The U.S. election system—and the democracy it was formed to protect—are under siege. If we want to save the promise of “government by the people” we need to do something—and fast.

In case you missed the memo, here’s where we are: U.S. public policy and most of our legislation no longer serve the people. That’s because U.S. politics is dominated by Big Money. Social and environmental progress is being blocked by elected officials who cater to big donors and the corporate-backed special interest groups who control re-election funds.

“So long as I do not firmly and irrevocably possess the right to vote, I do not possess myself. I cannot make up my mind—it is made up for me. I cannot live as a democratic citizen.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

'The real reason for the laws is to lower turnout, to hold onto power by keeping those who in opposition from exercising their solemn right.'

The Crow Creek Indian Reservation lies along the Missouri River in central South Dakota, an area marked by rolling hills of corn fields, a government-constructed dam and a Native American town centered around the tribe’s casino.

The story starts simply enough: African-Americans and Hispanics across Georgia were registered to vote at levels lower than their white state-mates, so the New Georgia Project was started by the non-profit Third Sector Development to register new voters, concentrating on minority communities. And that is exactly what the New Georgia Project did.

Remember that Republican state Senator from Georgia who recently objected to early voting on the Sunday before the election in DeKalb County because, as he was caught saying in email, it was an area "dominated by African American shoppers and it is near several large African American mega churches"?

About 200,000 voters in Virginia may lack the proper identification needed to cast a ballot in the November midterm elections, state election officials said Thursday.

Under a state law that took effect this year, Virginia voters must present a driver’s license or some other form of photo identification at their polling stations before they cast a vote.