In Washington Post, Gupta Shows How Massive Voter Turnout Can Protect Our Democracy

WASHINGTON – In a Washington Post opinion piece, Vanita Gupta, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, illustrates how President Trump’s continued attacks on vote by mail are a desperate attempt at discouraging people from exercising their constitutional right to vote as polls show he is losing. She notes that the safest way to guard against threats to our democracy is for voters to turn out in record numbers this election season.  

“But Trump succeeds only if voters fall prey to his intimidation tactics and decide not to cast their ballot,” Gupta writes.

“Massive participation is the surest way to inoculate our democracy against authoritarian threats.” 

She continues, “Trump is far better at the art of distraction than understanding the powers — and limits — of the presidency. Every minute we spend talking about whether he is able to steal the election is one less that we’re focusing on the reasons to send him packing: more than 200,000 dead from covid-19 due in part to his malfeasance and incompetence, the impacts of the pandemic on our economy and our children, our destroyed reputation abroad, barbaric immigration policies at home, the embrace of white supremacy and police brutality, and the list goes on. We don’t expect Trump to welcome a fair contest. Trump is nothing if not a bully — and he could give a master class on sore losing. But the choice of who wins this year’s election is not his to make. It’s ours.” 

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 220 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership Conference works toward an America as good as its ideals. For more information on The Leadership Conference and its member organizations, visit www.civilrights.org.