Rigged Official Release: April 2, 2019
Praise for Rigged
"This is a provocative, infuriating look at how voting can be suppressed in America. It's a documentary that cries out for justice."
Robert M. Shrum
Director of the Center for the Political Future and the Unruh Institute of Politics
What is Rigged?
What would happen if some political operatives tried to subvert the sacred American principle of “one person, one vote?” What if they hatched and pursued that plan for years before anyone noticed what they were doing? That is the frightening tale told in a new feature documentary, Rigged: The Voter Suppression Playbook. Narrated by Jeffrey Wright, and shot during the chaotic 2016 election, the film identifies and unpacks a shrewd ten-part strategy developed by Republicans to suppress votes that would be cast against them.
Why did they do it?
Obama’s 2008 victory revealed a rising demographic tide of non-white and younger voters that threatened GOP success into the future. Mark McKinnon, a former Republican strategist, notes in the film that Republicans could have moved toward the center and appealed to the rising minority majority, but instead the GOP “figure[d] out how you turn out more of your people and less of the other guys.” In short, suppress the vote.
How did they do it?
Rigged shows viewers just what they did – and continue to do – from creating new barriers to voter registration, to purging American citizens from the voting rolls without notice, to new and deliberate impediments to casting a vote. In addition, the film shows how GOP activists developed an elaborate but false narrative of widespread voter fraud in order to justify the necessity for new and draconian voting restrictions.
The message of Rigged?
In the wake of the 2018 elections, our democracy is still in peril. Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) states in the film, “I fear for our younger people. I fear they will not have the kind of democracy I experienced . . . somebody’s got to say, ‘This is not right.” Somebody’s got to say, ‘We can do better.’”
Narrated By
Jeffrey Wright
Rigged’s narrator, Jeffrey Wright, is an award-winning actor, who gained critical acclaim for his legendary performances as Belize in both the Broadway and HBO productions of Angels in America. His roles include: Jean-Michel Basquiat in Basquiat, Colin Powell in Oliver Stone’s W., Dr. Valentin Narcisse in Boardwalk Empire, and currently stars as Bernard Lowe on HBO’s Westworld.
Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Wright is an effective and passionate political activist across the globe. He is the founder of Taia Lion Resources, an ethical and sustainable mineral exploration company based in Sierra Leone. Wright campaigned with and for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election, and has been a prominent voice in the fight to preserve an American democracy that serves and honors all its citizens.
Of Rigged, Wright says, “The suppression of American voters is something we thought our country had moved past, and yet here we are in the 21st century still engaged in this battle over fundamental rights - a battle that began centuries ago and that Americans gave their lives fighting. This is a story that needs to be told – and heard. I was eager to play a part in telling it, and I hope ‘Rigged’ sounds an alarm that wakes America up to what we, as a nation, are losing — government by and for the people.”
Screenings
LA – USC
Jesse Unruh School of Politics
3518 Trousdale Pkwy, Los Angeles, CA 90007
October 9, 2018
5pm
Nashville – ACLU
The Belcourt Theatre
2102 Belcourt Ave, Nashville, TN 37212
October 17, 2018
6:30pm
NYC – The Brennan Center at NYU
Vanderbilt Hall
40 Washington Square S, New York, NY 10012
November 2, 2018
6pm
Washington, D.C. – NAACP Legal Defense Fund
Burke Theater
701 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest
Washington, D.C. 20004
February 27, 2019
6pm
Rigged in the News
Voter Suppression News
Defend Our Democracy
What can you do to defend our democracy?
First, if your state’s politicians are passing laws making it harder to register, or harder to vote, get in the game and stop them. The destruction of the right to vote is mostly at the local and state level. That means organized citizens, like you, can make a difference.
Second, if those politicians tell you a restrictive new law is necessary to combat widespread voter fraud, stand up and tell the world what they’re really trying to do – suppress the vote. And also make clear to anyone who will listen that allegations of widespread voter fraud are a fraud.
And finally, find out who has been nominated to fill seats on your state’s federal court. If the nominees won’t support voting rights for all americans, oppose them. Tell your senators to vote no! And if your senators don’t listen... well, vote them out.
Join the Fight Against Voter Suppression
Below are some of the non-partisan groups actively engaged in the voting rights fight – exposing the dangers of voter suppression and the need to make voting accessible and available to every American citizen. Explore their websites and become involved.
Who We Are
The American Issues Initiative has a simple charge: to inform and educate the American public about the pressing issues of our day – from criminal justice to education to the challenges of maintaining the vibrancy of our democracy.
The Initiative will seek to maintain a narrow, laser focus – tackling one critical issue at a time. But equally important is to give voice to viable solutions, ones that we believe will make America a better, fairer place for Americans of every race, creed and sex.
