.905
It didn’t come up
even when I search.

1721
01:26:40.988 --> 01:26:44.116
Those stories were coming to me
at every moment.

1722
01:26:44.199 --> 01:26:46.452
NEWSWOMAN:
Some were here for three hours,

1723
01:26:46.535 --> 01:26:47.995
others here for much longer,

1724
01:26:48.078 --> 01:26:51.081
after the Express poll machines
stopped working

1725
01:26:51.165 --> 01:26:54.376
inside the Annistown Elementary
polling place Tuesday morning.

1726
01:26:54.460 --> 01:26:56.128
LAUREN GROH-WARGO:
We knew who we were up against.

1727
01:26:56.211 --> 01:26:58.339
We had been fighting
this guy for years.

1728
01:26:58.422 --> 01:27:01.800
And then to see
what the result was of

1729
01:27:01.884 --> 01:27:03.969
intentional underfunding
of elections,

1730
01:27:04.053 --> 01:27:07.222
intentional non-training
of local elections officials.

1731
01:27:07.306 --> 01:27:08.432
NEWSWOMAN:
He says he went

1732
01:27:08.515 --> 01:27:09.975
to cast his ballot
Tuesday morning,

1733
01:27:10.059 --> 01:27:12.686
he handed the poll worker
his I.D., and then she...

1734
01:27:12.770 --> 01:27:15.481
Says, "Mr. Whitten, wait. Stop.
You’ve already voted."

1735
01:27:15.564 --> 01:27:16.982
I said, "No, I-I think
I would’ve remembered that."

1736
01:27:17.066 --> 01:27:19.234
She says, "No, I see here
that you voted,

1737
01:27:19.318 --> 01:27:21.195
and, uh, it looks like
several days ago."

1738
01:27:21.278 --> 01:27:24.698
Intentional purges, intentional
precinct consolidation.

1739
01:27:24.782 --> 01:27:28.077
They combined two locations,
gave us three machines.

1740
01:27:28.160 --> 01:27:30.788
Last election, I had 12.
I don’t know why.

1741
01:27:30.871 --> 01:27:31.997
Intentional lack of training

1742
01:27:32.081 --> 01:27:33.666
around absentee
and provisional ballots.

1743
01:27:33.749 --> 01:27:36.335
All the compendium
coming together.

1744
01:27:36.418 --> 01:27:38.963
MAN: Students were showing up,
and their names were not

1745
01:27:39.046 --> 01:27:40.339
on the actual roll.

1746
01:27:40.422 --> 01:27:42.466
Um, and so they were casting
provisional ballots,

1747
01:27:42.549 --> 01:27:45.803
so much so that they actually
ran out of provisional ballots.

1748
01:27:45.886 --> 01:27:49.223
GROH-WARGO:
It was just out of control.

1749
01:27:49.306 --> 01:27:53.519
ABRAMS: We knew people
were trying to be heard,

1750
01:27:53.602 --> 01:27:56.689
but I also knew
they weren’t being listened to.

1751
01:27:56.772 --> 01:27:59.024
♪ ♪

1752
01:28:01.944 --> 01:28:04.029
Election night...

1753
01:28:04.113 --> 01:28:08.033
I knew something had gone
horribly wrong.

1754
01:28:09.827 --> 01:28:11.620
NEWSMAN: Take a look at where
the numbers stand right now.

1755
01:28:11.704 --> 01:28:13.706
As you can see,
the numbers are now tightening.

1756
01:28:13.789 --> 01:28:15.207
The spread is only some 60,000.

1757
01:28:15.290 --> 01:28:17.084
NEWSWOMAN: Several counties
have yet to process

1758
01:28:17.167 --> 01:28:19.253
their provisional
and emergency ballots,

1759
01:28:19.336 --> 01:28:23.215
leaving an estimated
22,000 ballots outstanding.

1760
01:28:25.551 --> 01:28:28.429
ABRAMS:
By 1:00 a.m., what we knew

1761
01:28:28.512 --> 01:28:31.765
was that the race
was too close to call.

1762
01:28:31.849 --> 01:28:33.350
(crowd cheering)

1763
01:28:33.434 --> 01:28:36.687
I’m here tonight to tell you
votes remain to be counted.

1764
01:28:36.770 --> 01:28:39.523
There are voices
that were waiting to be heard.

1765
01:28:39.606 --> 01:28:42.151
Across our state,
folks are opening up

1766
01:28:42.234 --> 01:28:45.029
the dreams of voters
in absentee ballots,

1767
01:28:45.112 --> 01:28:47.573
and we believe our chance
for a stronger Georgia

1768
01:28:47.656 --> 01:28:49.408
is just within reach.

1769
01:28:49.491 --> 01:28:50.784
(cheering, murmuring)

1770
01:28:50.868 --> 01:28:55.664
But we cannot seize it
until all voices are heard.

1771
01:28:55.748 --> 01:28:57.958
And I promise you tonight,
we are gonna make sure

1772
01:28:58.042 --> 01:29:00.836
-that every vote is counted.
-(cheering)

1773
01:29:00.919 --> 01:29:02.838
Every single vote.

1774
01:29:02.921 --> 01:29:05.716
♪ ♪

1775
01:29:05.799 --> 01:29:07.259
ALLEGRA LAWRENCE-HARDY:
We’ve heard from

1776
01:29:07.342 --> 01:29:09.970
40,000 Georgians and counting

1777
01:29:10.054 --> 01:29:12.389
who have told us
story after story

1778
01:29:12.473 --> 01:29:14.933
about the concerns
and problems they have,

1779
01:29:15.017 --> 01:29:17.269
uh, with our system
across Georgia.

1780
01:29:17.352 --> 01:29:19.104
GROH-WARGO:
Our staff was,

1781
01:29:19.188 --> 01:29:20.731
you know,
running around the state

1782
01:29:20.814 --> 01:29:22.816
and collecting
all of these stories,

1783
01:29:22.900 --> 01:29:24.860
and we’re in the federal courts

1784
01:29:24.943 --> 01:29:26.779
fighting for
each of these votes.

1785
01:29:26.862 --> 01:29:29.114
ABRAMS: Every day, there were
votes that were found,

1786
01:29:29.198 --> 01:29:31.158
and there were lawsuits
that were settled

1787
01:29:31.241 --> 01:29:33.077
that then added to the total.

1788
01:29:33.160 --> 01:29:37.164
GROH-WARGO:
And it was just a devastating,

1789
01:29:37.247 --> 01:29:40.584
obvious thing what happened.

1790
01:29:40.667 --> 01:29:42.753
You couldn’t swing a bat

1791
01:29:42.836 --> 01:29:46.090
and not hit 14 people
who had problems voting.

1792
01:29:46.173 --> 01:29:47.424
NEWSMAN:
Governor Nathan Deal rolled out

1793
01:29:47.508 --> 01:29:49.843
the gubernatorial red carpet
Thursday for Brian Kemp,

1794
01:29:49.927 --> 01:29:51.929
declaring him governor-elect,
though the state

1795
01:29:52.012 --> 01:29:53.597
has yet officially
to certify the election.

1796
01:29:53.680 --> 01:29:57.101
Even if she got
100% of those votes,

1797
01:29:57.184 --> 01:30:02.356
we still win with, um,
a 50%-plus-one-vote majority.

1798
01:30:02.439 --> 01:30:04.316
Actually,
it’s much more than that.

1799
01:30:04.399 --> 01:30:06.735
Uh, so we’re moving forward
with the transition.

1800
01:30:06.819 --> 01:30:09.863
Brian Kemp is

1801
01:30:09.947 --> 01:30:16.161
25,622 votes

1802
01:30:16.245 --> 01:30:20.999
above the threshold
for a runoff election.

1803
01:30:22.626 --> 01:30:25.629
25,000 votes

1804
01:30:25.712 --> 01:30:29.007
of nearly four million cast

1805
01:30:29.091 --> 01:30:32.594
are at issue in this race.

1806
01:30:32.678 --> 01:30:35.013
By his own admission,

1807
01:30:35.097 --> 01:30:38.350
there are at least
25,000 outstanding votes

1808
01:30:38.433 --> 01:30:41.478
and hundreds,
if not thousands, of more

1809
01:30:41.562 --> 01:30:45.816
that we are learning about
and discovering every day.

1810
01:30:45.899 --> 01:30:48.777
Georgians deserve to have
their votes counted.

1811
01:30:48.861 --> 01:30:51.530
NEWSMAN: And some Abrams
supporters protested peacefully

1812
01:30:51.613 --> 01:30:53.615
outside the governor’s office
during Kemp’s news conference,

1813
01:30:53.699 --> 01:30:54.992
believing there are enough

1814
01:30:55.075 --> 01:30:57.703
uncounted votes
to force a runoff.

1815
01:30:57.786 --> 01:30:59.413
They’re arresting me
because I refused

1816
01:30:59.496 --> 01:31:01.415
to leave the rotunda
of the capitol...

1817
01:31:01.498 --> 01:31:03.125
NIKEMA WILLIAMS:
Well, I was taken out

1818
01:31:03.208 --> 01:31:04.877
in handcuffs and jailed

1819
01:31:04.960 --> 01:31:06.962
because I stood
with my constituents

1820
01:31:07.045 --> 01:31:08.922
to voice their concerns

1821
01:31:09.006 --> 01:31:11.258
and make sure that
every vote is counted.

1822
01:31:15.095 --> 01:31:19.808
By the end, we were still
17,000 votes shy of the runoff.

1823
01:31:19.892 --> 01:31:21.351
NEWSWOMAN:
The ballot battle

1824
01:31:21.435 --> 01:31:23.979
in Georgia’s governor’s race
is over.

1825
01:31:24.062 --> 01:31:27.149
NEWSMAN: Brian Kemp
will be certified the winner.

1826
01:31:27.232 --> 01:31:29.484
(crowd cheering)

1827
01:31:30.986 --> 01:31:32.487
I was very angry.

1828
01:31:32.571 --> 01:31:34.656
I’m still very angry.

1829
01:31:34.740 --> 01:31:36.241
Um...

1830
01:31:38.243 --> 01:31:40.495
...very angry.

1831
01:31:40.579 --> 01:31:42.372
Make no mistake.

1832
01:31:42.456 --> 01:31:44.374
The former Secretary of State

1833
01:31:44.458 --> 01:31:47.586
was deliberate and intentional
in his actions.

1834
01:31:47.669 --> 01:31:50.756
Pundits and hyper-partisans
will hear my words

1835
01:31:50.839 --> 01:31:52.883
as a rejection
of the normal order.

1836
01:31:52.966 --> 01:31:56.428
You see, I’m supposed to say
nice things and accept my fate.

1837
01:31:56.511 --> 01:31:59.139
They will complain that
I should not use this moment

1838
01:31:59.223 --> 01:32:02.935
to recap what was done wrong
or to demand a remedy.

1839
01:32:03.018 --> 01:32:06.438
You see, as a leader,
I should be stoic in my outrage

1840
01:32:06.521 --> 01:32:08.941
and silent in my rebuke.

1841
01:32:09.024 --> 01:32:11.151
But stoicism is a luxury,

1842
01:32:11.235 --> 01:32:12.986
and silence is a weapon

1843
01:32:13.070 --> 01:32:15.572
for those who would quiet
the voices of the people.

1844
01:32:15.656 --> 01:32:17.074
And I will not concede,

1845
01:32:17.157 --> 01:32:20.285
because the erosion
of our democracy is not right.

1846
01:32:20.369 --> 01:32:21.870
(crowd cheering)

1847
01:32:21.954 --> 01:32:23.789
KEMP:
Last night, as you all know,

1848
01:32:23.872 --> 01:32:26.083
my opponent ended her campaign.

1849
01:32:26.166 --> 01:32:27.584
The election is over,

1850
01:32:27.668 --> 01:32:30.963
and I’m honored to be
Georgia’s governor-elect.

1851
01:32:44.268 --> 01:32:46.353
My responsibility
as the daughter

1852
01:32:46.436 --> 01:32:48.939
of Robert and Carolyn Abrams,

1853
01:32:49.022 --> 01:32:51.566
as the granddaughter of people

1854
01:32:51.650 --> 01:32:53.568
who had been denied
the right to vote,

1855
01:32:53.652 --> 01:32:56.446
as the great-great-
granddaughter of slaves,

1856
01:32:56.530 --> 01:32:59.199
my job was to use this election

1857
01:32:59.283 --> 01:33:02.035
to talk about
the system that let this be.

1858
01:33:03.036 --> 01:33:05.414
And so,
we decided on that night

1859
01:33:05.497 --> 01:33:07.833
that we were going to demand

1860
01:33:07.916 --> 01:33:10.252
that the system itself
be fixed.

1861
01:33:10.335 --> 01:33:12.629
Because, when you concede,
what you’re saying

1862
01:33:12.713 --> 01:33:15.507
is that the system worked
the way it was supposed to.

1863
01:33:15.590 --> 01:33:17.968
And I refuse to believe
that a system

1864
01:33:18.051 --> 01:33:20.470
that is supposed to protect
our democracy

1865
01:33:20.554 --> 01:33:23.307
worked the way
it was supposed to.

1866
01:33:23.390 --> 01:33:25.642
♪ ♪

1867
01:33:29.187 --> 01:33:30.897
In 2020 and beyond,

1868
01:33:30.981 --> 01:33:32.357
the way we fight
voter suppression

1869
01:33:32.441 --> 01:33:34.026
is by meeting it where it is.

1870
01:33:34.109 --> 01:33:35.569
That means, first and foremost,

1871
01:33:35.652 --> 01:33:37.904
volunteer to help people
get registered to vote.

1872
01:33:37.988 --> 01:33:40.198
Hi, Nina, darling.
My name is Stacey Abrams.

1873
01:33:40.282 --> 01:33:42.993
I wanted to thank you
for all the work you’re doing

1874
01:33:43.076 --> 01:33:44.119
to reach out to voters

1875
01:33:44.202 --> 01:33:45.912
and making sure
they stay on the rolls.

1876
01:33:45.996 --> 01:33:48.623
ANDERSON: If you believe in
"one person, one vote,"

1877
01:33:48.707 --> 01:33:50.917
if you believe in
representative government,

1878
01:33:51.001 --> 01:33:53.337
then you will fight
for this democracy.

1879
01:33:53.420 --> 01:33:55.047
So, if you, um,
fill it out right now,

1880
01:33:55.130 --> 01:33:57.215
-we can mail it out for you.
-(indistinct chatter)

1881
01:33:57.299 --> 01:33:59.384
MEADE:
Our power is in our vote.

1882
01:33:59.468 --> 01:34:02.220
Our power is in our voice.

1883
01:34:02.304 --> 01:34:04.931
And if we willingly choose
to remain silent,

1884
01:34:05.015 --> 01:34:06.850
we give up that power.

1885
01:34:06.933 --> 01:34:08.185
WOMAN:
The day that we celebrate

1886
01:34:08.268 --> 01:34:09.978
what it means
to be an American.

1887
01:34:10.062 --> 01:34:11.229
Today, our returning citizens

1888
01:34:11.313 --> 01:34:13.940
have their right to vote
restored.

1889
01:34:14.024 --> 01:34:15.359
(cheering and applause)

1890
01:34:15.442 --> 01:34:18.111
SEAN J. YOUNG: Plan out
what you’re going to do

1891
01:34:18.195 --> 01:34:20.030
to make sure your ballot
is cast and counted,

1892
01:34:20.113 --> 01:34:22.074
and then ask
your friends and family

1893
01:34:22.157 --> 01:34:23.617
whether they have a plan.

1894
01:34:23.700 --> 01:34:25.243
Even if you’ve done
everything right,

1895
01:34:25.327 --> 01:34:26.787
do not assume
you’re registered.

1896
01:34:26.870 --> 01:34:29.623
Check to make sure
that you haven’t been purged

1897
01:34:29.706 --> 01:34:31.666
or that your polling place
has moved.

1898
01:34:31.750 --> 01:34:33.168
Vote as early as possible.

1899
01:34:33.251 --> 01:34:35.170
Take your friends with you
to the polls.

1900
01:34:35.253 --> 01:34:37.047
Talk to your neighbors
about voting.

1901
01:34:37.130 --> 01:34:38.590
Call your parents
and ask them if they’ve voted.

1902
01:34:38.673 --> 01:34:40.050
Call your grandparents.

1903
01:34:40.133 --> 01:34:42.928
And make sure that people know
what precinct they’re in,

1904
01:34:43.011 --> 01:34:44.554
where their
polling location is.

1905
01:34:44.638 --> 01:34:46.807
And then you turn up
at the polls,

1906
01:34:46.890 --> 01:34:49.476
and you don’t leave
until you cast your ballot.

1907
01:34:49.559 --> 01:34:51.645
They told voters
to anticipate long lines.

1908
01:34:51.728 --> 01:34:54.106
Is two and a half hours,
three hours, four hours--

1909
01:34:54.189 --> 01:34:56.191
is that reasonable, though,
in your mind, David?

1910
01:34:56.274 --> 01:34:58.026
It’s worth the wait.
It’s worth the wait.

1911
01:34:58.110 --> 01:35:00.278
Folks died for this right
that-- I mean, you know,

1912
01:35:00.362 --> 01:35:02.364
so I would never take advantage
of it, you know, so...

1913
01:35:02.447 --> 01:35:03.448
I’m here for the long haul.

1914
01:35:03.532 --> 01:35:05.367
It’s a life-and-death matter.

1915
01:35:05.450 --> 01:35:07.119
It really is.

1916
01:35:07.202 --> 01:35:08.745
It’s not gonna be the courts
that save us.

1917
01:35:08.829 --> 01:35:10.622
It’s not gonna be
the justices in their robes.

1918
01:35:10.705 --> 01:35:11.748
It’s got to be the people.

1919
01:35:11.832 --> 01:35:13.625
FUDGE: If you were
to come out to vote,

1920
01:35:13.708 --> 01:35:15.460
we could elect
who we wanted to,

1921
01:35:15.544 --> 01:35:17.462
we could get done
what we wanted to,

1922
01:35:17.546 --> 01:35:19.756
and we could make sure
that our voice was heard.

1923
01:35:19.840 --> 01:35:21.341
The fight for voting rights

1924
01:35:21.425 --> 01:35:24.469
needs to be a defining
civil rights issue today.

1925
01:35:24.553 --> 01:35:26.763
HOLDER: The desire
to keep certain people

1926
01:35:26.847 --> 01:35:28.098
away from the polls,

1927
01:35:28.181 --> 01:35:31.059
it’s a reality that we have to
be prepared to confront.

1928
01:35:31.143 --> 01:35:33.228
But unless we confront
that reality

1929
01:35:33.311 --> 01:35:35.439
and base actions
on that reality,

1930
01:35:35.522 --> 01:35:36.690
we won’t make the progress

1931
01:35:36.773 --> 01:35:39.609
that we all want to make
in this country.

1932
01:35:39.693 --> 01:35:41.486
(indistinct chanting)

1933
01:35:41.570 --> 01:35:42.946
I believe in our democracy.

1934
01:35:43.029 --> 01:35:44.489
I believe in our nation.

1935
01:35:44.573 --> 01:35:46.074
And I think
our strongest patriotism

1936
01:35:46.158 --> 01:35:48.994
is a patriotism that says
that every voice matters

1937
01:35:49.077 --> 01:35:50.620
and that every vote counts

1938
01:35:50.704 --> 01:35:53.498
and that we will do everything
in our power to make it so.

1939
01:35:53.582 --> 01:35:55.792
♪ ♪

1940
01:35:57.169 --> 01:35:59.379
Let’s stop thinking
that our voice don’t matter...

1941
01:35:59.463 --> 01:36:01.006
-That’s right.
-...and vote!

1942
01:36:01.089 --> 01:36:04.885
Educate yourself and know
who you’re voting for.

1943
01:36:06.470 --> 01:36:09.264
Because it’s a lot of us.

1944
01:36:09.347 --> 01:36:12.142
-It’s a lot of us.
-That’s right.

1945
01:36:12.225 --> 01:36:13.643
It’s a lot of us!

1946
01:36:13.727 --> 01:36:15.395
CROWD:
It’s a lot of us!

1947
01:36:21.568 --> 01:36:23.653
♪ ♪

1948
01:37:06.613 --> 01:37:08.490
♪ ♪

1949
01:37:32.806 --> 01:37:34.307
♪ The table ’bout to turn ♪

1950
01:37:34.391 --> 01:37:37.060
("Turn Tables" by
Janelle Monáe playing)

1951
01:37:38.979 --> 01:37:40.814
♪ The table ’bout to turn ♪

1952
01:37:45.652 --> 01:37:47.070
Register to vote.

1953
01:37:47.153 --> 01:37:48.989
Even if you think
you’re already registered,

1954
01:37:49.072 --> 01:37:50.699
check your registration status.

1955
01:37:50.782 --> 01:37:53.910
Seriously, check to see
if you’re registered to vote

1956
01:37:53.994 --> 01:37:56.454
at AllInTheFilm.com.

1957
01:37:56.538 --> 01:37:58.665
Don’t be a victim
of voter purge.

1958
01:37:58.748 --> 01:38:02.586
If you’re registered, make sure
the information is correct.

1959
01:38:02.669 --> 01:38:04.629
If not, update it.

1960
01:38:04.713 --> 01:38:06.923
♪ The table ’bout to turn ♪

1961
01:38:09.301 --> 01:38:12.137
Oh, and make sure
to keep your receipts.

1962
01:38:12.220 --> 01:38:13.471
Take a screenshot

1963
01:38:13.555 --> 01:38:16.474
so that no one can
deny your registration.

1964
01:38:16.558 --> 01:38:18.184
Get informed.

1965
01:38:18.268 --> 01:38:20.979
Find out what documents or I.D.

1966
01:38:21.062 --> 01:38:23.481
are required for you to vote
in your state

1967
01:38:23.565 --> 01:38:26.359
so that you will have time
to prepare to vote.

1968
01:38:26.443 --> 01:38:27.694
Make a plan.

1969
01:38:27.777 --> 01:38:30.989
Look up your polling place
and the time it’s open

1970
01:38:31.072 --> 01:38:32.657
and how you’re getting there

1971
01:38:32.741 --> 01:38:36.411
and what you can do
to stay safe if you’re casting

1972
01:38:36.494 --> 01:38:40.206
your socially distanced vote
in person.

1973
01:38:40.290 --> 01:38:42.959
Some states allow any voter
to vote absentee.

1974
01:38:43.043 --> 01:38:45.378
Other states have
stricter requirements.

1975
01:38:45.462 --> 01:38:48.048
Head to AllInTheFilm.com
to find out

1976
01:38:48.131 --> 01:38:51.092
details about your state
and how to request a ballot.

1977
01:38:51.176 --> 01:38:55.096
Go to 2020Census.gov
and complete your census form.

1978
01:38:55.180 --> 01:38:57.474
Ensure that your community
is counted

1979
01:38:57.557 --> 01:38:59.392
and help combat gerrymandering.

1980
01:38:59.476 --> 01:39:03.521
And most importantly,
know your rights.

1981
01:39:03.605 --> 01:39:06.024
If the polls close
and you’re in the line, man,

1982
01:39:06.107 --> 01:39:09.319
stay in the line because
you got the right to vote.

1983
01:39:09.402 --> 01:39:11.780
If you make a mistake on
your ballot, ask for a new one.

1984
01:39:11.863 --> 01:39:14.032
If the machines are down
at your polling place,

1985
01:39:14.115 --> 01:39:15.533
ask for a paper ballot.

1986
01:39:15.617 --> 01:39:17.661
If they can’t find your name
on the voter rolls,

1987
01:39:17.744 --> 01:39:19.371
then ask for
a provisional ballot.

1988
01:39:19.454 --> 01:39:21.164
And if you run into
any problems

1989
01:39:21.247 --> 01:39:23.667
or have any questions
on Election Day,

1990
01:39:23.750 --> 01:39:26.336
call the
Election Protection Hotline:

1991
01:39:26.419 --> 01:39:28.713
866-OUR-VOTE.

1992
01:39:28.797 --> 01:39:30.674
-Think you got all that?
-Are you all in?

1993
01:39:30.757 --> 01:39:32.092
Perfect. Now...

1994
01:39:32.175 --> 01:39:33.927
Go and tell
literally everyone...

1995
01:39:34.010 --> 01:39:35.261
-Everyone.
-Everyone.

1996
01:39:35.345 --> 01:39:36.846
Everyone you know.

1997
01:39:36.930 --> 01:39:39.766
Literally everyone you know.

1998
01:39:39.849 --> 01:39:40.850
♪ ♪

1999
01:39:40.934 --> 01:39:42.560
♪ Yeah, uh ♪

2000
01:39:42.644 --> 01:39:45.730
♪ I been flipping
through my timeline ♪

2001
01:39:45.814 --> 01:39:48.650
♪ Trying to get my mind right ♪

2002
01:39:48.733 --> 01:39:50.527
♪ My city cried out ♪

2003
01:39:50.610 --> 01:39:53.697
♪ I got to cool down,
but I’m under pressure ♪

2004
01:39:53.780 --> 01:39:56.324
♪ Cooking with my Crisco ♪

2005
01:39:56.408 --> 01:39:58.451
♪ Look at where my fist go ♪

2006
01:39:58.535 --> 01:40:01.121
♪ A renegade
when I’m in a rage ♪

2007
01:40:01.204 --> 01:40:03.915
♪ I got to cool down,
but I’m under pressure ♪

2008
01:40:03.998 --> 01:40:06.626
♪ I keep my hands dirty,
my mind clean ♪

2009
01:40:06.710 --> 01:40:10.130
♪ Got a new agenda
with a new dream, uh ♪

2010
01:40:10.213 --> 01:40:11.965
♪ I’m kicking out
the old regime ♪

2011
01:40:12.048 --> 01:40:15.009
♪ Liberation, elevation,
education ♪

2012
01:40:15.093 --> 01:40:17.345
♪ America, you a lie ♪

2013
01:40:17.429 --> 01:40:19.806
♪ But the whole world
’bout to testify ♪

2014
01:40:19.889 --> 01:40:22.517
♪ I said the whole world
’bout to touch the fire ♪

2015
01:40:22.600 --> 01:40:25.562
♪ And the tables ’bout to,
t-t-tables ’bout to ♪

2016
01:40:25.645 --> 01:40:29.190
-♪ Turn, turn, turn ♪
-♪ Turn, turn, turn ♪

2017
01:40:29.274 --> 01:40:30.900
♪ Ain’t gon’ stop until they ♪

2018
01:40:30.984 --> 01:40:34.487
-♪ Turn, turn, turn ♪
-♪ Turn, turn, turn ♪

2019
01:40:34.571 --> 01:40:36.197
♪ Now it’s time for it to ♪

2020
01:40:36.281 --> 01:40:39.784
-♪ Turn, turn, turn ♪
-♪ Turn, turn, turn ♪

2021
01:40:39.868 --> 01:40:41.536
♪ We can’t wait for it to ♪

2022
01:40:41.619 --> 01:40:44.456
-♪ Turn, turn ♪ -♪ Yeah,
the table ’bout to turn ♪

2023
01:40:44.539 --> 01:40:46.624
♪ Turn ♪

2024
01:40:46.708 --> 01:40:49.085
♪ It’s a boomerang
booming back, yeah ♪

2025
01:40:49.169 --> 01:40:51.713
♪ You laid a egg,
now it’s ’bout to hatch, yeah ♪

2026
01:40:51.796 --> 01:40:54.591
♪ You’re gaslighting,
’bout to meet your match, uh ♪

2027
01:40:54.674 --> 01:40:57.719
♪ You fuck up the kitchen,
then you should do the dishes ♪

2028
01:40:57.802 --> 01:40:59.888
♪ Burning down
plantations, uh ♪

2029
01:40:59.971 --> 01:41:02.432
♪ Ain’t no park and
I don’t need no validation ♪

2030
01:41:02.515 --> 01:41:05.226
♪ I light sage
when I’m in a rage, uh ♪

2031
01:41:05.310 --> 01:41:08.313
♪ I don’t need permission,
I got my intuition ♪

2032
01:41:08.396 --> 01:41:10.857
♪ Hands dirty, mind clean ♪

2033
01:41:10.940 --> 01:41:14.110
♪ A different vision
with a new dream, uh ♪

2034
01:41:14.194 --> 01:41:15.987
♪ We kicking out
the old regime ♪

2035
01:41:16.070 --> 01:41:18.490
♪ Liberation, elevation,
education ♪

2036
01:41:18.573 --> 01:41:21.326
♪ I said, America,
you’s a lie ♪

2037
01:41:21.409 --> 01:41:23.787
♪ But the whole world
’bout to testify ♪

2038
01:41:23.870 --> 01:41:26.498
♪ I said the whole world
’bout to testify ♪

2039
01:41:26.581 --> 01:41:29.417
♪ We gon’ watch the table,
now we gon’ watch the table ♪

2040
01:41:29.501 --> 01:41:30.960
-♪ T-Turn ♪
-♪ Turn ♪

2041
01:41:31.044 --> 01:41:33.546
-♪ Turn, turn ♪
-♪ Turn, turn ♪

2042
01:41:33.630 --> 01:41:35.089
♪ That’s right ♪

2043
01:41:35.173 --> 01:41:38.009
-♪ Turn, turn, turn ♪
-♪ Turn, turn, turn ♪

2044
01:41:38.092 --> 01:41:40.178
♪ We waited too long,
you gotta ♪

2045
01:41:40.261 --> 01:41:43.848
-♪ Turn, just turn, turn ♪
-♪ Turn, turn, turn ♪

2046
01:41:43.932 --> 01:41:45.642
♪ We see it all now ♪

2047
01:41:45.725 --> 01:41:48.186
-♪ Turn, turn ♪ -♪ Turn,
said the table got to turn ♪

2048
01:41:48.269 --> 01:41:50.980
-♪ Turn, tables, turn ♪
-(whoops) ♪ Yeah ♪

2049
01:41:51.064 --> 01:41:53.525
♪ Turn, tables, turn ♪

2050
01:41:53.608 --> 01:41:58.988
♪ Turn, tables, turn,
turn, tables, turn ♪

2051
01:41:59.072 --> 01:42:01.616
♪ Turn, tables, turn ♪

2052
01:42:01.699 --> 01:42:07.038
♪ Turn, tables, turn,
turn, tables, turn ♪

2053
01:42:07.121 --> 01:42:09.833
♪ Turn, tables, turn ♪

2054
01:42:09.916 --> 01:42:11.584
♪ Turn. ♪

2055
01:42:11.668 --> 01:42:13.753
(song ends)