Voter suppression is not new. Throughout this country’s history, some have tried to keep the power of the vote in the hands of a select few. Every time the electorate has been expanded to include more citizens, it has taken an amendment to the United States Constitution to accomplish it. And every time that has happened, there have been efforts to keep the newly enfranchised from exercising that Constitutional right. For women, for young people, for African Americans and for other minorities, gaining that right was not easy and many paid the ultimate price. In One (Wo)Man, One Vote, Julie Powell tells the story of what it took for those groups to be able to vote and chronicles the historical effort to limit and suppress their voices that continues today.

Powell’s narrative shows that safeguarding the right of every citizen to cast a ballot is an ongoing struggle, but one that must continue in order to protect our democracy and progress toward a government that is truly representative of all its citizens.