Special report. Look at how close he is. Wisconsin barely in play. This is a relily democratic state. It was pretty clear that this was an earthquake. It was a shock. 2016 election was the first in 50 years without the full protections of the Voting Rights act. Voters blocked from ballot boxes. Im trying to stop voters from committing fraud. These voter i. D. Laws are not to prevent voter fraud but to keep certain people from the polls. Voters stifled by rigged maps. My neighborhood has been split. The line was drawn right through it. Has ta la vista to gerrymandering. Voter suppression is not a conspiracy. If you make it harder to vote then we should make it a lot harder for you to get reelected. Now a new front in the war on voter rights. What it takes is the boots on the ground. The time has come for voter i. D. Weve got to spring into action. And the time is getting more urgent. Tonight, a cnn special report, democracy in peril the war on Voting Rights. Cnn now projects that donald trump will carry the state of wisconsin. Wisconsin traditionally has some of the highest vote turnout in the country. We are up there with minnesota, north dakota, we routinely have turnout in the 60 to 70 range of the voting age population. Yet,s in 2016 wisconsin saw its lowest voter urnout since 2000. Right now, a historic moment. It had been seven president ial elections in a row where a democrat had won the state. To think that donald trump could do. We will carry wisconsin. What george w. Bush couldnt do, mitt romney couldnt do or john mccain. I wont let you down. As previous republican candidates was sort of unthinkable. The numbers are not what people think. Trump carried the state of wisconsin by only 23,000 votes. Where were you Election Night and do you recall watching the returns . I was in wisconsin. Ari berman is the author of give us the ballot, one of the most comprehensive books on Voting Rights in america. I had been with people all day who either were turned away from the polls or who had to make multiple attempts to vote. So how did trump win the traditionally blue state of wisconsin . What happened . This is not it the outcome we wanted. As the dust from the 2016 election settled, pundies can continuously pointed to the same factorses that could have swung the state. You know the letter by director james comey. Didnt go to the wisconsin. Wikileaksings. The russians didnt tell Hillary Clinton to ignore wisconsin. Comey was instrumental in her defeat. I dont think she was treated fairly. But others believed there was Something Else that loom ted mu larger. The media totally missed another question. Something that didnt get nearly as much attention as Hillary Clinton missteps in the state. Which is were people going to be able to vote in the first place. Thats the most underlying thing in a democracy and i think a lot of people ignored that. Based on what i had been seeing not only on election day but all the months before of people being turned away from the polls this was a concerted republican strategy to try to make it as difficult as possible for certain people to vote. Berman says the strategy to drive down democratic turnout in wisconsin and beyond came after president obama took office. This is their response to the election of the first black president. Their first instinct is to make it harder to vote. To try to decrease turnout among the obama coalitions. The goal was to keep people from voting. Is there a leader of the Voter Suppression movement in the state . Scott walker and all after the republican officials there. Theyve all been in on this. Thank you on behalf of the people of the great state of wisconsin. Since taking power is, Governor Scott walker, a republican lawmakers have chipped away at Voting Rights in wisconsin. In 2011, citing a need to prevent voter fraud, walker enacted the states restrictive voter i. D. Law. Its probably one of the strictest voter i. D. Laws in the country. It requires a voter to show one of a small set of i. D. S. Has to have a photo, has to have a signature, has to be an Expiration Date requirements. Ing. Lawmakers in wisconsin eliminated the role of a job greating witness. The other was the proof of residence document, Something Like a Bank Statement or utility bill, but if you go back to that very transient population, how is a member of that population going to be able to prove their residence . 2016 was the first big general election where the voter i. D. Law was in effect. You have thousands of people, maybe tens of thousands of people whose right to vote is interfered with or obstructed. I donald john trump. After the election political scientist Kenneth Maier conducted a survey of registered voters in wisconsins twos largest county whos did not vote in 2016. What the numbers indicated is that there may have been about 11 of people who didnt vote in our survey said that one of the reasons they didnt vote was they didnt have an i. D. In milwaukee and dane counties which are the two the biggest counties in the state. Were talking about just in these two counties. Somewhere in the range of 6,000 to 13,000 people. Was that enough wisconsin voters to sway the outcome . Election experts did the math. Donald trump won the state by less than 1 percentage point. It was about 23,000 votes. From ken maiers study we know that there were tens of thousands of people in these two big counties and probably more in the rest of the state who were deterred from voting because of the i. D. Requirement. The vast majority would have been democratic voters. I think its not hard to see that the i. D. Requirement probably halliburton enough of a depressive effect. She fought very hard. That it could have denied clinton the victory. Is it a determinative factor . No. Was it a factor . Absolutely. What do you say to people like the governor of wisconsin . He called it a pile of crap regarding voter i. D. Laws. Voter suppression is a factors, not a theory. You can read the court opinions. In wisconsin they found 300,000 registered voters didnt have the forms of i. D. I note scott walker probably doesnt want to read my articles but its out there. Governor walker declined cnns request for an interview. Voters in this state are going to have a very clear choice. I think it is extremely possible that that is what happened. Former attorney general eric holder. Im not saying its a guarantee but it is entirely possible had all those people not been disenfranchised that the results in wisconsin might have been different. So you dont think it was just some accident . No, i dont think it was an accident at all. I think they actually got what it is that they wanted. They impacted the electorate. Coming up, the crusaders. And later. The form of voter fraud that we see most frequently is double voting. This is Dell Cinema Technology uninterrupted streaming Brilliant Sound clarity and lifelike color. Experience dell cinema on the xps 13. Get up to 200 off select xps 13 laptops at dell. Com intel chime im at this wing joint telling people that geico has been offering savings for over 75 years. Thats longer than the buffalo wings been around. Dozen wings. And did you know that geico. lips smacking offers mo. coughing motorcycle insurance . Hoho. My lips are burning. laughs ah. No, my lips are actually burning. Geico. Over 75 years of savings and service. See how much you could save at geico. Com. Its too hot. Oh, this is too hot, mate. For you to reflect on homecomingyour servicepaceot. And think about what comes next. I cant wait to hear your stories. And talk to you about where you see yourself in the years to come. Does anyone have any questions i can answer . But birds eye made it deliciousfrom zucchini. A. Mmm. Mashed potatoes. And rice but made from cauliflower. Looks like i need a fork oh no. giggles birds eye veggie made. So veggie good. Were just talking to folks in the neighborhood today to see if you had any questions about voting at all. Hi, my names molly. For voting is rights crusader mogly mcgrath, the age old american tradition of grassroots organizing is still the best strategy. Were just talking to folks today to see if you guys were registered to vote, if you need a wisconsin state i. D. 36yearold mcgrath, now a prominent voice in her home state, found a rather indirect path into Voting Rights advocacy. Hey, how is it going . Ly. I was miss wisconsin. That was kind of my first job after college. So youre a beauty queen talking about Voting Rights . Yes. Should i go get my crown. After serving out her pang gent term, mcgrath earned her law degreeing in new york. I found myself learning more and more about the suppress sib tactics that states were taking and that this i. D. Law was going to be in place in wisconsin in 2016 for the first time and i knew that this was something that i wanted to work on. We know that not having an i. D. Is a big problem. I pivot i think between feeling really sad about it and really angry about it. And then of course, incredibly motivated. So motivated she moved back home. Where she now runs the aclus voter i. D. Outreach program. When wisconsin passed this photo i. D. Law they added a whole other hoop for voters to jump through and trying to lower that hoop, lets say. We want to make sure that everybody can vote even in spite of this photo i. D. Law. We can try again but i think theyre probably not home. Yeah. Today, molly and her team of volunteers are on the ground in racine, just outside milwaukee. These laws have been in place long enough where we see the communities targeted. We know that its targeting low income voters, voters of color, students. Older voters. Talking to the lady across the street. They just moved her polling location. That really pisss me off. Folks in this neighborhood that dont have a ride. Thats a serious hurd. So she is this experience and the change unique just to this state . Unfortunately, no. Weve seen an increase of laws that make it harder to vote. In other states. In other states across the nation. According to the Brennan Center for justice, stins 2010, 23 states have passed new voting restrictions. From limits on same day registration and early voting to photo i. D. Requirements like the one in wisconsin. I think that 2016 president ial election really demonstrated the impact of those changes. In the 2016 president ial election, voter turnout was down statewide. But the decline in milwaukees poorest minority neighborhoods was jaw dropping. We lost 41,000 voters in the city. We saw a near 20 decrease in Voter Participation from 2012 to 2016. I have no doubts that there were people in the city of milwaukee who didnt vote in that election because of the photo i. D. Requirement. I feel like they really, really knew that the turnout this election would have not been the same because a lot of people would not have their i. D. S. Andrea anthony was one of the thousands of milwaukee residents who was unable to cast a ballot in 2016. The rights of voters is so important to me because it makes my little voice a bigger one. Andrea had lost her drivers license but brought her expired wisconsin i. D. To the poll instead. For this election, that wasnt enough. If you go and vote in wisconsin you dont have one of the i. D. S listed on that very limited list, you are given whats called a provisional ballot and thats a ballot that will only count if you present one of those i. D. S to your clerk by friday at 4 00. Between juggling two jobs and caring for her children and grand children, needless to say andrea never made it to city hall. So for the first time in her life, she says, her vote wasnt counted. Andrea was planning to vote against trump. I feel in a way like i and i know im probably putting too much on my shoulders but i feel like maybe if i did follow through with it, it could have made a difference. What do you say to the argument that its not that hard to get an i. D. . It might not be that hard for somebody like me, but it is hard for sorry people for somebody like anne. Hi, anne. Its good to meet you. Hi, molly. Phenol meet you. Im so excited to get an i. D. Today. Anne is 92 years old and lives alone on the outskirts of madison. Shes a lifelong democrat and has never missed the chance to make her voice heard. Did you vote in this election for jfk. Oh, heavens yes. She didnt realize she now needed an updated i. D. To vote in wisconsin until molly came knocking. Thats good. I can get in. In like flynn. All right. Yep. What do you think about these changes, you know, having to have your i. D. . I dont understand why. What can an old lady like me do to hurt voting . This is the way we always come so theyre making mountains out of mole hills is what theyre doing thats causing more problems than we dont needed. Youre walking faster than i am. I dont think they care about us as people anymore. They really dont. Coming up the time has come for voter i. D. There is a campaign against democracy going on in this country right now. [ neighing ] [ neighing ] [ sigh ] its bring your own phone, not pony. So i couldve taken the bus . Yeah. Bring your phone. Switch your carrier. Save hundreds a year with xfinity mobile. Call, click or visit a store today. Mr. Speaker, the president of the United States. I speak tonight for the dignity of man and the destiny of democracy. You know, theres a long history of disenfranchisement in the south. The harsh fact is that in many places in this country, men and women are kept from voting. Simply because theyre negros. Everything from poll taxes, literacy tests, doing all the kinds of things that you could legally do to somehow make it more difficult for people of color generally africanamericans in particular, to cast a ballot. The march from selma to montgomery was about getting people the right to vote. We had been be the Edmund Pettus bridge incident was all about the right to vote. All of that led to the 1965 Voting Rights act. Today is a triumph for freedom. So you think that would have settled it, the law is passed. Thats it. Lets move on but what happened is there are more and more sophisticated attacks on the reit Voting Rights act and on the right to vote. Perhaps the biggest blow to Voting Rights in america came not from the new legislation but from a single decision by the nations highest court in Shelby County kep versus holder. In june of 2013 the Supreme Court gutted can the Voting Rights act. This is really the end of a major era in american history. Nearly 50 years after president Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights act into law, a key provision of the landmark legislation was struck down. I am deeply disappointed, deeply disappointed with the courts decision in this matter. This decision restores an important constitutional order. Edward bloom is a conservative legal strategist behind the Shelby County lawsuit and dozens of other lawsuits challenging race related laws across the country. There will always be racism in this country. The question is, how do we diminish it. If you tell me the way to diminish racism is to grant preferences to those who have suffered im telling you, thats the wrong answer. In the Shelby County case, can bloom took aim at section 5 of the Voting Rights act. The provision which gave the federal Government Authority tort oversee election laws in a handful of states, states with the long histories of racism and voter discrimination. Section 5 was a product of 1965. It is no longer 165. Africanamericans participate in the polls. The nation changed. Politics changed. But that statute didnt change. Now, everyone is on equal judicial footing. What do you think of people saying that these protections are not needed anymore . Well, i say that yeah, we have made substantial progress but were not yet at the place where people have equal access to the polls. I think its undeniable that over the last few years, almost almost every one of the new restrictions that weve seen disproportionately affects voters of color and voters of lesser means. Including recent attempts by republicanbacked officials to shutter polling sites that dont have the disability access. Voting rights advocates say these attempted closures are likely yet another veiled tactic to disenfranchise minorities. Its very suspicious and it suggests that theres something nefarious going on if more evidence comes out, and that evidence suggests that these are intentional efforts to suppress minority voting, it wouldnt surprise me. And its not that weve gone back. Its actually that the Civil Rights Movement never ended. Yearold jason candor, the former secretary of state in missouri and army veteran, is a leading voice amongst democrats in the new fight for Voting Rights in america. When the heart of the vra was gutted, what was your reaction to that. My bre reaction to that was one disappointment, and two, a sense that weve got to gear up because it was a starting pistol for the Republican Party to say go out and pass all your laws that make it harder to vote. We believe that in america in 2018, if you make it harder to vote then we should make it a lot harder for you to get reelected. Thats what we think. We met candor in july in las vegas. Send that to her as soon as were done. Where the Grassroots Organization he founded in 2017 let america vote is opening one of five new field offices in the runup to the 2018 midterms. Hows it going. Thanks for joining us. It became really clear to me that the Voter Suppression strategy i had seen the republicans run at the state level in missouri when i was the secretary of state that that was about to to be run on a