WEBVTT - Are You a Target for Voter Suppression? With Nithya Raman + Aaron Thompson 0:00:00.480 --> 0:00:05.680 My name is Alex, and I've actually experienced voter suppression firsthand. No, 0:00:06.080 --> 0:00:12.280 be all right, no, alright, no it will be alright forever. 0:00:15.200 --> 0:00:24.960 No alright, No, well be all right for ever. All right. 0:00:25.040 --> 0:00:28.280 So let's rewind the clock. We're about a few years ago. 0:00:28.320 --> 0:00:30.680 I can't remember. It was a local election for here 0:00:30.720 --> 0:00:33.920 in Los Angeles, and I remember it's a busy day. 0:00:33.920 --> 0:00:37.279 But we were in a post Trump elected era, so 0:00:37.360 --> 0:00:40.639 I knew the value of voting was even more than 0:00:40.680 --> 0:00:44.480 it was before. And so I like carved out the day. 0:00:44.600 --> 0:00:46.879 I knew I wanted to go and vote. Um, but 0:00:46.960 --> 0:00:49.640 as my career does, you know, I had a session 0:00:49.680 --> 0:00:51.320 that came up and I and it was a big session. 0:00:51.360 --> 0:00:53.840 I really wanted to go to it. And you know, 0:00:54.040 --> 0:00:56.360 work is work is work for me, and I gotta 0:00:56.440 --> 0:00:58.240 go and I gotta you know, get the work in. 0:00:58.360 --> 0:01:01.120 And so I remember getting in line, and I remember 0:01:01.120 --> 0:01:02.960 when I pulled up, I was like, bro, this line 0:01:02.960 --> 0:01:05.600 better go fast, like this line better be like in 0:01:05.640 --> 0:01:08.440 and out fast. And at this point, my voter experience 0:01:08.480 --> 0:01:10.680 was still very little, so I had no you know, 0:01:10.720 --> 0:01:12.480 I didn't have a real big idea of like is 0:01:12.520 --> 0:01:14.880 this something that takes a long time, and it did. 0:01:15.280 --> 0:01:17.960 I literally felt like I stood in the same exact spot, 0:01:17.959 --> 0:01:20.400 didn't even move, you know, it would be twenty minute 0:01:20.440 --> 0:01:23.280 periods of time and I and I come to find 0:01:23.360 --> 0:01:26.200 out now that it was because many of the polling 0:01:26.200 --> 0:01:29.520 places had actually been shut down and they had started 0:01:29.640 --> 0:01:32.640 having less polling places for my district. I actually had 0:01:32.680 --> 0:01:35.120 to wait so long that my session was getting ready 0:01:35.120 --> 0:01:37.120 to start and I couldn't wait anymore. So I got 0:01:37.120 --> 0:01:39.520 out of line, got in my car, and went. And 0:01:39.520 --> 0:01:43.040 it's interesting because literally, up until now, I just thought 0:01:43.360 --> 0:01:45.679 it's not a big deal, Like the world didn't explode, 0:01:45.720 --> 0:01:48.840 so it doesn't matter. But the thing about voter depression 0:01:48.840 --> 0:01:53.160 that I've learned is that it happens to millions of people, 0:01:53.640 --> 0:01:56.920 especially people in low income communities, and especially in the 0:01:56.960 --> 0:01:59.880 black community. I found more realization in all of this 0:02:00.200 --> 0:02:02.880 because Catherine, my producer, who's gonna get a lot of 0:02:02.880 --> 0:02:05.760 shout outs in this episode, sent me a link to 0:02:05.840 --> 0:02:08.919 a video on vox dot com and it's it was 0:02:08.960 --> 0:02:13.040 called what Voter Suppression looks Like Online, and it was 0:02:13.200 --> 0:02:18.600 all talking about targeting on social media, especially in the 0:02:18.639 --> 0:02:23.360 tactics of the election, where Russian operatives were posing as 0:02:23.400 --> 0:02:27.840 Americans on social media to discourage Black Americans from voting, 0:02:27.960 --> 0:02:31.760 encouraging them to vote for even um third party candidates, 0:02:32.160 --> 0:02:36.920 to dilute the vote for Hillary Clinton. Everything from you 0:02:36.919 --> 0:02:39.720 know ads on Facebook that said text Hillary to a 0:02:39.720 --> 0:02:43.200 certain number to cast your vote by text, or even 0:02:43.840 --> 0:02:48.239 accounts posing as black political pages that people can turn 0:02:48.280 --> 0:02:51.120 to and look to for guidance, talking about how the 0:02:51.200 --> 0:02:54.000 election is rigged and it doesn't matter, and kind of 0:02:54.240 --> 0:02:57.919 trying to influence people to not vote. So many things 0:02:57.960 --> 0:03:01.079 that I never thought of for voter suppression and and 0:03:01.800 --> 0:03:05.280 it's very shocking and it's scary and it makes you 0:03:05.360 --> 0:03:08.519 hate politics. But at the same time it it reminds 0:03:08.560 --> 0:03:10.960 me the importance to be a voice to stand up 0:03:11.000 --> 0:03:13.400 and talk about the importance of voting, especially in this 0:03:13.480 --> 0:03:17.680 election where it is so imperative that we make the 0:03:17.760 --> 0:03:21.840 right decision as a country this election. I also have 0:03:21.840 --> 0:03:23.760 been thinking a lot about something that we've touched on 0:03:23.880 --> 0:03:25.919 quite a bit for the last episode in the episode 0:03:25.960 --> 0:03:29.400 before that, which is the importance of the ballot even 0:03:29.440 --> 0:03:32.520 past the presidential election. It made me so excited for 0:03:32.560 --> 0:03:36.640 this episode because we're gonna have a candidate for the 0:03:36.800 --> 0:03:39.960 l A City Council District for here as a guest today, 0:03:40.440 --> 0:03:42.400 and it's just gonna be a good episode. This is 0:03:42.440 --> 0:03:45.800 the last episode before the election, so I want to 0:03:45.800 --> 0:03:48.800 do everything I can to for myself to stay educated 0:03:48.800 --> 0:03:51.000 and the most educated I can, and also for you 0:03:51.080 --> 0:03:54.119 as my listener. The reason why these last three episodes 0:03:54.120 --> 0:03:56.640 were so important to me is because I look at 0:03:56.640 --> 0:03:59.680 the news, I look at media, and I swear on 0:04:00.040 --> 0:04:02.640 Renews outlet they're going to be trying to convince you 0:04:02.680 --> 0:04:05.800 why the sky is a different color, and and there's 0:04:05.880 --> 0:04:09.320 so much misinformation that's out there. And I just wanted 0:04:09.360 --> 0:04:11.960 to use my podcast, which for the most part, and 0:04:12.000 --> 0:04:15.160 we're gonna return to, is talking about personal problems and 0:04:15.160 --> 0:04:19.320 fun stuff and happiness and positivity. For a moment, I 0:04:19.360 --> 0:04:22.520 think I needed to use my platform to just give 0:04:22.600 --> 0:04:26.560 facts and and share my thoughts um that are all 0:04:26.600 --> 0:04:31.039 about inclusivity, acceptance and love across the board. So that 0:04:31.080 --> 0:04:33.320 got me thinking, do you need to be worried about 0:04:33.400 --> 0:04:36.240 voter suppression? And how important is it for you to 0:04:36.360 --> 0:04:42.400 vote in your local election? What is up everybody? This 0:04:42.520 --> 0:04:44.599 is let's get into it. I'm alex Ion Oh and 0:04:44.640 --> 0:04:47.559 this is my podcast and we are proving every single 0:04:47.600 --> 0:04:50.000 episode that we are not afraid to talk about anything, 0:04:50.040 --> 0:04:53.480 even things that I don't know that much about, including 0:04:53.720 --> 0:04:57.040 more pieces of politics that as I'm an adult who 0:04:57.160 --> 0:05:00.560 is late to the politics party, U, I'm learning a 0:05:00.560 --> 0:05:03.040 little bit more about. And I have some amazing guests 0:05:03.120 --> 0:05:06.479 today with us. I have Nithia Rahman. She is a 0:05:06.560 --> 0:05:09.320 Harvard and m i T trained urban planner. I had 0:05:09.320 --> 0:05:11.400 to look up what urban planning was. I'm not gonna lie, 0:05:11.480 --> 0:05:15.000 and it's very cool. Uh. She's fought to increase resources 0:05:15.000 --> 0:05:18.000 for slum dwellers in India. She founded a homelessness service 0:05:18.120 --> 0:05:21.760 profit nonprofit in Los Angeles, and she served as an 0:05:21.760 --> 0:05:25.479 executive director of Times Up Entertainment. She's currently a candidate 0:05:25.520 --> 0:05:28.200 for the Los Angeles City Council in District four and 0:05:28.240 --> 0:05:30.840 lives in Silver Lake, California. And Nithia, how are you doing. 0:05:31.160 --> 0:05:36.440 I'm doing I'm I'm doing well. I'm not gonna lie. Um. 0:05:36.480 --> 0:05:40.359 In the preparation for this, for this episode specifically, I 0:05:40.400 --> 0:05:42.000 wanted to do a little bit more research and I 0:05:42.080 --> 0:05:44.200 am just I. I read through your whole bio on 0:05:44.240 --> 0:05:48.000 your website. You are amazing. I'm excited to talk to 0:05:48.040 --> 0:05:51.080 you I'm also excited because we have another amazing guest. 0:05:51.120 --> 0:05:53.920 He is a technology litigator. He has been a voting 0:05:54.000 --> 0:05:57.280 rights activists since college. Since then, he's worked in numerous 0:05:57.400 --> 0:05:59.960 roles as a poll worker, poll monitor, and assistant camp 0:06:00.000 --> 0:06:02.039 paiin director for the d n C and move on 0:06:02.080 --> 0:06:04.839 dot org, as well as working in the Bernie campaign 0:06:04.880 --> 0:06:07.920 as an election protection attorney. And not only does he 0:06:08.040 --> 0:06:13.240 work to protect everything from voter suppression to just kind 0:06:13.279 --> 0:06:15.919 of supporting campaigns in general, but he's also experienced, and 0:06:15.920 --> 0:06:19.560 we're gonna find out through uh this podcast, he's experienced 0:06:19.640 --> 0:06:22.480 voter supression firsthand. His name is Aaron Thompson and he's 0:06:22.520 --> 0:06:24.599 here with us today. Aaron, how are you doing. I'm 0:06:24.600 --> 0:06:28.920 doing great. I'm happy to be here. Great day. I'm 0:06:28.920 --> 0:06:31.400 so happy you're here. Nobody can see our zoom call 0:06:31.480 --> 0:06:33.400 right now. You've got an exercise bike in the back 0:06:33.440 --> 0:06:36.279 behind you. I too have an exercise bike that I 0:06:36.360 --> 0:06:38.240 keep in my room. It's the only way that I 0:06:38.320 --> 0:06:40.640 haven't turned into job of the Hut during the pandemic. 0:06:40.760 --> 0:06:45.440 So it's very, very exciting. We got a great episode today. 0:06:45.480 --> 0:06:48.560 This is the third and final episode before the election, 0:06:48.800 --> 0:06:50.800 and it's going to be talking about things that aren't 0:06:50.800 --> 0:06:53.159 you know. The last two episodes we talked about who 0:06:53.200 --> 0:06:57.000 to vote for or kind of mainly directing towards voting 0:06:57.000 --> 0:07:00.480 in general, and it's more specifically voting for um, your 0:07:00.520 --> 0:07:02.640 presidential candidate that you would like to to be the 0:07:02.640 --> 0:07:04.920 president of United States. This episode is gonna be way 0:07:04.960 --> 0:07:07.880 cool because we're gonna be talking about voter suppression and 0:07:07.880 --> 0:07:10.040 why we should be thinking about it. That's what Aaron 0:07:10.040 --> 0:07:11.440 and I are going to talk about, the nipia. You 0:07:11.480 --> 0:07:13.400 and I are gonna be talking about local elections and 0:07:13.440 --> 0:07:16.360 taking down the giant um. And then lastly all three 0:07:16.400 --> 0:07:18.480 of us will be talking together about what else we 0:07:18.520 --> 0:07:21.360 should know before November three. This is the last episode 0:07:21.400 --> 0:07:24.080 of Let's get into It before the election. There's gonna 0:07:24.120 --> 0:07:26.800 be two weeks, I guess of no episodes, and I 0:07:26.840 --> 0:07:28.960 want you to just go back and really listen to 0:07:29.040 --> 0:07:32.200 these last three episodes during that time. UM. But before 0:07:32.200 --> 0:07:34.240 we get into this, this is now the third episode 0:07:34.240 --> 0:07:36.600 of Politics. Usually I asked my guests what you're doing 0:07:36.640 --> 0:07:40.360 to improve yourself this week? But with the politics leaning episodes, 0:07:40.400 --> 0:07:42.640 I wanted to ask a different question that was leaning 0:07:42.640 --> 0:07:45.360 more towards this election and it was why do you vote? 0:07:46.040 --> 0:07:48.800 Like I said in my story earlier, I watched this 0:07:48.920 --> 0:07:51.560 video that um Catherine, my producer, sent me, that said 0:07:51.800 --> 0:07:55.280 what voter suppression looks like online, And I didn't even 0:07:55.360 --> 0:08:01.200 realize that. For years I have been seeing acts of 0:08:01.200 --> 0:08:04.960 of attempted voter suppression, and luckily for me, it never 0:08:05.040 --> 0:08:09.880 processed as that, but everything from tweets to two you know, 0:08:09.960 --> 0:08:13.360 paid posts and promotions. And so I want to vote, 0:08:13.480 --> 0:08:17.760 especially this year, especially this election, I'm standing up against 0:08:17.880 --> 0:08:22.440 voter suppression and really nailing it into the idea that 0:08:22.480 --> 0:08:24.800 the power is in the people and we have to vote. 0:08:24.920 --> 0:08:26.920 It is not only our our right, but it's actually 0:08:26.960 --> 0:08:30.440 our duty as people to keep the power in our hands. 0:08:30.440 --> 0:08:32.360 So that's why I'm voting. Eron, do you have an 0:08:32.360 --> 0:08:35.600 answer for why you are voting this election? Uh? And well, 0:08:35.760 --> 0:08:39.600 this election and almost every election, it's like it's just 0:08:40.000 --> 0:08:41.760 one of the best ways to make sure that our 0:08:41.840 --> 0:08:45.559 elected officials are really listening to us. When they're up 0:08:45.559 --> 0:08:48.480 for election, it's one they're the most engaged and when 0:08:48.520 --> 0:08:51.439 they're the most in tune with what the people that 0:08:51.440 --> 0:08:55.680 they're supposed to represent want, and by by voting, you 0:08:55.720 --> 0:08:58.640 show that you pay attention, you show that you know 0:08:58.679 --> 0:09:01.319 what's going on, and you show that they need to 0:09:01.360 --> 0:09:06.600 respond to what you want. And so it's just critical 0:09:06.600 --> 0:09:08.280 on that piece. It's not the only thing you should 0:09:08.320 --> 0:09:11.000 be doing, but it's it's absolutely one piece of a 0:09:11.040 --> 0:09:15.160 whole puzzle and making sure our society works for us. 0:09:15.679 --> 0:09:18.000 I love that. I love that, Niffya. Your answer is 0:09:18.000 --> 0:09:20.160 actually gonna be interesting because not only are you even 0:09:20.200 --> 0:09:22.440 are you allowed to vote if you're if you're running 0:09:22.600 --> 0:09:26.319 for an office? Oh yeah, you definitely are. That's so cool. 0:09:26.440 --> 0:09:28.280 Can I actually ask you a two part questions though, 0:09:28.360 --> 0:09:29.839 and you can give me a short answer because we're 0:09:29.840 --> 0:09:32.320 gonna really get in, Like, I have so many questions 0:09:32.320 --> 0:09:34.400 that I just want to ask you because I've never 0:09:34.480 --> 0:09:37.600 had like a candidate for any form of office on 0:09:37.640 --> 0:09:40.080 my show before. But I would love to hear why 0:09:40.160 --> 0:09:42.000 you vote, and then I would also love to hear 0:09:42.120 --> 0:09:46.240 why you're running for a local office. Well, I vote 0:09:46.280 --> 0:09:49.719 because I am an immigrant to America. I moved here 0:09:49.760 --> 0:09:52.720 when I was six years old. I am a naturalized citizen. 0:09:52.720 --> 0:09:56.920 I got my citizenship in America when I was twenty two, 0:09:57.000 --> 0:09:59.360 I believe one or twenty two, So it took me 0:09:59.400 --> 0:10:01.080 a while to get my green card and then to 0:10:01.080 --> 0:10:03.840 get my passport and to be, you know, really be 0:10:03.920 --> 0:10:07.560 an American. And so for me, voting is a really 0:10:07.559 --> 0:10:11.760 important way of taking that responsibility seriously of being an 0:10:11.800 --> 0:10:15.880 American and of trying to have an input into what 0:10:16.040 --> 0:10:19.120 my life here looks like. And I take that responsibility 0:10:19.160 --> 0:10:21.679 really seriously. I love that. I love that. Okay, now 0:10:21.720 --> 0:10:24.320 I want to hear and and we might not even 0:10:24.320 --> 0:10:25.960 put this in. I just want to know, like, what's 0:10:25.960 --> 0:10:28.280 your one hitter quitter, Like what is your what is 0:10:28.320 --> 0:10:31.760 your your single sentence that makes people just go wow? 0:10:33.000 --> 0:10:36.280 That's all order for why you're running for for local 0:10:36.440 --> 0:10:38.839 to be a local official? Well, can I be honest 0:10:38.880 --> 0:10:42.200 with you, Yeah, of course I'm running because I'm really angry. 0:10:42.480 --> 0:10:45.560 We have a really powerful city council and they don't 0:10:45.600 --> 0:10:48.040 do enough to make our city better for everyone who 0:10:48.040 --> 0:10:50.560 lives in it, especially the most vulnerable. And I know 0:10:50.760 --> 0:10:53.199 I will try my hardest to do that. So that's 0:10:53.200 --> 0:10:54.520 why I don't know if I want to do a 0:10:54.559 --> 0:10:59.120 slow clap or do like ao. But that was that 0:10:59.240 --> 0:11:03.880 was There's nothing more that like I think embodies especially me, 0:11:04.120 --> 0:11:06.320 and I think a lot of US citizens right now. 0:11:06.360 --> 0:11:09.920 It's like we're just mad, like nothing's working and we're 0:11:10.000 --> 0:11:12.320 like we're old people on a brand new MacBook and 0:11:12.360 --> 0:11:15.280 we're just like it doesn't turn on. If not, it 0:11:15.320 --> 0:11:18.839 won't take a charge. Um, but I can't wait to 0:11:18.880 --> 0:11:22.079 hear more because I'm really so excited and and this 0:11:22.160 --> 0:11:24.240 is kind of for the last three episodes in general, 0:11:24.640 --> 0:11:27.640 being somebody got into politics late. It's amazing that we 0:11:27.640 --> 0:11:29.440 were able. And I give a big shout out to 0:11:29.520 --> 0:11:33.240 Catherine and my Heart team for gathering amazing guests. Like 0:11:33.280 --> 0:11:36.480 I feel like I'm Anderson Cooper. I don't even know, 0:11:36.520 --> 0:11:38.840 like I'm like I really feel I feel like I'm 0:11:38.880 --> 0:11:41.520 I'm heavy hit her out because I got some amazing guests. 0:11:41.559 --> 0:11:43.840 So thank you guys for coming on. Let's let's get 0:11:43.840 --> 0:11:45.839 into it. Let's go straight into it, and Iffia will 0:11:45.880 --> 0:11:47.920 be with you in just a second. But Aaron, you 0:11:47.960 --> 0:11:51.520 and I are going one on one right now. Let's go. Um, 0:11:51.640 --> 0:11:54.320 we're talking voter suppression, and we typically think of like 0:11:54.520 --> 0:11:57.640 I don't know, like I guess in my mind, I 0:11:57.840 --> 0:12:00.679 only thought of voter suppression up until really until I 0:12:00.720 --> 0:12:02.920 saw this video that that Katherine sent me. I only 0:12:02.960 --> 0:12:05.400 thought of voter suppression is like a big kind of 0:12:05.440 --> 0:12:07.920 like bouncer, as if it's like a bouncer at the club, 0:12:08.000 --> 0:12:10.959 standing outside like a polling place and being like, nah, 0:12:11.000 --> 0:12:13.480 you can't come, and that I thought that that was it, 0:12:13.520 --> 0:12:15.080 Like I thought that that's what voter supresstion is. Ever, 0:12:15.120 --> 0:12:17.520 we're going to find out, especially through this episode as 0:12:17.520 --> 0:12:20.760 we're unraveling at all, voter suppression comes in so so 0:12:20.800 --> 0:12:23.640 many ways. Um we usually think of voter suppression only 0:12:23.679 --> 0:12:28.160 happening in underprivileged communities, black communities, and so I think 0:12:28.160 --> 0:12:29.760 a lot of people can naturally be like, well, it's 0:12:29.760 --> 0:12:33.000 not happening to me, so like I'm I'm good, I 0:12:33.000 --> 0:12:35.480 should I don't have to worry about it. But why 0:12:35.520 --> 0:12:37.880 does the average American need to be concerned about it? 0:12:37.880 --> 0:12:39.920 No matter where they are, no matter you know, what 0:12:40.040 --> 0:12:43.559 race they are, what what community they live in. Um So, 0:12:44.440 --> 0:12:47.000 I mean, I think your first sort of instinct is 0:12:47.520 --> 0:12:50.439 right that there's like the sort of notion of this 0:12:50.559 --> 0:12:53.079 bouncer is for preventing people from voting, and that's what 0:12:53.400 --> 0:12:58.560 voter suppression and actuality in this election. There might be 0:12:58.600 --> 0:13:00.320 a little bit of risk in that, but as of 0:13:00.360 --> 0:13:03.000 what Trump is doing with calling out the proud boys 0:13:03.040 --> 0:13:07.200 and asking them to attend the polls and even uh, 0:13:07.320 --> 0:13:10.240 just a few weeks ago, early voting started in Virginia 0:13:10.360 --> 0:13:14.440 and there were some people, some Trump supporters with flags 0:13:14.440 --> 0:13:18.319 standing out inside the polling place, really preventing people from 0:13:18.360 --> 0:13:21.720 sort of getting in or feeling intimidated. But you're right 0:13:21.840 --> 0:13:25.680 that it's also a concern for areas just where the 0:13:25.760 --> 0:13:29.720 stereotypical view of voter suppression isn't what you really believe 0:13:29.800 --> 0:13:35.920 what would happen. It's often times sort of willful neglect 0:13:36.120 --> 0:13:39.520 or unintentional neglect. But sometimes this intentional neglect which where 0:13:39.520 --> 0:13:42.640 you sort of get like suppression, which happens indirectly. It's 0:13:42.640 --> 0:13:46.440 like closing polling places. And what happens is you try 0:13:46.440 --> 0:13:48.520 to go vote and the line is three hours long. 0:13:48.640 --> 0:13:51.400 And if you're a working person, uh, and you have 0:13:51.440 --> 0:13:53.120 to work that day, you can't stand in a three 0:13:53.120 --> 0:13:55.200 hour long line. So maybe you go to vote before 0:13:55.240 --> 0:13:56.800 you go to work. You stand in this line, you 0:13:56.840 --> 0:13:58.480 can't get in in time, you have to go to work, 0:13:58.520 --> 0:14:00.400 and you try to come back later and this another 0:14:00.440 --> 0:14:02.080 three hour long line, and you have kids at home 0:14:02.280 --> 0:14:05.200 to take care of, and so that also happens. And 0:14:05.240 --> 0:14:07.640 it's not just in poor communities, it's not just in 0:14:07.720 --> 0:14:10.720 marginalized communities. It happened here in l A, which is 0:14:10.760 --> 0:14:14.200 not like a battle ground state and most instances for 0:14:14.360 --> 0:14:17.440 these types of issues, but it happened through sort of 0:14:17.440 --> 0:14:21.120 like wilful neglect. I don't know if you know this. 0:14:21.240 --> 0:14:24.320 During the March two thousand election, we had a ton 0:14:24.400 --> 0:14:28.880 of super long lines, three hour lines at polling places 0:14:28.880 --> 0:14:32.880 in a place which we're a big, big county with 0:14:33.320 --> 0:14:35.200 with resources that we should be able to put towards this, 0:14:35.320 --> 0:14:39.360 and it happened places like u C. L A and 0:14:39.840 --> 0:14:43.200 Santa Monica College, and that just prevents people from voting. 0:14:43.680 --> 0:14:45.120 I mean, we don't even have to go back to 0:14:45.160 --> 0:14:47.640 two thousand. I want to address something that I that 0:14:47.760 --> 0:14:50.160 I came to my knowledge today, which is what's going 0:14:50.200 --> 0:14:53.160 on in Texas right now. Um the governor of Texas 0:14:53.160 --> 0:14:57.000 that narrowed drop vote drop off locations to one per county, 0:14:57.120 --> 0:15:00.360 which he says it's for added security or out it 0:15:00.400 --> 0:15:03.280 really does feel like voter suppression. UM. There's a lot 0:15:03.320 --> 0:15:06.800 of counties that have such a large population. Harris County, 0:15:06.840 --> 0:15:10.400 for example, has five million people in it, so for 0:15:10.480 --> 0:15:13.120 having only one drop off location, it's going to be 0:15:13.160 --> 0:15:16.680 exactly what you said. It's it's it's literally that's the 0:15:16.680 --> 0:15:18.960 size of Rhode Island, and and some people are going 0:15:19.000 --> 0:15:21.640 to have to drive hours just to drop off their vote. 0:15:21.640 --> 0:15:25.280 Like you said, some people will still have real lives. Unfortunately, 0:15:25.600 --> 0:15:28.480 election day is not government holiday, so you can't get 0:15:28.480 --> 0:15:30.200 what you don't get work off. It's it's not a 0:15:30.240 --> 0:15:33.080 day where everybody can dedicate their time solely to voting, 0:15:33.120 --> 0:15:36.560 and so for situations like this, it can definitely be hard. 0:15:36.560 --> 0:15:38.040 What do you what do you think is going on here? 0:15:38.080 --> 0:15:41.040 You think it's just some some good old fashioned suppression. Yeah, 0:15:41.400 --> 0:15:43.960 in in the case like that, usually what you're saying 0:15:44.120 --> 0:15:48.600 is like literal intentional suppression. They know their base. They 0:15:48.640 --> 0:15:52.800 know that their base are older Americans who are retired 0:15:52.840 --> 0:15:55.200 and have lots of time on their hands. They know 0:15:55.320 --> 0:15:57.440 that the people are going to vote for the other 0:15:57.520 --> 0:16:01.280 party are usually younger. They're working class, they have jobs, 0:16:01.280 --> 0:16:04.280 they have kids, they can't take off the time necessary 0:16:04.320 --> 0:16:07.320 to get to the polls. And by making it harder 0:16:07.320 --> 0:16:09.480 to go vote it there's nothing that you can might 0:16:09.520 --> 0:16:11.760 point to on paper, although sometimes there is, but there's 0:16:11.760 --> 0:16:14.000 not you can point on paper saying, oh, look, the 0:16:14.040 --> 0:16:18.120 Republican Party is trying to suppress her vote, but they 0:16:18.160 --> 0:16:22.200 know the impact of making it harder to vote, and 0:16:22.240 --> 0:16:24.760 in those cases it's very likely to be it's sort 0:16:24.760 --> 0:16:28.280 of intentional. Unfortunately. I want to I want to switch 0:16:28.360 --> 0:16:30.440 lanes really quickly, and I actually want to talk. I 0:16:30.440 --> 0:16:33.800 had mentioned before that you have experienced multiple instances of 0:16:33.880 --> 0:16:36.400 voter suppression. I would just love for you to take 0:16:36.440 --> 0:16:39.640 some time and tell us your story with it. All. Um, So, 0:16:39.760 --> 0:16:43.280 I first sort of got into this back when I 0:16:43.280 --> 0:16:45.960 was in college. I ran uh East here buying a 0:16:46.000 --> 0:16:48.840 voter registration campaign. It was a non partisan campaign. We're 0:16:48.880 --> 0:16:51.000 just trying to get students to vote. We want to 0:16:51.000 --> 0:16:53.040 register them. We wanted to get them out to the polls. 0:16:53.680 --> 0:16:58.600 And what Suite did was like nine months before the election, 0:16:58.760 --> 0:17:02.920 we sat down with register voters and we were like 0:17:02.960 --> 0:17:05.240 sitting down with him and we were like, Hey, we're 0:17:05.280 --> 0:17:07.640 running this really cool voter registration campaign. We just want 0:17:07.640 --> 0:17:10.480 to get new voters to the polls. We want to 0:17:10.480 --> 0:17:13.159 get them involved. We think that this is gonna be 0:17:13.200 --> 0:17:16.920 a super high interest campaign that Iraq wars happening. We're 0:17:16.960 --> 0:17:20.639 registering people they're coming in droves. We don't think you're 0:17:20.680 --> 0:17:24.160 going to have enough polling locations on campus or enough 0:17:24.240 --> 0:17:28.880 machines to deal with the demand. And he wasn't interested 0:17:28.920 --> 0:17:32.560 in hearing about that at all. His primary goal when 0:17:32.560 --> 0:17:34.439 he met with us was like, oh, we get a 0:17:34.440 --> 0:17:37.000 lot of students who moved into the dorms, they move out. 0:17:37.040 --> 0:17:39.400 We got to get them off the rolls. That's all 0:17:39.400 --> 0:17:42.280 he cared about. And lo and behold, when the polls closed, 0:17:42.280 --> 0:17:44.359 they were students still in line and they were waiting 0:17:44.480 --> 0:17:48.240 like three hours to vote, and we're begging them to stay. 0:17:48.320 --> 0:17:50.800 We were ordering pizza and some drama friends who are 0:17:50.840 --> 0:17:54.679 like cap dancing for them, trying like just anything we 0:17:54.680 --> 0:17:56.560 could to keep them in line. But you know, there 0:17:56.560 --> 0:17:58.040 were some students who had to leave. They're like a 0:17:58.040 --> 0:18:00.800 finals or at the at the study. It can't stay 0:18:00.800 --> 0:18:03.280 in line. And that has a suppressive effect both in 0:18:03.320 --> 0:18:05.560 that election and just sort of prevents them from wanting 0:18:05.600 --> 0:18:07.480 to go vote in the future. And it's amazing. This 0:18:07.520 --> 0:18:10.160 happened again here in l A County in March two 0:18:10.200 --> 0:18:14.040 thousand twenty when u C. L A and San Marco 0:18:14.040 --> 0:18:18.440 College they're pulling locations were overwhelmed, and you had students 0:18:18.520 --> 0:18:23.160 standing in line for hours and hours just trying to vote, 0:18:23.400 --> 0:18:26.119 and it was entirely predictable. Like we knew that was 0:18:26.160 --> 0:18:27.879 gonna be a problem. We had a switch in the 0:18:27.960 --> 0:18:30.960 voting system here for that election. We went from five 0:18:31.000 --> 0:18:36.000 thousand polling places to nine votes centers. And with that 0:18:36.080 --> 0:18:38.119 sort of change is just inevitable that people are going 0:18:38.160 --> 0:18:40.080 to be confused, they won't know where to vote, they'll 0:18:40.080 --> 0:18:43.399 go to the closest location, and you'll have huge, huge lines. 0:18:43.840 --> 0:18:47.600 All right, right, So can you talk about some more 0:18:47.680 --> 0:18:51.240 ways that we might not immediately think of a voter suppression? 0:18:51.240 --> 0:18:53.280 I have a list here for anything that you don't, 0:18:53.320 --> 0:18:56.760 but I would like there are a few different ways 0:18:56.800 --> 0:18:58.560 that I think of it. You sort of mentioned one, 0:18:59.160 --> 0:19:01.080 but it sort of all comes down to, like you 0:19:01.119 --> 0:19:05.040 have two politicians, and one politician knows that their base 0:19:05.160 --> 0:19:08.560 is super solid and will like crawl across glass to 0:19:08.600 --> 0:19:11.080 get to the polls, and then you have another politician 0:19:11.119 --> 0:19:14.000 whose base is a little wishy washy. There may be 0:19:14.040 --> 0:19:17.399 more people that want the second politician. But if you 0:19:17.400 --> 0:19:21.480 can start generally suppress the vote, and and this usually 0:19:21.480 --> 0:19:24.480 happens by just making it a dirty fight. You talk 0:19:24.520 --> 0:19:26.840 about things which people don't want to talk about. You 0:19:27.240 --> 0:19:30.040 make it ugly. People don't want to participate in the 0:19:30.080 --> 0:19:34.080 ugly process, and that sort of overall sort of gets 0:19:34.080 --> 0:19:36.720 people not wanting to vote. But the person with with 0:19:36.760 --> 0:19:39.680 this base that's going to vote no matter what they 0:19:39.960 --> 0:19:43.280 win in that sort of battle. Um, So it's sort 0:19:43.280 --> 0:19:45.840 of like an ugly marketing sort of approach. You just 0:19:45.880 --> 0:19:47.760 make it an ugly market and nobody wants to do 0:19:47.760 --> 0:19:49.320 it except for the the people you know are going to 0:19:49.320 --> 0:19:53.040 show up no matter what. We see that with Trump obviously. 0:19:53.480 --> 0:19:55.320 The other thing is what you mentioned is sort of 0:19:55.359 --> 0:19:58.399 reducing the trusts in the sort of election system, just 0:19:58.720 --> 0:20:00.520 making it seem like the elections them isn't going to 0:20:00.560 --> 0:20:02.240 be valid. The results are kind of be valid. So 0:20:02.480 --> 0:20:04.640 people are more likely to skip voting because they don't 0:20:04.680 --> 0:20:08.240 think that what they're doing counts. And we're also saying 0:20:08.280 --> 0:20:10.440 that just like you said. And then there's just sort 0:20:10.480 --> 0:20:15.000 of like straight misinformation. You've set up a robot call system. 0:20:15.080 --> 0:20:18.080 You call people, tell them if you vote, Uh, you're 0:20:18.119 --> 0:20:20.960 gonna get arrested for outstanding warrants. Um, if you vote, 0:20:20.960 --> 0:20:23.600 you're going to pay your debts. If you vote, we're 0:20:23.640 --> 0:20:25.640 going to investigate your family, and if any of them 0:20:25.640 --> 0:20:29.200 are illegal immigrants, we're gonna arrest them and support them, 0:20:29.440 --> 0:20:32.239 and that that also has a suppressive effect. Those are 0:20:32.320 --> 0:20:33.600