Author Anjali Enjeti on voting, disillusionment, and why civic engagement still matters in an era of deep political distrust.

Author and journalist Anjali Enjeti has emerged as an impassioned voice in conversations about democracy, civic participation, and public trust. Her latest book, Ballot, arrives at a moment of deep political polarization and heightened anxiety around elections. Drawing on her experiences as a reporter, activist, and poll worker, Enjeti combines personal narrative with political analysis to examine what voting means today and why it continues to matter. In this interview with Pooja Garg, Deputy Editor of Khabar, she reflects on fear, faith, and the future of democratic engagement, and offers a clear-eyed view of participation in an uncertain political moment.

What made you want to write Ballot?

After Trump’s failed 2020 election bid, he went on an electoral rampage. He and his team filed hundreds of lawsuits alleging voter fraud and election rigging against the battleground states that he’d lost. Ground zero was Georgia. He made that infamous call to our Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and asked him to find the nearly 12,000 votes he needed to win Georgia’s electoral college votes. Trump’s sycophants also terrorized two Fulton County election workers, Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss.

This was just the beginning. Trump has succeeded in pressuring Republican leaders in the 2020 battle ground states he lost to enact harsh voting restrictions. Many of these new voting laws and policies have taken effect over the last few years, significantly curbing the right to vote.

Many people remember the January 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection. Far fewer voters are aware of this 5-year, ongoing electoral insurrection.

What do you say to people who feel voting doesn’t matter, or who feel betrayed by the system?

I tell them that their feelings are valid. Heck, there are so many days when I throw my own hands up in the air about our elections. Given the dire circumstances we’re living under, it’s only natural to feelthis way. Our local, state, and federal governments continue to fail us. The U.S. is becoming increasingly extremist. Members of the wealth class are the only ones thriving. And anyone who is not wealthy is barely getting by.

But I also like to point out the successes. Look at NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani. He didn’t even re- ceive support from most of the Democratic Party, and he still won his race because he addressed the issues that most voters cared about. Look at Congress-women Summer Lee, Delia Ramirez, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib. They have never faltered in their morals. They are fighting the good fight. Democratic Socialists and alumni of Bernie Sanders’ campaigns are flipping seats and winning elections. We need to balance our feelings of despair with a celebration of these tremendous victories.

Is disengagement ever a rational response? On the other hand, what happens when participation continues but belief collapses?

I don’t know whether disengagement under these terrifying circumstances is rational—but I will say it’s only natural. Politicians can’t keep abusing voters with their catastrophic decisions and then expect these same voters to enthusiastically make their way to the polls on election day. We are living under fascism. Elections are a big reason why we’re here. It’s natural for any living, breathing human being to feel dispirited and hopeless in this moment.

But we must put elections, and their outcomes, in perspective. Elections will never bring liberation. They will not save us. We must work to build a better society 365 days a year, not just on election day. It’s okay if your belief in our electoral process falters. Do the kind of activism that will bring you joy and renew your soul. Hold your elected officials accountable. Protest. Boycott. Serve your community in other ways.

How do you respond to claims of widespread voter fraud? Why do you think ballots have become such a focal point for conspiracy theories?

The short answer is this—we must ignore them. These claims are lies. Voter fraud in the U.S. is exceedingly rare. It’s one in a million. It does not alter an election outcome. It is one of the biggest lies that Republicans are peddling right now, and we must whole heartedly reject it.

Allegations of voter fraud and election-rigging exist because of rapidly changing demographics. Republicans want conservative white Christians to maintain control of the government. And they will lose control because they will soon be the minority. The only way they can stay in the majority is if they cry voter fraud every time they lose an election.

Voting has become increasingly difficult in many parts of the country. Which changes do you think have had the greatest impact?

Since Trump’s 2020 loss, Republicans have targeted absentee ballot voting. They’ve decreased the window that voters can request and return absentee ballots, they’ve removed and limited drop boxes, and they’ve required the ballots be returned to election office on election day, as opposed to being postmarked by election day. They’ve also tightened voter ID laws. They’ve made it difficult for third parties to help voters cast their ballots, register them to vote, or serve them snacks when they wait in long lines at their polling places. Republicans have also drawn districts in absurd shapes to dilute the voting power of minority and urban voters. It’s been quite the onslaught.

When you look ahead, what worries you most about future elections?

I’m worried that the Supreme Court will gut section 2 of the Voting Rights Act in its upcoming decision in Louisiana v. Callais. I’m worried about the fact that the FBI raided a Fulton County election hub in January, taking 700 boxes of election data and every ballot cast in the 2020 election, including my own. I’m worried that members of Georgia’s State Board of Elections, the majority of whom are Trump loyalists, are going to continue to do what they can to delay certification as long as possible after our elections. I’m terrified that the SAVE Act, which was already passed by the House, will also be passed by the Senate and signed into law by Trump. It would require that every voter bring a proof of citizenship to register to vote—an original passport or birth certificate. This law would disenfranchise millions of voters because many voters do not possess these documents. What’s more, many voters’ names on their government-issued IDs do not match the names on their birth certificates. This may include married voters, trans voters, and adoptees.

How has being a woman of color and your immigration history shaped your relationship to democracy?

I’m the daughter of an immigrant and automatically became eligible to vote at age 18. But I’ve never taken the right to vote for granted and have voted in every election since I was 19 years old. I suspect part of this is because I know, as a woman of color, as an Indian American, that Indian Americans did not always have the right to vote in this country, and that, in fact, the Civil Rights Movement and the sacrifices Black people made, are the reason I have the right to vote today.

Indian Americans are often described as successful but publicly quiet. Do you think the model minority myth reinforces expectations not to question the system? What might encourage deeper civic participation?

The truth of the matter is–we are not really all that successful if we remain quiet. It doesn’t matter if we make a lot of money, work in prestigious careers, or raise successful children. If we do not use our voices to change our local, state, and federal governments, if we do not demand more from our elected officials, if we do not speak out against our nation’s rampant and increasingly frightening injustices—we are failing our communities and ourselves. The only legacy worth having in this world is an inclusive, radical compassion for all people, and the courage to fight for it.

The model minority myth, specifically, our silence, acquiescence, and assimilation in the face of injustice, is rooted in white supremacy. It does nothing but pit us against one another, and greatly harms those of us who have the most to lose—undocumented Indians or Indians who hold very unstable or uncertain residency status, low income Indians, disabled Indians, and or LGBTQIA+ Indians. It also weaponizes our privilege against Black, Indigenous, Latino, and other marginalized groups, and prevents us from working in solidarity across racial, ethnic, and religious groups. We must wholeheartedly reject it. What we need more than ever is the courage to stand up for the rights of everyone, and to be very loud about it.

We’ve seen increased Indian American representation in politics. Has that meaningfully changed access to power?

The short answer is no, because representation is only meaningful if it’s compassionate representation, by which I mean it must be inclusive and humane. Members of Trump’s administration, FBI Director Kash Patel, Harmeet Dhillon, and Jay Bhattacharya (among others) represent propaganda and oppression. Not much else. Usha Vance is the wife of a vice president who is hellbent on destroying US democracy. These Indian Americans have access to power, but use their power dangerously.

I voted for Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024, but I did not support her candidacy. Harris resembled me more than any other candidate to run for a high political office. She was the half-Indian child of a South Indian immigrant who was born in the US. And yet, these commonalities did not endear her to me, especially when she made it clear she supported the US-backed genocide.

Which is to say that we cannot and should not automatically put our faith in political leaders who share our background. Just because a candidate or elected official or appointee comes from the same state in India or speaks the same language or shares a faith— does not make them moral or good leaders. We must judge candidates on their positions on the issues and how they’ve voted in the past. This is all that matters.

Pooja Garg is Deputy Editor of Khabar and Writing Fellow, USC Annerberg and CUNY. Reach out to Pooja at linktr.ee/Pooja.Garg.