Fight the MAGA Assault on Voting Rights
And find other ways to stand up for democracy in our Contrarian Calls to Action.
Democracy is not a spectator sport. Whether you want to exercise your right to vote, join a protest, call your elected officials, run for office, or keep tabs on the week’s hottest issues and protests, The Contrarian has you covered.
Here are our top suggestions for getting involved in the days ahead. These are heated times; we encourage non-violent and lawful activism.
Stand Up for Voting Rights
The reactionary justices of the Supreme Court dealt a grave blow to the Voting Rights Act, allowing states to diminish the electoral power of Black and Brown communities through racial gerrymandering. Florida has already pushed through an egregious redistricting map that does exactly that, (With Contrarian reader support, a lawsuit has been filed to throw out that map.) Louisiana also suspended its May primary — after tens of thousands of votes were already cast — and is aiming to redraw its electoral map. Tennessee has just passed a plan to carve up and eliminate its lone majority-black house district.
But we can fight back. Here is how:
Read our publisher Norm Eisen’s 15 Ways to Fight Callais.
Join a voter mobilization effort near you. Ensure that you and your community members are registered to vote and have a voting plan.
Focus on state-level voting rights legislation. With federal guarantees eroded by the Supreme Court, state laws can restore and (even strengthen) voting protections.
Support pro-democracy candidates in the South.
Tell Congress to ban partisan and racial gerrymanding and pass the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act.
Fight for one of the most important upcoming elections — the May 19 Georgia Supreme Court election.
In Louisiana, join a morning protest on Friday, May 8, at the state capitol to demand “fair maps, fair representation, [and] a fair democracy.”
In Alabama, join Pack The People’s House on Friday morning at the Statehouse steps for a community debrief and a look ahead.
Protect The Abortion Pill
The Supreme Court has paused a Fifth Circuit court ruling, that would prohibit the distribution of the abortion drug mifepristone by mail. Louisiana, which brought the suit, is part of a widespread campaign to restrict access to abortion care in America. Continue to make noise over reproductive rights and support organizations providing reproductive care.
Though the Fifth Circuit’s ruling affected only mifepristone, the case is seen to be one of many steps to getting abortion outlawed everywhere. Many resources remain available to women, including I Need An A, PlanCPills, YouAlwaysHaveOptions, and Aya Contigo.
Prepare for “Seven Days In June”
Leading unions and heath care groups are attempting to elevate a national conversation about the nation’s healthcare crisis, and the need for consistent non-partisan investment in public health with a campaign they’re calling Seven Days in June. Read the group’s call to action and plan to participate in a candlelight vigil on June 5.
Meantime, sign a Stop Taking Our Health Care petition from Social Security Works to speak out against rising healthcare costs and demand that Congress not cut healthcare programs.
No Blank Check for War
Donald Trump’s war on Iran “ended” only to begin again within the week. Lawmakers still hold the power to block funding for Trump’s devastating war, which already has cost at least $25 billion, while disrupting global commerce. You can also let your lawmakers know how you feel about Trump’s call for a 40 percent increase in Pentagon spending. Indivisible has a form to send messages to your members of Congress.
Check Your Voter Registration
Nebraska and West Virginia, you’re up next with primary elections on Tuesday, May 12. This is a busy primary season, nationwide. Check your voter registration status and deadline here.
Take a Swing at Protecting East Potomac Park
East Potomac Park is beloved by D.C.-area residents and visitors alike. Home to a public golf course and hundreds of the region’s oldest cherry trees, the park has been threatened with closure by the president — who does not have that authority — so he can create a flashier course. Call your elected representatives, write the National Park Service, and let the president know he can’t take what’s not his.
Click here to find The Contrarian’s standing resources for empowering yourself in American civic life — from contacting your elected officials, to ensuring your right to vote, to supporting public-interest journalism.
The most dangerous attacks on voting rights are rarely the dramatic ones people imagine.
They’re procedural.
Administrative.
Technical.
Quiet enough that the average person doesn’t notice until the outcome already changed.
You don’t always have to stop people from voting outright. Sometimes you just make voting harder, slower, more confusing, more geographically inconvenient, or legally uncertain for the “wrong” populations and call the result election integrity.
That’s what makes modern democratic erosion so difficult to fight: it often arrives disguised as process.
The most unsettling part about modern American democracy is that almost everyone is arguing about the final stage of the process. We are ignoring the machinery that shapes the outcome long before Election Day even arrives. This didn't start recently.
Ballot access... Donor networks... Media amplification... Primary systems... District maps... Institutional gatekeeping... Algorithmic visibility.
By the time most citizens “choose,” the ecosystem has already spent years narrowing what counts as a viable choice in the first place.
That’s why this piece hit me so hard:
"The House Always Wins: You Do Not Vote; You Participate in a Ritual of Optics" (https://uncomfortable.rxansmithmedia.com/p/the-house-always-wins-you-do-not?utm_medium=android&r=5xf1q5&utm_source=chatgpt.com)