The machinery of voter suppression

Mass voter purges and voter challenges are often falsely described as “election security” or “maintenance” — familiar language with problematic intent.

In reality, these actions against electors are about control. These efforts are meant to target voters that certain politicians don’t like, forcing citizens to repeatedly prove their right to vote and making participation in democracy a calculated risk. Add restrictive ID rules, especially for young voters and people of color, and the pattern is clear: discourage participation and shave the margins before Election Day ever arrives.

Here in Georgia, we have seen this play out before with purges that kicked thousands of lawful voters from the rolls, the closure of polling places in rural communities that make it harder to cast a ballot, and stricter rules on absentee voting that affect the elderly, the disabled and student voting. That context matters when we look at what just happened in Georgia.

On Jan. 28, the FBI raided the Fulton County elections office, seizing hundreds of boxes of election materials from the 2020 cycle. Later, Trump started calls to “nationalize” elections, which would defy Article I of the Constitution by shifting control of elections from states and localities to the federal government. The timing of his demands should alarm anyone who cares about democracy. These actions come as the Republican administration faces growing backlash — from aggressive immigration raids to economic instability.

For months, officials aligned with this administration have pressured states to hand over voter data. States as varied as New Hampshire and California, among 18 others, have refused. Georgia did, too, because election law clearly limits who can access these records and how they’re protected. Those safeguards exist to prevent intimidation, manipulation and abuse.

Fulton County matters because of who lives there. Nearly 1 million people — predominantly Black, Latino, Asian and immigrant — call it home. Georgians know Fulton County is also the backbone of Democratic participation in Georgia. If someone wanted to challenge voters at scale or quietly disqualify people before an election, this is exactly the kind of data they would want. And this seizure was the best way to get it.

Now place this alongside an increasingly aggressive immigration enforcement regime, including the proposed ICE warehouse in Social Circle. In mixed-status families, voter registration by naturalized citizens can unintentionally put loved ones at risk. Expanded enforcement discretion — often based on language, accent or appearance — turns ordinary civic participation into something that feels dangerous.

In the South, that discretion maps directly onto race. In Georgia, the state with one of the nation’s largest immigrant and refugee populations, we become a crucible for how to steal elections and futures.

This is how a democracy is hollowed out.

In the “10 Steps to Autocracy and Authoritarianism” framework, people may still be allowed to vote, but the outcome is shaped in advance — by deciding who stays registered, whose eligibility is challenged and whose vote is quietly discarded. That’s the difference between the right to vote and the ability to vote.

Our response must be simple and urgent. Check your voter registration regularly. Help others do the same. Treat talk of “voter maintenance” not as routine paperwork but as a warning sign that demands immediate collective action. Volunteer as a poll worker and start conversations about the importance of elections today.

In Georgia, we have been shown again and again that voter suppression starts here. For once, let’s get ahead of the assault and prove that Georgia is also where it ends.

Stacey Abrams is a bestselling author, entrepreneur and host of the podcast “Assembly Required.” She previously served as minority leader in the Georgia House of Representatives.