May 26, 2026
Andrea Miller, Center for Common Ground, joins Deepak Puri, CEO of The Democracy Labs, to discuss the history and modern tactics of voter suppression and gerrymandering targeting southern Black voters in what has historically been called the Southern Black Belt. One strategy is to pack all Black voters into one district, and another is to crack the community into smaller pieces to diminish their influence. Andrea suggests that the Republican tactic of cracking Black districts could backfire by creating multiple competitive districts in 2026.
Deepak and Andrea talk about:
- Current strength of southern Black voters
- Voter suppression tactics that disproportionately impact rural Black residents
- How gerrymandering has the potential to spread angry, motivated Black voters across several districts, making all of them competitive for Democrats
- Why State-level elections are the critical battleground for fighting gerrymandering
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