Introduction

PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award Finalist, Longlisted for the National Book Award
Best Books of the Year--Washington Post, Boston Globe, NPR, Bustle, NYPL

From the award-winning, NYT bestselling author of White Rage, the startling--and timely--history of voter suppression in America, with a foreword by Senator Dick Durbin, now with a new afterword by the author.

In her New York Times bestseller White Rage, Carol Anderson laid bare an insidious history of policies that have systematically impeded black progress in America, from 1865 to our combustible present. With One Person, No Vote, she chronicles a related history: the rollbacks to African American participation in the vote since the 2013 Supreme Court decision that eviscerated the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Known as the Shelby ruling, this decision effectively allowed districts with a demonstrated history of racial discrimination to change voting requirements without approval from the Department of Justice.

Focusing on the aftermath of Shelby, Anderson follows the astonishing story of government-dictated racial discrimination unfolding before our very eyes as more and more states adopt voter suppression laws. In gripping, enlightening detail she explains how voter suppression works, from photo ID requirements to gerrymandering to poll closures. In a powerful new afterword, she examines the repercussions of the 2018 midterm elections. And with vivid characters, she explores the resistance: the organizing, activism, and court battles to restore the basic right to vote to all Americans.

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Excerpt

Chapter One
A History of Disfranchisement

It was a mystery worthy of Raymond Chandler. On November 8, 2016, African Americans did not show up. It was like a day of absence. African Americans had virtually boycotted the election because they “simply saw no affirmative reason to vote for Hillary,” as one reporter explained, before adding, with a hint of an old refrain, that “some saw her as corrupt.” Another journalist concluded that because Clinton lacked the ability, charisma, or magic to keep Barack Obama’s coalition together, “African-American, Latino and younger voters failed to show up at the polls.” As proof of blacks’ coolness toward her, journalists pointed to the much greater turnout for Obama in 2008 and 2012. ... view entire excerpt...

Discussion Questions

1. Which efforts described in the book to suppress Americans' voting access alarmed you the most? Were you surprised to learn that the efforts to suppress the vote come primarily from one political party? Why or why not?
2. Prior to reading this book, did you believe voter fraud to be a serious problem in American elections? Discuss how your initial conceptions may have been formed and how your understanding of this issue may have changed after reading One Person, No Vote.
3. How is requiring ID an impediment to voting? How did your understanding of this issue shift after reading the book?
4. How aware were you of voter roll purges before reading this book? Discuss why knowledge of this problem may not be particularly widespread.
5. Have you ever faced impediments to voting? Have you witnessed others in your community who've faced obstacles to voting? Discuss why this may be the case either way.
6. Have voting districts been redrawn where you live? Discuss what you believe to be the rationale behind how your local districts are mapped out. Discuss what you think might be a fairer or more representative way to draw the districts near you.
7. Given the many obstacles Anderson presents in the book, what gives you hope that the American electorate and our government will be able to change course to lift voter restrictions and ease disenfranchisement?
8. Consult the "Resources" section at the back of the paperback edition of One Person, No Vote. Discuss which organizations you think have the potential to make the most impact. Discuss which organizations you might like to support.

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