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The Hidden History of the War on Voting: Who Stole Your Vote and How to Get It Back
"Hartmann's history of voter suppression in America is necessary information given current news about voter registration purges and redistricting...a particularly timely topic for an election year, and anyone who is seriously concerned about the survival of American democracy will want to read this book and apply its lessons."-- Booklist
America's #1 progressive radio host looks at how elites have long tried to disenfranchise citizens--particularly people of color, women, and the poor--and shows what we can do to ensure everyone has a voice in this democracy.
In today's America, only a slim majority of people register to vote, and a large percentage of registered voters don't bother to show Donald Trump was elected by only 26 percent of eligible voters. Unfortunately, this is not a bug in our system, it's a feature. Thom Hartmann unveils the strategies and tactics that conservative elites in this country have used, from the foundation of the Electoral College to the latest voter ID laws, to protect their interests by preventing "the wrong people"--such as the poor, women, and people of color--from voting while making it more convenient for the wealthy and white. But he also lays out a wide variety of simple, commonsense ways that we the people can fight back and reclaim our right to rule through the ballot box.
America's #1 progressive radio host looks at how elites have long tried to disenfranchise citizens--particularly people of color, women, and the poor--and shows what we can do to ensure everyone has a voice in this democracy.
In today's America, only a slim majority of people register to vote, and a large percentage of registered voters don't bother to show Donald Trump was elected by only 26 percent of eligible voters. Unfortunately, this is not a bug in our system, it's a feature. Thom Hartmann unveils the strategies and tactics that conservative elites in this country have used, from the foundation of the Electoral College to the latest voter ID laws, to protect their interests by preventing "the wrong people"--such as the poor, women, and people of color--from voting while making it more convenient for the wealthy and white. But he also lays out a wide variety of simple, commonsense ways that we the people can fight back and reclaim our right to rule through the ballot box.
192 pages, Paperback
Published February 11, 2020
93 people are currently reading
440 people want to read
About the author
Thom Hartmann
90 books377 followersThomas Carl Hartmann is an American radio personality, author, businessman, and progressive political commentator. Hartmann has been hosting a nationally syndicated radio show, The Thom Hartmann Program, since 2003 and hosted a nightly television show, The Big Picture, between 2010 and 2017.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews
August 13, 2021
The devastating consequences of gerrymandering....
https://www.theguardian.com/commentis...
=========
A conservative pundit weighs in on the fallacy of voter fraud.
https://twitter.com/mattsheffield/sta...
==================
I learned a great deal in this short book. He clearly documents numerous instances of voter suppression and, in turn, exposes voter fraud as a myth. His endnote links are a treasure trove, which I will be exploring for awhile.
-------------
The modern American oligarchs have largely stayed in power using three simple elements: • explicit and overt racism, • massive disinformation campaigns, and • voter suppression.
"Slavery has been the single largest defining factor in the history and arc of American politics. That salient “peculiar institution” is responsible for the Second Amendment and for the Electoral College working the way it does. When Congress repealed the Three-Fifths Compromise with the 14th Amendment in the wake of the Civil War, it actually increased the federal political power of the former slave states."
Lest we forget....
California, for example, has nearly 40 million citizens but only two senators. Ditto for New York, with 19 million citizens and two senators. The imbalance is so bad that the 25 smallest states control half of the Senate (50 out of 100 senators) but represent only 16 percent of American voters. They can (and regularly do) overrule the sentiments of the other 84 percent of Americans represented by the senators from the largest 25 states.
Almost....
In 1934, the Senate came within two votes of the two-thirds necessary to pass a constitutional amendment to the states to eliminate the Electoral College and go to direct election of the president. Senator Alben Barkley, D-Kentucky (later Harry Truman’s vice president), stated, “The American people are qualified to elect their president by a direct vote, and I hope to see the day when they will.”
Ironic....
I don't recall this being covered in the musical, but Alexander Hamilton supported the Electoral College as a way of guarding against a foreign actor (what today we'd called a Manchurian Candidate) from becoming POTUS. Obama was accused of being one, but who is the real one? Here's a hint, the one who admires foreign dictators, especially a certain one who controls Russia.
The last decent Republican?
Eisenhower was the last Republican who was elected without having to resort to treason or election fraud, and the last Republican to talk in such a “liberal” way. Fred Koch’s John Birch Society was fond of informally referring to Ike as a communist.
Trying to maintain the male, white oligarchy...
"Voter ID laws have a disproportionately negative effect on women. According to the Brennan Center for Justice, one third of all women have citizenship documents that do not identically match their current names primarily because of name changes at marriage. Roughly 90 percent of women who marry adopt their husband’s last name. That means that roughly 90 percent of married female voters have a different name on their ID than the one on their birth certificate. An estimated 34 percent of women could be turned away from the polls unless they have precisely the right documents"
https://now.org/resource/voter-suppre...
Obama...
During the eight years that Barack Obama was president, seven of the 11 states with the largest black populations passed aggressive voter suppression laws. Nine of the 12 states with the largest Hispanic populations did the same.
And...
In 2014 and 2016, in the two years leading up to the presidential election, over 14 million people were purged from voter rolls, largely in Republican-controlled states. Brian Kemp purged over a million in Georgia alone.
Madison...
....noted that all the former republics that they had studied in his five years of preparation for writing our Constitution had ended up corrupted by the political power of concentrated money. “In all the Governments which were considered as beacons to republican patriots and lawgivers,” he said, “the rights of persons were subjected to those of property. The poor were sacrificed to the rich.”
True....
Most white people, particularly those older than 30, grew up exposed to racist cowboys-and-Indians shows, minstrels, and a century of movies [and all those cop shows] that portrayed black people as the bad guys and white people as the winners and saviors. As a result, most white people carry a good dose of unacknowledged and often even denied-but-there-nonetheless belief in the superiority of their own race.
https://news.stanford.edu/news/2014/a...
The Troubling Reason the Electoral College Exists
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics...
=============
"The Republican Party has invested heavily in the myth of voter fraud. The fraud is trying to convince the public there is voter fraud of any significance. I’ve worked in GOP campaigns since 1978, and I don’t know of a single race in which illegal voters were remotely a factor."
-Stuart Stevens, author of It Was All a Lie
==============
podcast interview....
https://pitchforkeconomics.com/episod...
https://www.theguardian.com/commentis...
=========
A conservative pundit weighs in on the fallacy of voter fraud.
https://twitter.com/mattsheffield/sta...
==================
I learned a great deal in this short book. He clearly documents numerous instances of voter suppression and, in turn, exposes voter fraud as a myth. His endnote links are a treasure trove, which I will be exploring for awhile.
-------------
The modern American oligarchs have largely stayed in power using three simple elements: • explicit and overt racism, • massive disinformation campaigns, and • voter suppression.
"Slavery has been the single largest defining factor in the history and arc of American politics. That salient “peculiar institution” is responsible for the Second Amendment and for the Electoral College working the way it does. When Congress repealed the Three-Fifths Compromise with the 14th Amendment in the wake of the Civil War, it actually increased the federal political power of the former slave states."
Lest we forget....
California, for example, has nearly 40 million citizens but only two senators. Ditto for New York, with 19 million citizens and two senators. The imbalance is so bad that the 25 smallest states control half of the Senate (50 out of 100 senators) but represent only 16 percent of American voters. They can (and regularly do) overrule the sentiments of the other 84 percent of Americans represented by the senators from the largest 25 states.
Almost....
In 1934, the Senate came within two votes of the two-thirds necessary to pass a constitutional amendment to the states to eliminate the Electoral College and go to direct election of the president. Senator Alben Barkley, D-Kentucky (later Harry Truman’s vice president), stated, “The American people are qualified to elect their president by a direct vote, and I hope to see the day when they will.”
Ironic....
I don't recall this being covered in the musical, but Alexander Hamilton supported the Electoral College as a way of guarding against a foreign actor (what today we'd called a Manchurian Candidate) from becoming POTUS. Obama was accused of being one, but who is the real one? Here's a hint, the one who admires foreign dictators, especially a certain one who controls Russia.
The last decent Republican?
Eisenhower was the last Republican who was elected without having to resort to treason or election fraud, and the last Republican to talk in such a “liberal” way. Fred Koch’s John Birch Society was fond of informally referring to Ike as a communist.
Trying to maintain the male, white oligarchy...
"Voter ID laws have a disproportionately negative effect on women. According to the Brennan Center for Justice, one third of all women have citizenship documents that do not identically match their current names primarily because of name changes at marriage. Roughly 90 percent of women who marry adopt their husband’s last name. That means that roughly 90 percent of married female voters have a different name on their ID than the one on their birth certificate. An estimated 34 percent of women could be turned away from the polls unless they have precisely the right documents"
https://now.org/resource/voter-suppre...
Obama...
During the eight years that Barack Obama was president, seven of the 11 states with the largest black populations passed aggressive voter suppression laws. Nine of the 12 states with the largest Hispanic populations did the same.
And...
In 2014 and 2016, in the two years leading up to the presidential election, over 14 million people were purged from voter rolls, largely in Republican-controlled states. Brian Kemp purged over a million in Georgia alone.
Madison...
....noted that all the former republics that they had studied in his five years of preparation for writing our Constitution had ended up corrupted by the political power of concentrated money. “In all the Governments which were considered as beacons to republican patriots and lawgivers,” he said, “the rights of persons were subjected to those of property. The poor were sacrificed to the rich.”
True....
Most white people, particularly those older than 30, grew up exposed to racist cowboys-and-Indians shows, minstrels, and a century of movies [and all those cop shows] that portrayed black people as the bad guys and white people as the winners and saviors. As a result, most white people carry a good dose of unacknowledged and often even denied-but-there-nonetheless belief in the superiority of their own race.
https://news.stanford.edu/news/2014/a...
The Troubling Reason the Electoral College Exists
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics...
=============
"The Republican Party has invested heavily in the myth of voter fraud. The fraud is trying to convince the public there is voter fraud of any significance. I’ve worked in GOP campaigns since 1978, and I don’t know of a single race in which illegal voters were remotely a factor."
-Stuart Stevens, author of It Was All a Lie
==============
podcast interview....
https://pitchforkeconomics.com/episod...
February 19, 2020
There is no constitutional right to vote in the United States. That confounding fact is at the heart of author Thom Hartmann’s revealing new book, The Hidden History of the War on Voting. In fewer than 200 pages, Hartmann reveals the many, often inventive ways that the ultra-wealthy, Right-Wing zealots, and white supremacists from the time of the Founding Fathers have suppressed the vote.
Historically, both Democrats and Republicans have been responsible for denying the vote to those who were likely to oppose them. However, for the past half-century, since the Civil Rights and Voting Acts of the Johnson era and Richard Nixon’s Southern Strategy, voter suppression has been central to Republican efforts nationwide. Like Democrats under Jim Crow, Republicans have embraced restrictive voter ID laws, gerrymandering, and other underhanded tactics — and they have succeeded to an extent that few understand. There are partial solutions on the horizon in the House of Representatives and in state legislatures around the country. But the only way to roll back the war on voting in all its forms, Hartmann believes, is to amend the Constitution.
A Constitutional Amendment to end voter suppression
A Congressman from Wisconsin and several coauthors introduced such a proposed Amendment in the House in 2013. “Every citizen of the United States, who is of legal voting age,” the Amendment reads, “shall have the fundamental right to vote in any public election held in the jurisdiction in which the citizen resides.” Hartmann adds, “Such an amendment would completely flip upside down virtually all of the Republican’s Party’s many efforts to prevent people from voting.”
Unfortunately, given Republican control of the United States Senate and thirty-two state legislatures, there is little likelihood that this will pass in the foreseeable future. Because a Constitutional Amendment must be proposed by a vote of both the House and the Senate and then passed by three-fourths of the states. (There’s another way—two-thirds of the state legislatures may call a Constitutional Convention—but it has never been used, and it would be very dangerous to do so, because it would open the Constitution to wholesale revision.)
Voter suppression is central to Republican victories
Why should this be necessary in what is purported to be a democracy—the world’s oldest, in fact? Hartmann traces the modern antecedents to 1971 when future Supreme Court Justice Lewis Powell urged wealthy Americans and corporate leaders to invest in a long-term effort to turn back the New Deal. And one of the cornerstones of the strategy built on Powell’s thesis was voter suppression enforced by the courts and state legislatures alike. “Preventing ‘undesirable’ people from voting has become central to Republican victories for the past two generations,” Hartmann asserts. For example, the last two Republican Presidents have won despite losing the popular vote — and there is abundant evidence that neither one of them would have won even an Electoral College majority had widespread voter suppression efforts not been enacted in many key states.
Americans agree on the biggest issues. But the system is rigged.
In all the talk of polarization in American society, which of course is real enough, what’s lost is that there is overwhelming agreement on such fundamental issues as taxing the rich or taking action to combat the climate emergency. As Hartmann points out, “It’s not that Americans don’t agree on many issues; it’s that Americans have no way of achieving the policies they agree on.” By way of explanation, Hartmann cites a well-known “2014 study out of Princeton showing that the likelihood of legislation passing that represented the interests of the bottom 90 percent was equivalent, statistically, to white noise.” In the final analysis, this is the price we’re forced to pay for voter suppression.
So, is there hope?
Nearly all the steps Hartmann proposes to address the challenge of voter suppression are long shots at best in the current political climate. However, there is one effort underway that shows some promise. To date, fifteen states and the District of Columbia, representing 196 electoral votes, have adopted a measure to ensure a National Popular Vote. They have pledged to require their electors to vote for the winner of the nationwide popular vote instead of who won in that state. If other states representing 74 more electoral votes adopt this measure, the Electoral College will become a dead letter. At this point, considering that Republicans control 32 state legislatures, that’s not going to happen immediately.
But Democrats are taking great strides at the state level. Several “red” states are turning blue. Virginia, with 13 electoral votes, has already turned. Arizona, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, North Carolina, and Florida are all tossups; collectively, they name 85 electors. Even vote-rich Texas (38 electoral votes) is a possibility. There is hope.
Brilliant investigative history
The War Against Voting is a brilliant example of investigative history. Hartmann casts light on many little-known episodes in the American past. Many of the voter-suppression efforts he writes about are blatant, making it difficult to understand how any self-respecting judge (much less a Justice of the US Supreme Court) could turn a blind eye to them. Other techniques are insidious and sometimes difficult to understand. Hartmann brings a fresh eye to all this, elucidating one of the most biggest threats to the integrity of American democracy.
About the author
Seven million people listen weekly to Thom Hartmann‘s nationally syndicated radio show, which he launched in 2003. He has written more than thirty books on diverse topics, including the four entries in the Hidden History series. The War on Voting is the most recent. Hartmann lives with his wife Louise in Portland, Oregon. They have three children.
Historically, both Democrats and Republicans have been responsible for denying the vote to those who were likely to oppose them. However, for the past half-century, since the Civil Rights and Voting Acts of the Johnson era and Richard Nixon’s Southern Strategy, voter suppression has been central to Republican efforts nationwide. Like Democrats under Jim Crow, Republicans have embraced restrictive voter ID laws, gerrymandering, and other underhanded tactics — and they have succeeded to an extent that few understand. There are partial solutions on the horizon in the House of Representatives and in state legislatures around the country. But the only way to roll back the war on voting in all its forms, Hartmann believes, is to amend the Constitution.
A Constitutional Amendment to end voter suppression
A Congressman from Wisconsin and several coauthors introduced such a proposed Amendment in the House in 2013. “Every citizen of the United States, who is of legal voting age,” the Amendment reads, “shall have the fundamental right to vote in any public election held in the jurisdiction in which the citizen resides.” Hartmann adds, “Such an amendment would completely flip upside down virtually all of the Republican’s Party’s many efforts to prevent people from voting.”
Unfortunately, given Republican control of the United States Senate and thirty-two state legislatures, there is little likelihood that this will pass in the foreseeable future. Because a Constitutional Amendment must be proposed by a vote of both the House and the Senate and then passed by three-fourths of the states. (There’s another way—two-thirds of the state legislatures may call a Constitutional Convention—but it has never been used, and it would be very dangerous to do so, because it would open the Constitution to wholesale revision.)
Voter suppression is central to Republican victories
Why should this be necessary in what is purported to be a democracy—the world’s oldest, in fact? Hartmann traces the modern antecedents to 1971 when future Supreme Court Justice Lewis Powell urged wealthy Americans and corporate leaders to invest in a long-term effort to turn back the New Deal. And one of the cornerstones of the strategy built on Powell’s thesis was voter suppression enforced by the courts and state legislatures alike. “Preventing ‘undesirable’ people from voting has become central to Republican victories for the past two generations,” Hartmann asserts. For example, the last two Republican Presidents have won despite losing the popular vote — and there is abundant evidence that neither one of them would have won even an Electoral College majority had widespread voter suppression efforts not been enacted in many key states.
Americans agree on the biggest issues. But the system is rigged.
In all the talk of polarization in American society, which of course is real enough, what’s lost is that there is overwhelming agreement on such fundamental issues as taxing the rich or taking action to combat the climate emergency. As Hartmann points out, “It’s not that Americans don’t agree on many issues; it’s that Americans have no way of achieving the policies they agree on.” By way of explanation, Hartmann cites a well-known “2014 study out of Princeton showing that the likelihood of legislation passing that represented the interests of the bottom 90 percent was equivalent, statistically, to white noise.” In the final analysis, this is the price we’re forced to pay for voter suppression.
So, is there hope?
Nearly all the steps Hartmann proposes to address the challenge of voter suppression are long shots at best in the current political climate. However, there is one effort underway that shows some promise. To date, fifteen states and the District of Columbia, representing 196 electoral votes, have adopted a measure to ensure a National Popular Vote. They have pledged to require their electors to vote for the winner of the nationwide popular vote instead of who won in that state. If other states representing 74 more electoral votes adopt this measure, the Electoral College will become a dead letter. At this point, considering that Republicans control 32 state legislatures, that’s not going to happen immediately.
But Democrats are taking great strides at the state level. Several “red” states are turning blue. Virginia, with 13 electoral votes, has already turned. Arizona, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, North Carolina, and Florida are all tossups; collectively, they name 85 electors. Even vote-rich Texas (38 electoral votes) is a possibility. There is hope.
Brilliant investigative history
The War Against Voting is a brilliant example of investigative history. Hartmann casts light on many little-known episodes in the American past. Many of the voter-suppression efforts he writes about are blatant, making it difficult to understand how any self-respecting judge (much less a Justice of the US Supreme Court) could turn a blind eye to them. Other techniques are insidious and sometimes difficult to understand. Hartmann brings a fresh eye to all this, elucidating one of the most biggest threats to the integrity of American democracy.
About the author
Seven million people listen weekly to Thom Hartmann‘s nationally syndicated radio show, which he launched in 2003. He has written more than thirty books on diverse topics, including the four entries in the Hidden History series. The War on Voting is the most recent. Hartmann lives with his wife Louise in Portland, Oregon. They have three children.
August 30, 2022
I received a copy of this book a while back from the publisher or marketer in exchange for an honest review. I was looking forward to reading it as voter suppression is a serious issue and something I care about. However, I think the first of the three sections in this book, while adding historical background and laying the foundation for the source of the issue, should have been really informative but mostly came across as very emotional and one sided. I don't disagree that some parties play a larger role than others but the tone came across almost conspiracy theory like, and I think it would likely deter the people who need to understand the issue the most from continuing on with the book. If you can get past the first section, the second section is better. The third section, solutions, was the most impactful. There were solutions that I feel have been on the table for so long and the US just needs to commit, as well as ones I hadn't considered before, so I felt like I read and learned something new. Overall, I think this book is informative but could use some fine tuning in terms of who the target audience is and getting that message across in the right way for that audience.
March 8, 2020
It was fine, but probably reading Dark Money (Jane Mayer) and the Shock Doctrine (Naomi Klein) would be more informative while covering the same ground.
June 17, 2025
Hartmann, Thom. The Hidden History of the war on voting: Who stole your vote- and how to get it back. Berret-Kohler Publishers, Inc., 2020. 176 pp.
The vote determines how the country is ruled. But, the Republican Party fronts billionaires to disenfranchise or influence votes for their agenda.
Modern oligarchs use racism, disinformation campaigns, and voter suppression to achieve their ends, usually very successfully. Pp. 4-5.
Billionaires spend millions to elect Republican politicians and receive billions in tax savings as a payoff. Republican representatives appoint quislings to the federal and Supreme Courts.
Voting roll purges are frequent and rigorous.
Every effort by Those Who Rule Over Us is used to root out minorities, college students, and the poor’s access to political power. Cheating has also worked. Ask George W. Bush, while peddling lies of massive voter fraud by the left.
The finale of the book offers positive but difficult solutions to implement.
The bulk of the book is informative, startling, and a warning to us all.
The vote determines how the country is ruled. But, the Republican Party fronts billionaires to disenfranchise or influence votes for their agenda.
Modern oligarchs use racism, disinformation campaigns, and voter suppression to achieve their ends, usually very successfully. Pp. 4-5.
Billionaires spend millions to elect Republican politicians and receive billions in tax savings as a payoff. Republican representatives appoint quislings to the federal and Supreme Courts.
Voting roll purges are frequent and rigorous.
Every effort by Those Who Rule Over Us is used to root out minorities, college students, and the poor’s access to political power. Cheating has also worked. Ask George W. Bush, while peddling lies of massive voter fraud by the left.
The finale of the book offers positive but difficult solutions to implement.
The bulk of the book is informative, startling, and a warning to us all.
March 18, 2020
Thom Hartmann is pithy and poignant in detailing thie history of voter suppression in the United States. He goes back to the Founders, and notes the role slavery had in establishing the Electoral College and the struggles to win voting rights for poor whites, women, and Native Americans. Hartmann then jumps to the modern period to relate how many obstacles remain. The final part of chock full of reforms we can and should enact now if we want to claim the title of a true democracy.
Want to read
February 19, 2020Here's hope: https://politics.theonion.com/america...
August 9, 2025
I thought a book like this would be unbiased and present good facts which the author did but I felt the facts and history that was presented was one sided. I would of liked to know more insight into the Democratic Party not just the Republican party.
December 26, 2020
The War on Voting:
Left-right battle seeded in 1971. Lewis Powell wrote his famous memo to the Chamber of Commerce imploring wealth and business to get political. Explicitly calling for a vigorous effort to take over the court system of America. Then Nixon put him on the Supreme Court.
This book is divided into 3 sections. History of the Vote, the Economic Royalists Modern War on Voting, and last the Solutions.
The first section covers the 3/5 compromise. The racist legacy of the compromise. The fear of the founding fathers of a foreign power placing their man in the Whitehouse. There solution for that, the Electoral College. Hamilton thought the EC would ensure the presidency would never fall to the lot of any man who is not in an eminent degree endowed with the requisite qualifications. He never saw 2016 coming. The 3/5 compromise was a perversion of democracy from the beginning. As is the EC which involves the Senate and the assignment of seats that creates an imbalance so bad that 25 smallest states control 1/2 the Senate yet represent only 16% of the voters.
From the beginning the founding father created disenfranchisement. Blacks, women, Native Americans, to name a few, did not get the vote. The founding fathers also didn't think men of no property should have the vote. I find it telling that Adams would send a reply to his wife request for inclusion in the constitution, "Depend on it, that we know better than to repeal our masculine system". The last part of section one is Madison's Warning. In short, a warning not to allow the government they were creating to become an oligarchy. "two cardinal objects of government, the rights of persons, and the rights of property". If only the rights of property were written into the constitution, the rich would ravage the few assets of the poor. Give all power to property and the indigent will be oppressed. Last in this section was a quote by Jefferson, "I am not among those who fear the people. They, and not the rich, are our dependence for continued freedom".
Part 2 is about the war on voting. Starts out with a few paragraphs about the parties in the 19th century with Republicans giving blacks voting rights and the Democrats closely associated with slavery. In the 60's we had a pole shift north to south when Johnson got the Civil and Voting rights acts passed. Democrats became the party of inclusion and Republicans became the party of exclusion, suppression, and the party of the wealthy. Then he goes on to Nixon's southern strategy, Reagan's states rights, and Trump's I believe in tradition. He will explain that the voter suppression is rooted in the resistance to integration. The author will cover issues involving Brown v Board, Plessy v Ferguson, and Meredith v Jefferson. The result, the Supreme Court under Roberts will end affirmative action in schools (busing) and six years later he will proclaim discrimination in America is essentially over and we no longer need legislative remedies. So he guts the Voting Rights Act. This opens the gates for voter suppression. The remainder of this section is about the groups, people, methods, propaganda, and money behind suppressing the vote. Well, at least, suppressing the votes Republicans deem undesirable . There is good information in section 2, like the Help America Vote Act, and the real story behind provisional ballots, voting machines, exit polling and the red shift. The fact that voting is not addressed in the Constitution, only in the Amendments. Bush v Gore, confirmed by the Supreme Court there is no affirmative right to vote in the Constitution. Shelby County v Holder, opened the gates for a slew of voter suppression laws in Republican states. Example, before the 2016 election they closed 868 polling places and purged 14 million from the voting rolls. Near the end of the section is the myth of voter fraud and a special mention for Kris Kobach and interstate crosscheck. If you don't know about Kris, you should. He even tried to peddle his voter fraud BS with Trump but when there was no there there he was given the boot.
Last section, Solutions. There are many and not any one of them will make enough impact to solve the war on voting. Subjects covered under Solutions include, affirmative right to vote in the constitution. For the People Act 2019. National Automatic Voter Registration. Ending voter caging, making election day a national holiday. Voting by mail, extending early voting, paper ballots or receipts. Ending gerrymandering, the national popular vote, and more. All of which is under attack by Republicans. Which is why we have to find a way of making the vote more democratic and representative of the population.
Left-right battle seeded in 1971. Lewis Powell wrote his famous memo to the Chamber of Commerce imploring wealth and business to get political. Explicitly calling for a vigorous effort to take over the court system of America. Then Nixon put him on the Supreme Court.
This book is divided into 3 sections. History of the Vote, the Economic Royalists Modern War on Voting, and last the Solutions.
The first section covers the 3/5 compromise. The racist legacy of the compromise. The fear of the founding fathers of a foreign power placing their man in the Whitehouse. There solution for that, the Electoral College. Hamilton thought the EC would ensure the presidency would never fall to the lot of any man who is not in an eminent degree endowed with the requisite qualifications. He never saw 2016 coming. The 3/5 compromise was a perversion of democracy from the beginning. As is the EC which involves the Senate and the assignment of seats that creates an imbalance so bad that 25 smallest states control 1/2 the Senate yet represent only 16% of the voters.
From the beginning the founding father created disenfranchisement. Blacks, women, Native Americans, to name a few, did not get the vote. The founding fathers also didn't think men of no property should have the vote. I find it telling that Adams would send a reply to his wife request for inclusion in the constitution, "Depend on it, that we know better than to repeal our masculine system". The last part of section one is Madison's Warning. In short, a warning not to allow the government they were creating to become an oligarchy. "two cardinal objects of government, the rights of persons, and the rights of property". If only the rights of property were written into the constitution, the rich would ravage the few assets of the poor. Give all power to property and the indigent will be oppressed. Last in this section was a quote by Jefferson, "I am not among those who fear the people. They, and not the rich, are our dependence for continued freedom".
Part 2 is about the war on voting. Starts out with a few paragraphs about the parties in the 19th century with Republicans giving blacks voting rights and the Democrats closely associated with slavery. In the 60's we had a pole shift north to south when Johnson got the Civil and Voting rights acts passed. Democrats became the party of inclusion and Republicans became the party of exclusion, suppression, and the party of the wealthy. Then he goes on to Nixon's southern strategy, Reagan's states rights, and Trump's I believe in tradition. He will explain that the voter suppression is rooted in the resistance to integration. The author will cover issues involving Brown v Board, Plessy v Ferguson, and Meredith v Jefferson. The result, the Supreme Court under Roberts will end affirmative action in schools (busing) and six years later he will proclaim discrimination in America is essentially over and we no longer need legislative remedies. So he guts the Voting Rights Act. This opens the gates for voter suppression. The remainder of this section is about the groups, people, methods, propaganda, and money behind suppressing the vote. Well, at least, suppressing the votes Republicans deem undesirable . There is good information in section 2, like the Help America Vote Act, and the real story behind provisional ballots, voting machines, exit polling and the red shift. The fact that voting is not addressed in the Constitution, only in the Amendments. Bush v Gore, confirmed by the Supreme Court there is no affirmative right to vote in the Constitution. Shelby County v Holder, opened the gates for a slew of voter suppression laws in Republican states. Example, before the 2016 election they closed 868 polling places and purged 14 million from the voting rolls. Near the end of the section is the myth of voter fraud and a special mention for Kris Kobach and interstate crosscheck. If you don't know about Kris, you should. He even tried to peddle his voter fraud BS with Trump but when there was no there there he was given the boot.
Last section, Solutions. There are many and not any one of them will make enough impact to solve the war on voting. Subjects covered under Solutions include, affirmative right to vote in the constitution. For the People Act 2019. National Automatic Voter Registration. Ending voter caging, making election day a national holiday. Voting by mail, extending early voting, paper ballots or receipts. Ending gerrymandering, the national popular vote, and more. All of which is under attack by Republicans. Which is why we have to find a way of making the vote more democratic and representative of the population.
March 25, 2025
This is a decent little primer to the history of voting rights and voter suppression throughout American history. It doesn't dive super deep into any one aspect though and if you're already familiar with the ways in which voter suppression happens, there's not anything particularly surprising or new here.
Something that was new to me though was the discussion of how women are still subject to voter suppression. As states become more strict about ID verification and things like that, women can be affected because they are a lot more likely to have names that may not match on their various forms of identification. For example, if a woman gets married and changes her name, it's not going to match her birth certificate anymore. It ends up creating more burden for women voters because they'll be more likely to run into situations where they're unable to verify who they are without extensive documentation.
The discussion toward the end about exit polls and the ways those have changed over time in the US was also interesting to me. It starts off by saying that exit polls are supposed to be one of the more accurate ways of polling because you're questioning people as they're finishing voting, but they've changed over time. Exit polls nowadays assume that people may not be honest about voting Republican, so when exit polls don't match the final numbers in favor of Republicans, they just assume some of the people they polled were lying. The book also talks about how people who do vote and then have their vote discarded for one reason or another skew the exit polls because no one will know until later that their vote wasn't actually counted including the person being polled.
Something that was new to me though was the discussion of how women are still subject to voter suppression. As states become more strict about ID verification and things like that, women can be affected because they are a lot more likely to have names that may not match on their various forms of identification. For example, if a woman gets married and changes her name, it's not going to match her birth certificate anymore. It ends up creating more burden for women voters because they'll be more likely to run into situations where they're unable to verify who they are without extensive documentation.
The discussion toward the end about exit polls and the ways those have changed over time in the US was also interesting to me. It starts off by saying that exit polls are supposed to be one of the more accurate ways of polling because you're questioning people as they're finishing voting, but they've changed over time. Exit polls nowadays assume that people may not be honest about voting Republican, so when exit polls don't match the final numbers in favor of Republicans, they just assume some of the people they polled were lying. The book also talks about how people who do vote and then have their vote discarded for one reason or another skew the exit polls because no one will know until later that their vote wasn't actually counted including the person being polled.
May 13, 2020
I never quite know what to expect when I pick up a book like this. Fortunately, I found this well-researched and interesting. I'm impressed that Mr. Hartmann took a deeply divisive topic that's not easy to understand especially when viewed from colonial times clear up to the present and makes this easily understandable and well-referenced in a book of less than 200 pages. He's done the heavy lifting of explaining source documents including Supreme Court decisions and even presents several solutions in the final section. The goal is to get accurate representation through voting and shows the game plan, exercised by billionaire interests, to reduce who can vote (a game played by traditionally powerful interests throughout American history) and what their tactics are. It's all there for anyone to read as it explains why representation is not equal and how this can be changed. The best part in my opinion are the solid options as to how this can be righted. I'm seeing that come out as opposition to mail in voting although it's been accurate and fine for the U.S. military to use ever since the Civil War. There are states that have it now and it works well for them. Obviously it's something I fully support especially now with Covid 19 and the need to reduce social gatherings. I also thought the other ideas were excellent. My rating is 5 stars because of the clarity of explaining American voting restrictions from the birth of the U.S. until today, what changes were made, and how to move forward.
February 20, 2024
Such an eye-opening book. Should be required reading!
December 15, 2025
4h 11m - Book 3 of 10 in the Hidden History series
📚
Thom Hartmann's *The Hidden History of the War on Voting: Who Stole Your Vote -- And How to Get It Back* is a timely and urgent examination of voter suppression in the United States, positioning it not as a new phenomenon but as a feature deeply rooted in the country's history. Hartmann presents a concise yet meticulously documented argument that the struggle for voting rights has been a constant battle against powerful elites seeking to restrict the franchise.
### **Key Themes and Arguments**
* **Historical Context:** The book argues that the U.S. has a long and troubled history of voter disenfranchisement, tracing the efforts of conservative elites back to the Founding Fathers and the creation of institutions like the Electoral College. Hartmann asserts that this was often designed to prevent "the wrong people"—including the poor, women, and people of color—from voting.
* **A "Feature, Not a Bug":** A central thesis is that low voter turnout is not an accidental flaw in the system but a deliberate outcome of strategies and tactics employed to maintain political power. He points to modern efforts such as:
* Voter ID laws
* Voter registration purges
* Gerrymandering
* **The Lack of a Constitutional Right:** Hartmann highlights the confounding fact that the U.S. Constitution does not explicitly guarantee the right to vote for all citizens, making the franchise vulnerable to ongoing partisan attacks.
* **The Powell Memo's Influence:** The book traces the modern antecedents of this "war on voting" to the 1970s, specifically referencing the Lewis Powell Memo, which allegedly spurred a long-term corporate and conservative effort to roll back progressive policies, with voter suppression as a key pillar.
* **The Path Forward:** The book is not purely a historical critique; it concludes with a call to action. Hartmann lays out **practical, common-sense ways** that citizens can fight back. His ultimate remedy, however, is a constitutional amendment that would explicitly grant every eligible citizen the fundamental right to vote. He also discusses measures like the push for a National Popular Vote.
### **Conclusion**
*The Hidden History of the War on Voting* is a powerful and concise volume that serves as both a history lesson and an urgent warning. It is a highly recommended read for anyone interested in American political history, civil rights, and the future integrity of democratic elections. It effectively articulates the argument that the fight to expand and protect the vote remains one of the single most important factors in maintaining a healthy, functioning democracy.
📚
Thom Hartmann's *The Hidden History of the War on Voting: Who Stole Your Vote -- And How to Get It Back* is a timely and urgent examination of voter suppression in the United States, positioning it not as a new phenomenon but as a feature deeply rooted in the country's history. Hartmann presents a concise yet meticulously documented argument that the struggle for voting rights has been a constant battle against powerful elites seeking to restrict the franchise.
### **Key Themes and Arguments**
* **Historical Context:** The book argues that the U.S. has a long and troubled history of voter disenfranchisement, tracing the efforts of conservative elites back to the Founding Fathers and the creation of institutions like the Electoral College. Hartmann asserts that this was often designed to prevent "the wrong people"—including the poor, women, and people of color—from voting.
* **A "Feature, Not a Bug":** A central thesis is that low voter turnout is not an accidental flaw in the system but a deliberate outcome of strategies and tactics employed to maintain political power. He points to modern efforts such as:
* Voter ID laws
* Voter registration purges
* Gerrymandering
* **The Lack of a Constitutional Right:** Hartmann highlights the confounding fact that the U.S. Constitution does not explicitly guarantee the right to vote for all citizens, making the franchise vulnerable to ongoing partisan attacks.
* **The Powell Memo's Influence:** The book traces the modern antecedents of this "war on voting" to the 1970s, specifically referencing the Lewis Powell Memo, which allegedly spurred a long-term corporate and conservative effort to roll back progressive policies, with voter suppression as a key pillar.
* **The Path Forward:** The book is not purely a historical critique; it concludes with a call to action. Hartmann lays out **practical, common-sense ways** that citizens can fight back. His ultimate remedy, however, is a constitutional amendment that would explicitly grant every eligible citizen the fundamental right to vote. He also discusses measures like the push for a National Popular Vote.
### **Conclusion**
*The Hidden History of the War on Voting* is a powerful and concise volume that serves as both a history lesson and an urgent warning. It is a highly recommended read for anyone interested in American political history, civil rights, and the future integrity of democratic elections. It effectively articulates the argument that the fight to expand and protect the vote remains one of the single most important factors in maintaining a healthy, functioning democracy.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 25, 2020
I do not consider myself to be well versed in the inner workings of our government, so I was a little bit worried that this book would be too "academic" or dry for me. Happily, it was not- Hartmann writes in a very easy to understand and engaging style. I was surprised by so many of the facts I found in this book and it was a huge eye-opener for me.
When I was younger, I admit that I was one of those people who avoided politics because it seemed complicated and messy. However, several years ago, I realized how much politicians influence our lives- often without us even knowing it. This book sheds a light on tactics that politicians use to alter our democracy, from the origins of the electoral college to gerrymandering and purposefully restrictive voting laws. I found that the book took me longer than normal to read because I was constantly googling different laws or court cases mentioned by the author because they were truly fascinating.
I highly recommend this book to anyone- I generally steer away from political books but this one was quick and important reading. If you're not already interested in the political world, this book will make you want to dive right in and make a change.
When I was younger, I admit that I was one of those people who avoided politics because it seemed complicated and messy. However, several years ago, I realized how much politicians influence our lives- often without us even knowing it. This book sheds a light on tactics that politicians use to alter our democracy, from the origins of the electoral college to gerrymandering and purposefully restrictive voting laws. I found that the book took me longer than normal to read because I was constantly googling different laws or court cases mentioned by the author because they were truly fascinating.
I highly recommend this book to anyone- I generally steer away from political books but this one was quick and important reading. If you're not already interested in the political world, this book will make you want to dive right in and make a change.
October 29, 2021
Stop the steal?!?! The real "steal" has been happening right under our noses. There is a minority element in our country that despises democracy. Democracy diminishes their access to power and (more) wealth. It should come as no surprise to us who these thieves are... they walk the halls of our government, our courts, and, of course, have a strong armlock on our economy.
They have names we are quite familiar with... DeVos, Koch, Roberts, Thomas. They operate in plain sight, yet we choose not to see.
Hartmann delivers another "Hidden History Of..." that illuminates for those who would see. He offers solutions for those who would act. His command of historical facts can be at once astonishing and infuriating. Astonishing, because the heist he describes is so bold and devious. Infuriating, because it happened and continues to happen right under our noses; and we continue to allow it to happen.
But before he would allow the lamp of Democracy to dim, he ends his well written expose with a simple dare...
"Tag, you're it."
They have names we are quite familiar with... DeVos, Koch, Roberts, Thomas. They operate in plain sight, yet we choose not to see.
Hartmann delivers another "Hidden History Of..." that illuminates for those who would see. He offers solutions for those who would act. His command of historical facts can be at once astonishing and infuriating. Astonishing, because the heist he describes is so bold and devious. Infuriating, because it happened and continues to happen right under our noses; and we continue to allow it to happen.
But before he would allow the lamp of Democracy to dim, he ends his well written expose with a simple dare...
"Tag, you're it."
December 1, 2020
The War on Voting: Who Stole Your Vote and How to get it Back by Thom Hartmann, part of The Hidden History Series. Read by Sean Pratt. The War on voting comes at a perfect time in United States history. As the much contested election of 2020 occurs, readers will be able to learn how we came to much of the division we are currently experiencing. The book is the story of how a small demographic of American’s hijacked the democracy of one of our most sacred institutions so they could remain in power. Readers are welcome to take the author’s writing as is or conduct their own research to determine the accuracy of his statements, but in the end many readers will become outraged and inspired to make change. The few who read this who have been participating in and benefiting from voter suppression for the past several decades will be outraged that the lid has been removed.
August 2, 2022
The author of this book is Thom Hartmann a progressive talk-show host and environmentalist who also wrote the “Hidden History of the Supreme Court” and the “Hidden History of Guns.” He says that the right sees their war on voting as the only way to maintain control with climate change and technology threatening the future. They know exactly what is happening and this is their strategy to control the masses. An earlier review that I wrote, of the book, Democracy in Chains went into details about the calculated plan to stay in power.
This is my full review on substack where I summarize and link ideas coming out of the best non-fiction I can find to explain our world today.
https://sharoncortelyou.substack.com/...
This is my full review on substack where I summarize and link ideas coming out of the best non-fiction I can find to explain our world today.
https://sharoncortelyou.substack.com/...
April 10, 2020
Hartmann gives a good overview in this short book about the many issues associated with voting and voter suppression in the US. Apparently this is the latest in a book series “The Hidden History of …” and he also hosts a radio program – was not familiar with these other efforts but this one touches on a bit of history and the current landscape. Difficult to argue with his analysis or ending recommendations (ending the Electoral College, compulsory voting, vote-by-mail, and holiday / weekend voting).
December 16, 2023
As you might expect from a book that takes only four hours to read, this is really just a four-hour Thom Hartmann conversation on the topic. It includes some interesting anecdotes on discussions by the founders of the US and a list of changes to be made today to democratize the US government. But as the myopic bourgeois liberal that Thom is, he thinks that if we can somehow make moral and logical arguments clearly enough that will get the psychopathic traitors who run our country to do the right thing. So, nothing will come of this book.
December 8, 2020
Hartmann is a clear communicator and provided details and connections to random events I’ve heard about or witnessed for decades. The systemic, primarily white supremacist traditions of voter suppression are as old as our nation. That said, I required several breaks from listening to this audiobook because I was thoroughly infuriated. I highly recommend this book which explores the history, motives, and remedies to this disgraceful American tradition.
May 31, 2022
The Hidden History of the War on Voting: Who Stole Your Vote and How to Get It Back is a fantastic book teaching the history of how the elites and the politicians have stolen this sacred right to vote. Thom Hartmann does a fantastic job laying out the wants of all sides on this issue as well as many solutions. I would recommend this book to someone who wants to learn more about the fight against their rights.
March 15, 2023
Just like the rest of the books in Thom Hartmann's Hidden History series, I found this book to be enlightening, educational, and enraging.
I was enlightened and educated on the history of the topic, and enraged by the history of the topic as well.
You won't find many people more educated on the history of American politics than Thom Hartmann and this book is one of many examples of him bringing that education to the reader in a short and informative manner.
I was enlightened and educated on the history of the topic, and enraged by the history of the topic as well.
You won't find many people more educated on the history of American politics than Thom Hartmann and this book is one of many examples of him bringing that education to the reader in a short and informative manner.
April 4, 2020
This is a good, quick intro to a history of voting rights in the United States, but certainly not the book you should read if you're looking for any kind of in-depth analysis. It's a good introduction to a lot of topics, and if you're just looking for a briefer on the issues, this is perfect. But if you're looking for anything more in-depth, this should only serve as a starting point.
June 5, 2020
What I was hoping would be an unbiased tome on voting and history turned out to be an arm of the Democratic Party demonizing the GOP from the start. The only positive on the book, the author takes no pains to hide his bias. The title could better be “A playbook for the Democrats in modern elections.”
December 26, 2023
I think Thom is telling the right story, and some of the information was helpful. However, this telling feels sloppy. I felt like his political bias got in the way of good journalism, and the number of websites he quoted was annoying. This book also came out before the "big lie", which definitely dates it.
June 19, 2025
this series of hidden history topics is really excellent, top shelf. complex issues & sprawling histories laid out in simple narrative & everyday terms. no college words. thom hartmann has created something extremely valuable here. this installment on voter suppression by today's republicans is a fully worthy & essential addition. check out his podcast too.
December 30, 2020
The author takes a subject that I'm interested in and butchers it with biased, one-sided editorializing. He's a part of the very problem he spends much of the time complaining about - the polarization, distortion of facts, and lack of understanding for the other side. There's information to write an important book on this topic, but this book ain't it.
July 26, 2022
Simplified: the Republican Party is hell-bent on destroying democracy.
An easy-to-read, free-flowing book with a lot of key information into understanding how, and why, America's voting system is so bad.
The US needs to do better.
An easy-to-read, free-flowing book with a lot of key information into understanding how, and why, America's voting system is so bad.
The US needs to do better.
May 20, 2023
There are better introductions to the history of the expansion of voting rights and voter suppression. This one is inexperienced and slides into unproven conspiracies that will do more to hurt confidence in our country than they will motivate people to address the very real crises that we face.
August 9, 2020
The great American experiment moves recovery stage.
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