Americans take to the streets in droves against voting discrimination on the anniversary of “I Have a Dream” speech | Abroad

Protest organizers speak of “racist and anti-democratic” laws that suppress voters. The date of the demonstrations was not chosen arbitrarily: On August 28, 1963, a quarter of a million people flocked to Washington for a massive civil rights demonstration, culminating in the famous ‘I Have a Dream’ speech by Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. “We will make history on Saturday” by “carrying the torch for justice that my father and many others carried,” said Martin Luther King III, the son of the human rights activist.

In 1965, the US Parliament passed a law banning discriminatory electoral procedures. But some states, especially in the South, have often made “technical adjustments” that make it especially more difficult for African Americans, who generally vote Democrats. This process was accelerated by Trump’s claim that mass vote-rigging caused the loss of last November’s presidential election.

Since January, at least 18 states have passed a total of 30 restrictive electoral laws, critics assert. It comes, for example, on the condition that you have a permanent address to register to vote. But some states have also banned so-called drive-by (from the car) voting, which was popular last year during the Corona pandemic.