On October 1, in an effort to bypass Congress, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) launched a nationwide effort to promote Voting Rights in each state. Their campaign is called Let People Vote, and it means to bring forward proposals that are individually tailored for each state such as creating independent redistricting commissions. The ACLU's effort is said to be the first offensive effort for Liberals who are angry over trump, especially over the legitimacy of his election commission.
Voting rights war against Trump's voting commission
Trump's Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity was assembled off of his unverified belief that 3 million illegal voters voted against him during the last election, preventing him from getting the popular vote that went to his rival Hillary Clinton.
The number is taken from the exact amount that Clinton beat Trump by for that popular vote. The organization's political director, Faiz Shakir, admitted to their motivation, saying that as protectors of voting rights, they had been playing defense the entire time. Now, they were switching to more offensive maneuvers.
The ACLU have taken advantage of the spike in donations and activism since Donald Trump's inauguration. The organization has reportedly raised $83 million since the election, which is more than the $3-5 million it generally collects. According to a report by McClatchy's DC Bureau titled: "ACLU moves from defense to offense starting in Kris Kobach's home state," it says that the money donated from the surge of funding to the ACLU will be going to their state chapters and to strengthen their litigation teams.
Kobach is chair of Trump's commission, who has given Trump more leverage on account of his belief in voter fraud.
Taking on a Republican Congress
The article points out that the organization has had problems in the past with filling key positions, but that now they've hired a national field director. Currently, the ACLU is involved with litigation against President Trump's Department of Justice.
Specifically, the ACLU is trying to block the DOJ's warrants against Facebook that are going after the accounts of anti-Trump organizers and other accounts connected to them.
With Republicans in power in Congress and their party carrying more states and counties, the issues with Gerrymandering and voter discrimination are now rampant.
Republicans have claimed to fight against voter fraud but have already been singled out by the U.S. Supreme Court for violating those rights. The ACLU is also working off of the view that Republicans will only empower President Trump's voting rights commission and further restrict the rights of voters. Acknowledging this, the ACLU seems to be putting all of their energy into their voting rights campaign. Here's a video released by the ACLU that provides details of their campaign.