The right to vote can sometimes be described as a “struggle,” a “fight,” even a “war.”

But how did this come to be and who has been fighting to make every generation’s path to the ballot a little less arduous? On this episode of Turnout, Katie Couric goes back to the beginning, to find out what our founding can tell us about the continuing war on voting rights. Katie speaks with historian and biographer Jon Meacham about the framers’ hopes and dreams and who was left out of the more perfect union they designed. Then, Wendy Weiser, of the Brennan Center for Justice, and voting and Civil Rights expert Gilda Daniels help define voter suppression — and the many names it goes by. Finally, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown shares the ways she is helping to modernize her state’s election system — and the ways the rest of the country can and should follow suit.

Guests:

Jon Meacham, author “His Truth is Marching On: John Lewis and the Power of Hope”

Wendy R. Weiser, director of the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice at the NYU School of Law

Gilda Daniels, law professor at the University of Baltimore law school, litigation director at the Advancement Project, and author of “Uncounted: The Crisis of Voter Suppression in America.”

Charles Stewart III, MIT professor of political science and founder and director of the MIT Election Lab

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown

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TURNOUT Episode 1: ‘Democracy is a group sport’ 34:22

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TURNOUT Episode 1: ‘Democracy is a group sport’