Ten years of a crippled Voting Rights Act: how states make it harder to vote

The Shelby county decision unleashed a wave of voter suppression across the country. Composite: The Guardian/Getty Images

For the last 10 years, Helen Butler and a coalition of activists have tried to accomplish a near-impossible task: to closely monitor the monthly meetings of the local elections boards in each of Georgia’s 159 counties.

The meetings can be tedious. Officials often discuss the nitty-gritty details of elections that can influence how easy it is to cast a ballot, or a county might announce plans to close a polling place and change early voting locations.