Laura Wright

The Project

Voter suppression efforts via administrative changes to voting are becoming more prevalent, particularly in communities of color throughout the south. Such barriers include the purging of voter rolls, the changing and closing of polling locations, and a series of harsh burdens on (including criminalization of) voter registration assistance. This project will provide affected communities with the resources they need to advocate for themselves.

Laura Wright is building a multi-state network of grassroots community organizations and voting rights advocates dedicated to sharing strategies, resources, and support in the contemporary struggle to protect voting rights.

Fellowship Highlights

In the first year, Laura has:

• Organized a conference with over 60 people in attendance;
• Submitted an amicus brief to the Fourth Circuit on behalf of a client;
• Developed a database;
• Fielded calls on a non-partisan voter support hotline during the spring primary election; and
• Dispersed over $90,000 in grant support to 19 different grassroots organizations across the south to support voting rights advocacy.

What’s Next

In the next year, Laura plans to:

• Develop a legislative monitoring scheme to track redistricting changes in 2021;
• Conduct Census advocacy trainings;
• Help grassroots organizations develop and distribute outreach and educational materials; and
• Produce toolkits on early voting/voting hours advocacy, restoring rights after felony convictions, monitoring actions taken by local boards of elections, and the use of traditional and social media to publicize election problems.

Media