Voting rights in Maryland are under siege — and for Latino, Black, naturalized citizen, and working-class voters, the danger isn’t abstract. It’s happening right now, in courtrooms and committee hearings, in bureaucratic rule changes and so-called “integrity” lawsuits designed to do one thing: make it harder for people to vote. And as we approach the 60th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, we’re forced to ask ourselves—have we learned anything from the past?

On March 7, 1965, on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, peaceful Americans were beaten for demanding a right they were born with — the right to vote. Eight days later, President Lyndon B. Johnson stood before Congress and declared, “We shall overcome.” And by August 6 of that year, the Voting Rights Act became law. That was how fast a democracy could move when its conscience was pricked. But now? We’re watching that same promise unravel — slowly, deliberately, and dangerously — in our own backyard.

Take Maryland’s unaffiliated voters — now over 953,000 strong, nearly a quarter of the electorate. Many are naturalized citizens and voters of color who’ve grown disillusioned with both major parties. But instead of creating more pathways to participation, state law shuts them out of the very elections that shape our leadership. It’s a policy failure that runs counter to every principle the Voting Rights Act was built to defend.

And while the door is being quietly closed on these voters, extremist lawsuits are kicking it down. In Maryland Election Integrity LLC v. Maryland State Board of Elections (2024–2025), right-wing groups tried to upend the 2020 and 2022 results with false claims of fraud, demanding machine decertification and mass voter roll purges. A federal court dismissed the case — but not before the damage was done: another seed of doubt planted.

Then came RITE v. State Board of Elections (2025), where a judge ordered Maryland to release voter data to a group claiming to investigate fraud. No credible evidence. Just political theater aimed at intimidating naturalized citizens and multilingual voters — under the cover of law.

These aren’t isolated incidents. They’re part of a coordinated campaign to erode public trust, increase surveillance of the electorate, and shrink the voting pool by any means necessary.

The playbook is familiar: claim fraud where there is none, demand access to voter data, intimidate those least able to fight back, and then change the rules to keep them out. It’s voter suppression by lawsuit, suppression by statute, suppression by suggestion — and it thrives in silence. That’s why speaking up now matters more than ever. Because once trust is broken, once participation drops, it doesn’t come back easily. And the people who pay the highest price are those who can least afford to lose their voice.

Fortunately, some are fighting back. A May 2025 lawsuit led by former Lt. Gov. Boyd Rutherford is challenging Maryland’s primary system on constitutional grounds, calling out the exclusion of taxpayers from elections they help fund. At the federal level, Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown has joined 18 other states in suing to block Trump’s Executive Order 14248 and the SAVE Act — two sweeping measures that would impose proof-of-citizenship requirements and invalidate ballots that don’t arrive by Election Day.

The common thread in all of this? A relentless effort to make it harder for everyday Americans — especially naturalized citizens, working-class voters, and communities long marginalized — to access the ballot.

The good news: Maryland has a roadmap. The Maryland Voting Rights Act, introduced this year, includes bold steps like expanded language access and more transparent auditing. But it needs to go further. Provisions to prevent vote dilution and local voter suppression must be restored. Not later — now.

And as we strengthen our laws, we must also strengthen our civic infrastructure. We need to invest in the organizers, elders, students, and everyday voters doing the hard work — registering neighbors, holding forums, translating ballots, and pushing back against disinformation. These are the heirs of Selma. They are today’s foot soldiers in the fight for democracy.

As we approach August 6, 2025, the 60th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, let’s stop pretending the threats are behind us. They are here. They are legal. They are strategic. And they are targeting the same voters we claimed to protect six decades ago.

Maryland can lead. Or Maryland can cave. But make no mistake — history is watching. And this time, so are we.

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