I'm Roy Wood Jr., she's Desi Lydic,
and this is America's Got Suppression,
the number one show about how the freest,
most democratic country in the world
keeps some of its citizens from voting!
♪ ♪
LYDIC: Tonight, we're in North Carolina,
home of sandy beaches, delicious barbecue,
and the most beautiful plantation weddings
that your sorority sisters never should have had.
That's right, Desi. And North Carolina
is also ground zero for voting suppression in America.
Let's meet our first contestant.
LYDIC: Jaden is a college senior who loves his lucky hat,
but doesn't love that his voting rights
are being threatened by a voter ID law proposed
by the state's Republican legislature.
My experience of voter suppression comes
from the North Carolina General Assembly trying
to pass a voter ID amendment.
I'm an out-of-state student in North Carolina,
so I don't know have, uh, what they deem worthy, um,
IDs in North Carolina.
All I have is a South Carolina driver's license,
and then my school ID.
It's a legitimate ID.
I mean, you can use it to get into the library.
You can use it to get into bars even when you're underage.
-And my dorm, everything. -You can use...
You can use it to cut up cocaine.
-Okay, yeah. -So you can't vote with that?
You know, this law is being pushed by the Republican Party,
and we all know college students tend to vote more Democratic,
especially students at HBCUs.
Ah, yes, HBCUs.
That's historically African-American
colleges and universities.
-You can say "Black." -Oh. Okay.
Historically Black colleges and universities.
Wait. What did you just do?
LYDIC: Let's get our next contestant.
Vashti Hinton-Smith is always wearing glasses.
WOOD: She was deprived of her voting power
when her historically-Black college was gerrymandered.
Gerrymandering is a mechanism that is used
to draw up voting districts to make sure you can get reelected.
I always thought it was a sex act.
WOOD: No, Desi. It's when they dilute the power
of a specific voting bloc, like splitting the school
into two districts.
LYDIC: Just look at that map and tell me
that district isn't getting (bleep).
Vashti, how did you fight back against this in North Carolina?
We've had court cases which it took a very long time to win.
The North Carolina Supreme Court-- they decided
that this was a partisan gerrymander, which is illegal.
Every year, every election, there's always a fight,
so if that doesn't make us the most suppressed,
I don't know what does.
You know, Roy, I got to tell you,
I have never experienced voter suppression before.
Some people are just lucky, I guess.
I think "privilege" is the word you're looking for.
No, I think it's luck.
WOOD: Okay, next up is Dan McCready,
a veteran and solar entrepreneur
who has a friendly face.
LYDIC: And while running for Congress in 2018,
his Republican opponent's campaign allegedly
used voter fraud to defeat him.
WOOD: Wow.
Something seems off with this guy.
This is, uh...
This doesn't seem right because this guy's...
this guy's white. You're white, right?
-Uh... -LYDIC: Well, of course.
His name is Dan. He's definitely white.
Dan, I'm sorry about her, okay?
Why do you think you've got what it takes
to be the most suppressed?
What happened in my race, which was the largest case
of election fraud in modern day American history--
I thought we lost by 905 votes,
only to find out that my Republican opponent had hired
a known criminal, who sent workers
to the doors of voters
that they knew were likely to vote Democrats,
including African-Americans.
Oh, Dan, you can say "Black."
No. No, you can't, Dan. Don't do that.
Never mind, Dan.
Those workers stole their ballots,
they forged signatures,
they filled in vote choices for people.
It's interesting, Desi, because it's usually Republicans
who accuse Democrats of voter fraud.
Huh. That is interesting.
But at the end of the day, the bipartisan board of elections
in North Carolina voted five-zero
to hold a new election.
All right, so they held a new election, Desi,
and he won his office and fought back on that suppression.
-That's what I'm talking about, Danny. -Congratulations, Dan.
Now that is a happy ending.
Well, unfortunately, uh, I didn't win.
-Ah. -But the important thing is that,
in this case, the system worked.
So you lost twice is what you're saying.
LYDIC: He got cheated,
he lost, and then he lost again.
I got to give it up to you, Dan.
I've never seen anybody get suppressed twice
in the same election.
Okay, time to take a last look at all our contestants
and see which one has what it takes
to win America's Got Suppression.
That's right. Is it gonna be restrictive ID laws,
race-based gerrymandering or outright voter fraud?
-This is tough, Desi. -Absolutely.
And the winner of America's Got Suppression is...
(paper rippling)
Mitch McConnell?
-(lively tune plays) -WOOD: Oh, that makes sense.
When voters are suppressed, he wins.
Every time.
To the other contestants, uh, you lose.
-So does democracy. -Yes, it does.
All right, well, it was fun playing with you.
America's Got Suppression returns next week
live from Atlanta, Georgia.
You're making me do this again?
Yeah, we have, like, 49 more states to do.