Capturing the Flag

Over the past few years, charges of voter suppression have percolated across the country. During the 2016 election, results in Florida and Georgia were held up for abnormally long periods amid accusations of chicanery at the polls and ballots being intentionally ignored. Anne De Mare’s documentary on the subject of voter suppression is certainly timely as it follows New York attorney Laverne Berry (a co-producer on the film) and two of her friends as they travel to Fayetteville, NC, to investigate reports of alleged voter suppression in the days leading up to the 2016 presidential election. While no one is being subjected to Jim Crow-era assaults when trying to register to vote, Berry and her team listen to complaints from the local NAACP leadership about questionable purging of voter rolls and photo identification demands that appear to be targeting the African American community. The film blames the 2013 Supreme Court ruling Shelby County v. Holder as the primary cause for this situation, but De Mare never gets around to asking why the Justice Department during President Obama’s administration was not more rigorous in responding to accusations of voter suppression aimed at the nonwhite population (and a long sequence shot at an Obama campaign rally erases any suggestion of objective nonpartisan investigative reporting here). Still, this can be a useful discussion starter on the subject of voter suppression. A strong optional purchase. Aud: C, P. (P. Hall)