Podcast: Who gets to vote?

In a democracy, you’d think it’s everyone. But the history of the U.S. shows something different. Communities of color continue to face barriers to the ballot — and a 2013 Supreme Court decision has only made it worse. This is playing out now in states like Georgia and Kansas.

So how can policy choices actually encourage voter access? Turns out, there are plenty of ways. From automatic voter registration to same-day voting, the laboratories of democracy are experimenting with and implementing solutions. And international democracies like Australia and Germany use different tactics to get majorities of people to the polls.

As a masters student at the Goldman School of Public Policy at UC Berkeley, I reported and helped produce this piece. Interviewees include former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm; Kristen Clarke, president & executive director of the National Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law; and Nikki Fisher, executive director of the Oregon Voter Information Project.