Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

Meet the reformer: Myrna Pérez, advocate for a trustworthy election in the pandemic

Brennan Center's Mryna Pérez

The Brennan Center's Myrna Pérez speaks at the New York University Law School two years ago.

NYU Photo Bureau.

The Brennan Center for Justice, a progressive think tank at New York University Law School, is one of the preeminent groups pushing for a comprehensive, reliable and safe election during the coronavirus pandemic. And helming that litigation, research and lobbying effort is Myrna Pérez. She runs the voting rights and elections program and has been with the Brennan Center most of her professional life, arriving after a stint at a civil rights firm in Washington and clerkships for federal trial and appeals court judges in Philadelphia. Before getting a law degree from Columbia in 2003, she was a health care and housing analyst for what's now called the Government Accountability Office, the congressional oversight agency. Her answers have been edited for clarity and length.

What's democracy's biggest challenge, in 10 words or less?

Politicians manipulating the rules so some of us can't vote.


Describe your very first civic engagement.

I vividly remember some important moments, but not the dates well enough to know what happened first. Going with my tia to the polls in my native San Antonio. A lot of confusion and frustration in early school experiences because of the cultural gaps between me and some of my teachers — and me trying, in my small-child way, to educate my teachers about my community. And asking my parents to donate to anti-hunger causes instead of giving me a Christmas present. If you asked my very large family, they'd probably tell you about the time I raised a fuss because one of my cousins intended to keep a fish he had caught that was just under the legal limit. They love to tell that story.

Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter

What was your biggest professional triumph?

No one person is responsible for a victory and there are a million invisible ways people are set up to succeed by other people. Reframing the question into what victories made me the happiest, those would be passage in 2018 of the Florida referendum to restore voting rights to felons and the 2016 federal appeals court ruling that the Texas photo ID law violated the Voting Rights Act.

And your most disappointing setback?

I wasn't surprised but was nonetheless devastated when Matt Bevin became governor of Kentucky in 2015 and undid the executive order of his predecessor, Steve Beshear, ending a permanent and blanket ban on voting by people with criminal convictions. Fortunately the current governor, Andy Beshear, issued an executive order similar to his father's upon taking office last year.

How does your identity influence the way you go about your work?

My identity is why I do the work! My parents were Mexican immigrants. I was a girl in a large and pretty traditional immigrant family. I see the world in terms of the trauma, dysfunction and injustice that are caused by racism, poverty and sexism. But I'm also a person of faith. So I know how the human story ends: Love wins. One of the beautiful mysteries of my faith is that, while the beginning and the end of the story are set, God is using us to write the middle.

What's the best advice you've ever been given?

One is, "Never be so self-duplicitous that you conflate your friends with your contacts." The other comes from the Book of Micah: "Do Justice. Love Kindness. Walk Humbly with Your God."

Create a new flavor for Ben & Jerry's.

Mango, lime and chile sorbet.

What's your favorite political movie or TV show?

So many! But probably "Selma," the 2014 historical drama film about the 1965 voting rights marches in Alabama.

What's the last thing you do on your phone at night?

Check my calendar for tomorrow.

What is your deepest, darkest secret?

Even at my age, I can do a near perfect cartwheel. Also, I used to prefer flour tortillas to corn — but, to be clear, I have now seen the light.

Read More

Jar full of american coins.

Jar full of american coins.

Getty Images, MariuszBlach

Congress Bill Spotlight: Suspending Pennies and Nickels for 10 Years

The Fulcrum introduces Congress Bill Spotlight, a weekly report by Jesse Rifkin, focusing on the noteworthy legislation of the thousands introduced in Congress. Rifkin has written about Congress for years, and now he's dissecting the most interesting bills you need to know about but that often don't get the right news coverage.

Trump recently discontinued production of the one-cent coin. What about the five-cent coin too?

Keep ReadingShow less
​The U.S. Constitution.
The U.S. Constitution.
Getty Images, Bill Oxford

Democracy on the Edge: Take Action Now To Maintain the Constitution

Democracy is in danger. Voter suppression efforts are once again on the rise, most recently embodied in the reintroduction of the “SAVE Act.” Initially passed by the House in 2024 and revived again in April 2025, the bill proposes new identification standards for voting.

It calls to eliminate the use of driver’s licenses and state IDs and require birth certificates instead. While billed as an election integrity measure, this legislation is a thinly veiled attempt to disenfranchise millions of eligible voters, particularly the elderly, minorities, and low-income Americans who may lack access to original documentation.

Keep ReadingShow less
Guatemalan workers farming tomatoes using tools provided by the UVG Climate Smart Agriculture Project.

Guatemalan workers farming tomatoes using tools provided by the UVG Climate Smart Agriculture Project.

Rolando Cifuentes Velásquez.

Seeds of Abandonment: How USAID Cuts Left Thousands of Farmers in Guatemala Struggling

Maria Lopez was thriving.

Her tomato farm in rural Guatemala was flourishing since a worker from the Universidad del Valle de Guatemala (UVG) came in to show her climate-smart agricultural practices in her drought-stricken community.

Keep ReadingShow less
Defining the Democracy Movement: Aditi Juneja
- YouTube

Defining the Democracy Movement: Aditi Juneja

The Fulcrum presents The Path Forward: Defining the Democracy Reform Movement. Scott Warren's interview series engages diverse thought leaders to elevate the conversation about building a thriving and healthy democratic republic that fulfills its potential as a national social and political game-changer. This initiative is the start of focused collaborations and dialogue led by The Bridge Alliance and The Fulcrum teams to help the movement find a path forward.

Aditi Juneja is the Executive Director of Democracy 2076, an organization dedicated to reimagining democracy for the next generation. Democracy 2076 is intentionally taking a long-range view of democracy, bringing together diverse stakeholders to explore what democracy should look like within a 50-year time horizon.

Keep ReadingShow less