Controlling the Electorate: An Enduring Strategy
South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem recently celebrated a Trump administration initiative, stating its goal was to ensure 'we have the right people voting' ahead of midterms. This echoes a familiar refrain in American politics, often framed as 'voter integrity' safeguarding 'our democracy.' On the surface, the statement appears benign, a sentiment many might agree with without deeper scrutiny.
However, the historical record tells a different story. 'Ensuring the right people vote' has been the clarion call for discriminatory practices for centuries. From poll taxes and literacy tests designed to exclude Black Americans post-Reconstruction, through the 1965 Voting Rights Act which explicitly banned such measures, to contemporary photo ID laws disproportionately affecting low-income and
minority voters, the pattern is consistent. For instance, a 2021 study by the Brennan Center for Justice found that states enacted 34 laws restricting voting access, a significant jump, often justified by concerns over 'who' is voting. This rhetoric of 'right people' is not about universal suffrage but about electorate shaping. When one faction defines who the 'right' voters are, it inherently
implies there are 'wrong' voters who must be discouraged or excluded. This double standard allows mainstream outlets to decry foreign interference in elections while overlooking systemic domestic efforts to control the electorate, often by those in power. While other nations face sanctions for perceived democratic deficits, the U.S. narrative often sanitizes its own ongoing, internal battles over