You really look at what is happening. But a random act of kindness planted a seed of hope. Soledad i am soledad obrien. Welcome to matter of fact. Barriers to the ballot are not new for black and brown people in america. From poll taxes and literacy tests to intimidation and physical violence, all were blatant forms of efforts to suppress the vote. Today, Voter Suppression is the result of overly strict voter id laws, complicated rules for mailin ballots, extreme consolidation of polling places, and mass purging of voters from election rolls. Some examples, oklahoma, where state law requires absentee ballots to be notarized. Texas, where vulnerability to covid19 can not be used as a reason to get an absentee ballot. Kentucky, where just one polling place was open during the primary election in jefferson county, which serv roughly many people could be turned away from the polls in november or find out that their ballots did not count . Janai nelson is the associate director counsel of t