At the Polls: Why do we take voting rights away in America?

ATLANTA — Voting rights organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Georgia, Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), and Legal Defense Fund (LDF), filed an emergency lawsuit on behalf of nearly 2,000 Gwinnett County voters who are on the brink of being denied their ability to vote by absentee ballot in the Nov. 3 midterm elections. The suit, which was filed against the Gwinnett County Board of Registrations and Elections, alleges that Nathan Doyle Huntington and 1,819 other lawfully registered Gwinnett County voters did not receive their requested absentee ballots on time, resulting in return rates drastically below the state average. The alleged delays have primarily impacted ballots issued after Oct. 6 and extend into Cobb and DeKalb counties, affecting about 10,000 voters in total. “No voter should lose their voice because an absentee ballot they requested never made it to their mailbox,” said Will Hughes, staff attorney, ACLU Voting Rights Project. “With Election Day just days away, Gwinnett County voters deserve immediate action to ensure they have a meaningful opportunity to cast their ballots and have them counted. We’re asking the court to step in because protecting the right to vote means making sure every eligible voter can actually exercise it.” The suit urges the court to act quickly and defend voters from the failure of the Board of Registrations and Elections to issue absentee ballots in accordance with the law. To ensure all Gwinnett County residents who requested to vote absentee are able to do so, the suit demands that the board: Send an absentee ballot by overnight mail to each affected voter whose ballot is still outstanding, including prepaid overnight return mailing, by 1 p.m. on Oct. 31. Notify potentially impacted voters of their options to ensure their ballots are counted. Accept and tabulate the absentee ballots of all affected voters that are received by Nov. 6, the statutory deadline for curing absentee ballots and for receipt of ballots from overseas and military voters for this election, provided they are postmarked by Nov. 3. However, the court has not ruled yet, and impacted voters should contact the Gwinnett County Board of Registrations and Elections immediately and request an overnight ballot to ensure their ballots are received. Absentee voters can contact the board at 678-226-7210 or Absentee@GwinnettCounty.com. “It is unacceptable that voters are experiencing delays of this scale when voting by absentee,” said Bradley Heard, deputy legal director, SPLC. “Absentee voting is an invaluable mechanism for voters who may otherwise be unable to cast their ballot. Gwinnett County voters, particularly voters of color, will not be deterred from having their voices heard this election, and we will do everything in our power to get their ballots counted.” “Gwinnett County has a responsibility to voters but has refused so far to take all reasonable steps to rectify a known delay with absentee ballots,” said Pilar Whitaker, senior counsel, Legal Defense Fund. “Eligible voters in the county are on the brink of being disenfranchised at a time when the right to vote has already endured attacks on all sides.” “Absentee voters in Gwinnett, through no fault of their own, face the imminent loss of their right to vote in the 2026 general election. Folks should be able to count on their government to do the bare minimum the law requires: Mail absentee ballots on time,” said Raneem Ashrawi, staff attorney, ACLU of Georgia. “The right to vote is our most fundamental constitutional right and the bedrock of all other rights. Gwinnett voters eligible to vote absentee should not pay the steep price of losing their voice because of failures by their local board of elections.” The filing can be found here.

The Department of Homeland Security and United States Citizenship and Immigration Services are subjecting thousands of naturalized American citizens to improper investigations questioning their voting eligibility, and they’re using outdated, faulty data and methods to do so. As a result, these citizens face increasing, unwarranted scrutiny from the federal government and, potentially, disenfranchisement. We’re challenging these unlawful actions and the unreliable data behind them to ensure no eligible voter is targeted or silenced because of them.

CALIFORNIA — A coalition of civil rights groups today filed a federal lawsuit to stop an unlawful and discriminatory program by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that systematically targets, investigates, and intimidates naturalized U.S. citizens. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates, OCA-San Mateo, OCA-Sacramento, and Common Cause, represented by the ACLU Voting Rights Project, Asian Americans Advancing Justice – AAJC, ACLU of Northern California, ACLU of Southern California, and Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California (AJSOCAL). Since August 2026, USCIS has run what it calls an “Unlawful Voter Initiative” aimed at tracking and investigating foreign-born citizens under the guise of voter eligibility checks. As part of this initiative, federal agents rely on outdated, error-prone data and questionable methods — including posing as individual voters to search private voter registration records on state election websites. As a result, thousands of fully naturalized American citizens are subjected to improper investigations, door-to-door interrogations, and potential disenfranchisement based on flawed government data. “The Trump administration is challenging voters and threatening states based off flawed and outdated data,” said Theresa J. Lee, senior staff attorney with the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project. “These allegations are putting eligible voters — including naturalized U.S. citizens — at risk of disenfranchisement. The administration can’t keep creating political stunts to sow distrust in our elections and lay the groundwork to question results they don’t like. We’re challenging both these unlawful actions and the unreliable data behind them, and we will fight to ensure that no eligible voter is targeted or silenced because of it.” The lawsuit aims to immediately stop the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) from continuing the Unlawful Voter Initiative. It also seeks to block the federal government from pressuring state election officials to withhold or discard valid ballots cast by individuals appearing on DHS’s unreliable lists. Additionally, the legal action demands a formal declaratory judgment establishing that the initiative violates the Civil Rights Act’s Uniform Standards Provision, the Privacy Act, and the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). “Our communities have spent generations fighting to overcome barriers to the ballot box, and we cannot allow government intimidation to become another obstacle,” said Thu Nguyen, executive director of OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates. “Instead of helping voters participate in our elections, federal agencies are using flawed information to investigate and intimidate the very people they are supposed to serve. These actions threaten to undermine years of progress in building trust and encouraging civic participation in immigrant communities. We cannot allow fear to keep people from exercising their right to vote.” “This administration knows its data is flawed and unreliable, but they’re using it anyway to scare eligible voters away from the polls. It’s a deliberate effort to spread unfounded lies and make people doubt our elections,” said Virginia Kase Solomon, president and CEO of Common Cause. “When even one voter is targeted, all of us are at risk. Common Cause will keep fighting in the courtroom and in our communities to make sure every single eligible voter can cast their ballot without fear of government harassment.” “Naturalized citizens are U.S. citizens, with exactly the same right to vote as anyone born here,” said John C. Yang, president and executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice – AAJC. “The ‘Unlawful Voter Initiative’ was never designed to confirm citizenship, and election officials have found it erroneously flagging eligible voters. Purging or investigating voters based on their system errors punishes citizens for the government’s own mistakes. Asian American voters, many of whom are naturalized, are bearing the brunt of it. We are suing to send a message that no eligible voter should be subjected to this intimidation tactic. We urge voters to go to the polls. Do not stay home out of fear.” “Citizenship earned through naturalization is not second-class citizenship. Yet this administration is combing through immigration records to single out naturalized Americans, many of them Asian American and Pacific Islander, and to treat their right to vote as suspect. No other voters face this scrutiny. We are proud to stand with OCA and Common Cause to insist that every eligible voter, however they became a citizen, is treated equally under the law,” said Dahni Tsuboi, CEO of Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California. View a copy of the lawsuit here: https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2026/10/001-OCA-v-DHS-Complaint.pdf

Going into the midterms, voters are feeling the squeeze in their wallets and need relief. The answer lies in holding accountable politicians who prioritize their wealthy benefactors over them.