Ben Wright examines how American electoral democracy has become increasingly partisan, and how the fight for voting rights will affect the 2020 election. From issues about access to the ballot and the shape of the political map to fundamental questions dating back to the founding of the Republic, America's electoral democracy is under greater strain than at any point since the Civil Rights movement.

In this new series Ben will examine these questions, and ask what they mean for American democracy. In this first programme he'll look at how access to the ballot has become a political fight, with Democrats demanding that voting be made easier while Republicans insist it must be made more secure. He'll ask whether a constitutional amendment passed in Florida in 2018 could determine the result of the presidential election. And he'll hear how each party is gearing up for a legal battle in November, with loudly-voiced concerns from the White House about voter fraud balanced by equally loudly-voiced concerns on the other side about 'voter suppression'.

Producer: Giles Edwards Show less