Sara Carter began her EJA Fellowship in September 2022.
My passion for advancing democracy arose from grassroots organizing in college. On the ground assisting voters, I witnessed restrictive voting policies deny access to nonwhite citizens and those with language barriers. From that point forward, I dedicated my time to eliminating these discriminatory laws. As a legal intern at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, I helped challenge Georgia’s voter suppression law, S.B. 202, and drafted portions of the New York Voting Rights Act. At the ACLU Voting Rights Project, I helped write the complaint in Trump v. New York, a challenge to an Executive policy excluding undocumented immigrants from apportionment, and contributed to the merits brief in Jones v. DeSantis, a challenge to Florida’s felony disenfranchisement system.
My time spent advocating for voting rights has made clear to me one basic truth: protecting democracy is essential to advancing racial justice. For communities of color, the right to vote means more than the ability to select leaders; it means the ability to secure and preserve all other rights. And now it is under attack: elected officials are spreading the dangerous lie that the 2020 Election was fraudulent; state legislatures are suppressing votes through restrictive laws and diluting votes through drastic gerrymanders; and the courts have facilitated democratic decline by greenlighting partisan gerrymandering and dismantling the Voting Rights Act.
I am deeply grateful to EJA for the opportunity to join the fight for voting rights during this crucial moment for our democracy. As an EJA Fellow, I will contribute to the Brennan Center’s efforts to ensure every American the right to cast a meaningful vote. There is no better place to do this critical work.