The Best Democracy Money Can Buy Film Night

The Film Night

While the quirky style and editing of this film divides opinions, its message is central to the well-being of our democracy. Its subject — voter suppression — could not be more relevant now. Greg Palast, an investigative journalist for the Rolling Stone, takes us on a roller-coaster ride to uncover suppression efforts in voting constituencies, especially where there is a large minority presence. He says, “This is the story of the investigation of the theft of the 2016 election — it’s a crime still in progress and a hunt for the very rich guys behind the crime.”

Central to this story of voter suppression is the use of the Interstate Crosscheck computer program, which was launched to compare voter registration data across states to look for evidence of double voting.  The Kansas Secretary of State, Kris Kobach, chair of Kansas’s Republican Party, was responsible for introducing this program in 2005. It has been rolled out to 30 states. According to The Voting News, September 2, 2016, “…while the program flagged 7.2 million possible double voting no more than four have actually been charged with deliberate double registration or double voting.”

Greg Palast gives us evidence that Republican officials in many states have used this very program to remove  legitimate voters from the electoral rolls in a way that has disproportionately affected minorities, i.e. Democratic voters. We see the investigative journalist at work: interviewing officials, including Kobach himself, minority voters who have lost their vote and dealing with masses of data. It is a horrific story.

Palast describes the style of the film:

“This real life detective story is told in a film noir style with cartoon animations, secret documents, hidden cameras, and a little help from Law & Order: Special Victims Unit detectives, Ice-T and Richard Belzer, Shailene Woodley, Rosario Dawson, Willie Nelson and Ed Asner, Palast and his associates expose the darkest plans of the uber-rich to steal America’s democracy.” 

However the film and Greg Palast are not without controversy and have attracted criticism. The question arises: If all of his assertions about Crosscheck are true, why aren’t our Democratic leaders and other journalists screaming about this? With Greg Palast as our guest speaker and our very able Stephanie Stewart, a long-time organizer for DAUK GOTV, in the chair, we shall have the opportunity to interrogate this most fascinating lobbyist and filmmaker. 

This Film Night opened the opportunity to discuss other voting rights issues as well: gerrymandering, the gutting of the Voters’ Rights Act, and the often onerous and arbitrary voter ID laws passed in many states. These issues matter.